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San Francisco US National Champs Race Reports
usssc race report
kathleen petereit
09/20/08 #5038
The day started out cloudy and it was flat in the bay. I talked to Craig Tanner who said that the forecast was for wind / waves building up. I chose to use Judes Huki Special with the Gullwing vs the S1R. It was an excellent choice. Even the top guys had difficulty this year and this is the biggest water I have ever paddled in. It made last year seem tame in comparison ! Mike G and I were together and he was doing well but then he turned at the first bouy instead of the second. I yelled at him but he didn't hear me. Apparently several others made the same mistake. 4 guys were rescued.
There were not as many paddlers this year so I didn't have the usual group to paddle with out there. A few guys were behind me. I felt very alone out there. I was really happy that I had the Gullwing. I can truly say this wing can handle any conditions, it had the ultimate test today. I wasn't sure what it was capable of and was a little nervous going into the big knarly stuff. The swell was huge with windwaves coming at us two directions. I had to stop looking up at it because it was scary. Nathan said the same thing. We both focused on our bows.
The wings performance was better than I thought it would be. Chop did not catch under the wings and it went through quite smoothly. I was going down a monster wave sideways and thought…oh _ _ _ _ !
Figured for sure it would go over but it didn't. After that I stopped paddling for a minute just to collect my thoughts and thank god. I bobbed with my feet inside the ski and was able to totally relax and let the waves roll under me. What a nice feeling. Larry could eat lunch out there with that on.
Now that I had a good feel for the wing the rest of the way in was stress free. A few guys wished they would have had one on. Mike Fitz dumped at the GG bridge on the way out and was in the water for about 10 min and got cold but managed to keep going and had a good finish placing third in senior masters. Nathan also did well.
I am glad it's finished. Mikey and I will do the doubles race tommorow with the wing on. A Hungarian guy and his partner will race Larry and Shauns double with the wing.
Hope you others had a good race at Length of tje Lake today !
Kathleen
Re: US Champs results
Reivers Dustin
09/21/08 #5040
Notable in long course: S Africa packed the top ten. Dawid was edged by Hank. Our guy from Hawaii, Zolt was 4th. Patrick Hemmens was 5th & 1st Master. Our guy from Wisconsin, Erik B. was 6th and 3rd Master. Our guy from BC, Mike Fitz was 3rd Senior Master (34th overall). One of Erik's buddies from Duluth, John Abrahams, was 27th. And let's see, who am I missing? Oh yeah, Kathleen was 3rd woman across. There were 4 DNF and one was Deanne H. (This is the Deanne that bested me at Bowen Isl. this year.) And Mike you too. We have MG in at 42nd with rumor of incomplete course. The race had a field of 52 entrants.
Notable in short course: Almost everyone from California did the short race with one S.Africa and one Austrialia. Jude was 7th, Duncan was 15th, and Kim McKenzie from BC was 30th in a field of 34.
RD
San Francisco
Michael Gregory
09/22/08 #5048
-Was it Armageddon or out there or business as usual? Depends on who ya ask. Locals called it moderate conditions. Some said swells were 3-4' others said 6-8. BTW all the swells were on our beam! Down in the trough it seemed we were paddling through valleys with sloping walls of water on all around. Up on the wave peaks it was nearly dizzying to look down into the next trough. What made things really interesting was the “slop”. That's the steep dysrhythmic waves that were all over the place making it tough to keep any even paddling cadence. Sound chaotic? Yep, that's right and that's what makes this race different! Hank McGregor said “I don't like all that messing about I just like to get out there and go”.
-Ok, now what's up with the “incomplete course” business stuff, right? I turned at the red can about a thousand -or so- yards N. of the Pt Bonita bouy 'cause I thought it WAS the turn around. My recollection is that I was not the only one to make that error. Regrettable, no doubt. It was so rowdy out there that someone might yell from 10 ft away and I'd not hear it. Talked with course official after my mistake was brought forward. Response was - “yeah, that was not the only error made out there”.
-For me, despite my course modification, the race felt like triumph. In six years and six tries I've gone from swimming most of the course to staying in the boat, paddling, and even catching a few big phat fast runs. So, like they say “it's all good”. A goal for me is to go back again and keep trying to get this race right.
Regards, Mike.
Re: San Francisco
Larry Bussinger <lbussing@…>
09/22/08 #5049
Congratulations to everyone who even tried. You all triumphed in my
book.
By the way, In wave theory, a 3'wave and a 4'wave will periodically
make a 7' wave when the wavelengths match. Whether its 3-4 footers
or 6-8 footers all depends on how often the waves match up.
san fran and the MG factor
Erik Borgnes
09/23/08 #5058
As I was staring at a stack of syrup-bathed french toast and coffee on the outdoor table, looking out at san francisco bay and the seals frolicking about, the day dawned cloudy and warm. It wasn't until the red PT Cruiser moved from its parking place in front of our table that I noticed the 120 foot Coast Guard Cutter anchored just offshore, about 200 yds from our little cafe. I looked at MG, then at the Cutter, and couldn't help but wonder how many coasties had MG in their high powered binocular sights. “Sir, we have located MG and will commence operation 'Guardian Angel'.” . . . .
No escort needed for superman MG; he did very well out there in his V10 Sport. Anyone who completed that course on that day deserves a big pat on the back. I've seen bigger, windier conditions elsewhere, but the combination of the big swell, big current, wind waves, and boat traffic . . .There was only supposed to be a max flood of 2.3 knots under the bridge, but rounding the base of the north tower, it was much more than that. The headwind going out through the gate was pretty strong so we all had to take a near-shore route. Point Diablo was a mess on the ocean-side. Just a freakin' mess. Watching the gap between the rock and the shore at Point Bonita as we neared was gut-wrenching. The big swells kept filling it up and almost breaking, then there would be a long gap, then more near breaking waves. Even when we shot it between sets, it was a mess getting thrown left and right. The potato patch was not huge, but the 3-5 ft chaos there was not easy. At times, I had no idea where I was heading because the Bonita buoy was behind several swells.
I can certainly understand how some paddlers turned around the 1st buoy while heading north because it was difficult to see very far given the big NW swell. On that leg, I was focused on the water within 6 ft of my bow, trying to ride the SW 1-2 ft wind waves, cope with some other N waves, and be aware of a few paddlers around me. Plus, it seemed that half the time I looked up to take a bearing, all I saw was water and sky. There was a lot going on out there. And in the words of Bevan (to MG), “that was kind of dangerous out there?!”
Oh, and for anyone who has stayed in a motel room with MG recently, I got him to turn off that hourly chime that comes from his watch all night long. Also, if there is a fire in the middle of the night (we had a hotel alarm go off outside our window for a solid hour between 5 and 6 am saturday) you'll need to wake him up.
Erik
