Surfski Knowledge Base

kathleen petereit
04/15/07 #2785

Going on a roadtrip to a race with any of the B'ham guys is never boring ! I hooked up with Mike G for the Ridge to River race in Wenatchee Washington. We got there fri so we could do a run of the river before the race. Dave Shearer and his wife were there as well getting ready to do a run in their canoe so we agreed to give them a ride back after the run. Mike says just follow me, I know the river I used to live here and train on it. I noticed he was leading me through some pretty crazy water which Dave seemed to avoid. Then over he goes, he hit some rocks and decided to bail so he wouldn't crack his ski. I looked back and he was struggling to get back on but I couldn't turn in that water to wait or help. When he caught up I told him I was sticking with the canoeists as they seem to know what they are doing.

We get to the end of the run wet and very cold. Mike's wife, our ride is nowhere to be seen. My teeth are chattering and Dave took his still dry shirt off and gave it to me. Bless his heart. They never even got a splash in that 3 foot wide canoe. Mike hollers from the public park washroom and says he found heat. I go in and he has the hand dryer blowing warm air. He strips off his wet clothes and is standing there in his bikini style threadbare speedo with a big hole in it and sagging butt. Dave and his wife walk in and Dave has a look of horror on his face, his wife turned around and walked out. They decide to call a cab and Mike is now standing bent over with his butt under the hand dryer, hogging it, trying to warm his arse. I am thinking this is not a pretty picture and the thought of being stuck there all night was not a good one ! Then Dave yells….she's here, get your clothes on. Whew !

Race day comes and 147 teams are ready for action. Most of the boats were surfski's. Many of them old originals from years back. Very interesting looking at them all. Kirk was there as well. The race was a blast, the water was running fast. I raced my huki special. We went through standing waves on several areas and I had a hard time navigating some parts. My ski got spun around when some standing waves hit me on the beam of my bow. I ran over a log and bent my 4“ rudder, but stayed upright.

Kirks men's team was 2nd in their category and 2nd overall, He had one of the top times in the kayak leg of 28:37. My women's team was 1st in our category and 9th overall, I was 12th overall in the kayak leg with a time of 40:37. Mikes mixed team was 24th overall and his time was 45:48. This is a really fun action packed race and worth the drive.

Kathleen

Re: racing surfski on the wenatchee river
Michael Gregory
04/16/07 #2786

There are two broad headings for writing, fiction and non-fiction. If, you guys buy into Kirk (yes, he is a paddling beast - but…) having a split of 28 min on that R2R course and KP's tale of washroom shenanigans, then you can not possibly discern the important difference between those headings.

Yeah, like Dick Cheney has no interest in Halliburton. Or there's no oil reserves in Iraq.

Whatever, Mike.

Re: racing surfski on the wenatchee river
kathleen petereit
04/16/07 #2787

I agree with Mike about Kirk's super fast time. This morning there were some posts on their website about some times being messed up. But at the same time if you know that river like he does and catch the right lines I can see being super fast. Kirk probably blasted through the Wenatchee to the Columbia, whereas I know I was being careful and slowing down in some areas as I did not want to break my ski, which I am sure Mike was doing as well.

Kathleen

Re: racing surfski on the wenatchee river
Larry Goolsby
04/16/07 #2788

Sounded like a typical MG road trip to me……
LG

Re: racing surfski on the wenatchee river
steven wort
04/16/07 #2789

I couldn't find any Kirk listed in the results with a 28 minute kayak split?

Btw, for the 8 mile paddle, 28 minutes works out to be an average speed of over 16 mph, so highly unlikely unless Jet propelled no matter how well you read the river.

Interestingly, I couldn't even find the fastest 4 paddlers? The results don't seem to let you order them by each leg, so I tried looking thru the top teams, and the fastest times I could see were

4th - Shawn Koos - 47:10.320
5th - Kirk Christensen - 47:55.560
6th - Mike Gregory - 50:03.470
7th - Torin Koos - 51:25.940

and further down the field …

57th - Steve Wort - 01:02:16.520 - paddling an Ocean Kayak Sprinter.

Hopefully next year I will be able to find a slightly faster (and more comfortable) boat to paddle :)

My race report is here - http://stevewort.spaces.live.com/blog/cns!E92C37D90048E8B4!1499.entry
This years results are here - http://stevewort.spaces.live.com/blog/cns!E92C37D90048E8B4!1500.entry

Last years race report for comparison is here - http://stevewort.spaces.live.com/blog/cns!E92C37D90048E8B4!466.entry

Also interesting to look back a year and see my first session in a TK1 - http://stevewort.spaces.live.com/blog/cns!E92C37D90048E8B4!471.entry

Re: racing surfski on the wenatchee river
ynotocsalev <tonyvelasco@…>
04/16/07 #2790

Yeah, they have updated the results to show the correct split times now. At first many of the times were wrong or just blank, but they are accurate now.

Very impressive showing by the Whatcom Paddlers crew and other locals, with Kirk, Mike, Kathleen, Darrel Sofield (ironman rec champ), Steven Wort, and Dave S & Susan B all having great paddles.

I really wanted to do the R2R myself this year, but with the gimpy shoulder and a baby almost here, it just wasn't the right year to head over, will definitely make it a plan for next year though! I need to decide whether it will be a rec canoe, my outrigger, or if the water is at the right level, a marathon boat. The Wenatchee is tough to do in a marathon boat most years, but it has been done. However, you are probably just as fast most years in a good rec canoe, like a Jensen 18 or something like that, since you don't have to worry as much about stability, getting swamped, etc.

Besides Ridge to River, Ski to Sea, and Mountains to Sound, I plan on doing the Snow to Surf on Vancouver Island next year as well, along with doing the Bellingham Traverse. Fun times, to be sure! Hopefully the shoulder will heal up well enough this year to make those plans possible for next year.

Re: racing surfski on the wenatchee river
Michael Gregory
04/16/07 #2794

-Congrats Steve. R2R is a pretty tough race and 3:12 is a good solid solo finish time!
-The faster times were from the Short Course Event.
-The Wenatchee folks have an awesome race course and put on a very classy event with top level talent. Torin Koos (the winner of this years 27th anniversary bash) is a US Ski team member, Olympian, and currently one of the best XC ski sprinters on this hot little planet (his Dad, Shaun, won it in “85). This race truly deserves the support of our NW athletic community. They don't make 'em like this anymore guys.

Best, Mike.