Surfski Knowledge Base

San Francisco US National Champs Race Reports

Reivers Dustin
08/15/10 #9032

There is a story about a sea captain inspecting his sailors and noticing that they smell. So he tells the first mate that all the crew is smelly and that they need to change their undershorts. The first mate says it will be taken care of right away. He goes to the crew and instructs them, “Smith you change drawers with Kline, Ramsey you change with Willoughby, … etc.”

Today there was a change.

I was the first paddler to cross the finish line at this years final summer wavechaser series race. And no, I did not invent a new route or cheat the line or anything. A new lord of the sea has arisen. A new reign of terror … well, more like a minute or two of confusion.

There were two race starts, one for small children and newbies, another for the big dogs. To my surprise, LG ran over to the first start. So I went with him. We started. I put on my special move (wandered off the line a little) and it was a miracle - the current blew me past everyone like a shot. LG caught back up with me a little ways back in from the bridge and we played chicken with a freighter. LG won and backed down the freighter (he has it on video). The two of us were way ahead going past Blunt point (Angel Isl.) and pretty much even. We even chatted a bit. A couple miles from the finish I caught a monster ride and dropped him. I held a 30 sec lead across the finish. I've never been first across and the euphoria didn't die until they posted the actual course times for both starts. There was a few faster than me. LB had bouy trouble. DJ had a pretty good race (I go that fast in my dreams). The eats were superb. Didn't stay for awards since we had to shuttle back to fort baker. Most important: the conditions were good. Not as big as Champs last year, but really good. This was a flood current and I did the maybe 13 mile run in just over an hour and half. Ave speed = 9mph.

awesome day

rd

Old Guys with Phat Skis Rule………
Larry Goolsby
08/15/10 #9033

Or is it fat guys with old skis rule? Anyway, the old guys had their day. Reivers, Larry and I did the downwinder with our S1-R's. We were expecting some big conditions but between a flood tide and milder wind,the big conditions didn't appear. We did get some sections where the current turned the bay into a mxed-up mess that resembled a washing machine on steroids, but over half the race was on flat conditions. The racers were divided up into two groups with group 1 starting 20 mnutes ahead of group 2. The 3 of chose group 1 so that we could finish earlier while the top dogs landed in group 2 for a chance of better wind. The race started with a couple of OC-2's and a Fenn Elite in the lead, followed by me, Larry B, Johan and Reivers. This was the pecking order before we reached the north buttress of the bridge and by the time we were past the buttress, Reivers was in first, Jude was second and I wast third. There was a bitch of a current with a mixed up rip under the bridge. Reivers hugged the buttress and cliffs while Jude followed him. I saw Reivers go from 7th to first in about 1 minute flat so I decided to follow him. Reivers turned at the buoy set near Diablo Point while I am chasing him out into the channel where the good current was. I took a chance and went way out into the channel and was cruising at 10.5 to 11.5 mph and caught Reivers.

Reivers and I traded off the lead until we reached Angel island and the winds started kicking up some waves. He pulled ahead at the Angel Buoy and it was all I could do to keep him in reach. The waves grew in size as we got clser to the finish. It had turned into a surfing race with Reivers finishing first while I took second place about 30 seconds behind him. Larry B.got lost along the way and gave up a couple of minutes looking for the right buoy, so he finshed further back (Thank you god for listening to my prayers).

Then the second group started coming in with Carter Johnson in first place and Patrick Hemmens Second. They came in about 10 minutes faster than our time. DJ ended up 7th overall, Reivers was 17th, I was 18th, and Larry B. was around 25th.

Great race, great food, and it was good to meet more of the friendly local paddlers. Thank you John Dye for helping with the shuttle. Helen Workman seemed to be running the show and she was doing a fantastic job of getting us registered, organized, and started. The three of us agreed that we need a Helen to help keep us on track in Bellingham.

Fun race and we still have 6 more days of paddling to do. BTW, I think my 22 lb. S1-R is now for sale. I paddled a wide seat R and I fell in love with the feel. I'm going R shopping this week and if I find one, I will sell my other one.
LG

Re: Old Guys with Phat Skis Rule………continued
Larry <lbussing@…>
08/16/10 #9037

So heres my version: Reivers and I scouted the charts before the race and he pointed out the buoy at Angel Island and how I should angle to the South in order to the miss the bad wave angle at Berkley. Good idea, everyone was saying the same thing.

Once the race started, things were looking good until I rounded the North butress of the Bridge. I saw the stern of a boat ahead of me move over 2 feet (what the ???)and then mine did(what the ????). Slap on the right, slap on the left, then I had OC's on my right so I couldn't paddle. Now I'm dead in the water getting nuked by serious chop. (or more likely going backward. By the time I remember what an arm paddle is and can get one started, Reivers has passed me on the right. I finally got some speed up, got past the bridge and had a good paddle to the Diablo buoy, passing several boats who didn't have the same problem with the bridge. After rounding, I headed out into the current, planning to go just to the left of center to get a better angle to Angel Is. Ah, must have got too left of center, because I got into some more serious chop after the bridge that sent the guy ahead of me swimming. While I was making my way to him, a huge tourist boat decided to roar past within 50 ft of me. I chose to throw my legs over while the wake past. The guy got back on his boat, and I'm trying to get my arm paddle working.

I got things back together before Angel Is. and make up serious ground on the paddlers ahead of me. Round the buoy and make the angle correction to get back out into the bay. After 10 minutes of paddling I notice that I've got a much better course than everyone else! (They're going to have trouble.“ Then I can hear a motor boat coming up on me fast. “Christ, I hope he doesn't run over me.” When he stops, I look over and its the rescue boat. “Thats not the right buoy.” ??? “What the **!@” I look over and see a large orange buoy farther down. I try to run down the paddler ahead of me again when I look for the buoy and realize that its moving.??? “Shit, thats a paddlers shirt! Where the hell is the buoy?” I don't see anything, so I have no choice but to follow the boat ahead. When I get within a few hundred yards of the buoy, I finally spot it, camoflauged to match the color of the water and smack dab in the middle of a nice current. Now I start to angle over and am having a great time catching rides. I finally caught the boat ahead, Johann, close to the finsh and started a sprint. I still don't know who finished first. It was within inches. Not my best performance, but I had fun and learned the course. Maybe I'll have my arm paddle down for the rough stuff next week.

Larry B