Surfski Knowledge Base

Kevin Olney
04/07/18 #22719

Ernie and the Sand Point crew hosted the winter series championship race today. Smaller than usual turnout (possibly the weather and a lot of regulars out of town prepping for M2M).

The course was around 12 miles, consisting of a short out-and-back south around Magnuson Park followed by a longer one to the 520 bridge and back. The wind never got much above 20-25 mph but the SE direction made for a lot of rebound and messy conditions without much good surfing to be had on the way back.

Greg Barton, John Mooney, myself and Len Duncan were the only surfskis present. John and I gave Greg all we had in the first two miles and kept it tight but there was no contest after that. John’s paddle kept slipping, forcing him to retire early and I just kept grinding through the sloppy conditions watching Greg’s orange PFD get smaller and smaller in the distance.
Erik S and Aimee E were the next boat in an OC-2, followed by Rob M, Alan G and Gavin G in OC-1.
Additionally, Ernie put on a 4 mile “fun” course to introduce some newer paddlers to racing.

As always there was an abundance of delicious food afterwards and a bunch of sweet prizes. Those guys really know how to host a race!

Reivers Dustin
04/08/18 #22721

love these race reports. wish I coulda been there. looking at times and reading between the lines I put my finish time around 2:05. Just amazing how so many paddlers are pushing the OC boats over the limit. also I like how Greg sets a great benchmark for the races he does. Bummer about John Mooney having equipment problems. a slipping paddle really messes a guy up.

thx Kev.
rd