When we came to a 360 degree turn around a buoy we were mixed in with several other paddlers and as we tried to round it another single ski clipped our stern so it became near impossible to turn the long V10 double. When we finally got around Matt and Kate
were well ahead and Joe and Gordon in the double kayak were level with us. We lifted our pace and eventually got back on Matt and Kate and settled back in. - Phew that was close.
As we were passing Dave Berglund and then Darryl Long they tried getting onto Matt and Kate’s wash and that is when we lost their wash and to be never to see them again. Once back in the main canal on the way home it was pretty hard work as the tide was against us but we kept plugging in and then it was time to cross the river and into the harbour and
paddle our final kilometre to the finish.
As we were entering the harbour I noticed Joe and Gordon beside us. That wasn’t good. At that particular time we were sitting 4th. As we turned right into the last canal I left a gap so I didn’t wipe them out on the rocks but they didn’t return the favour at the next left hand turn when they got slightly ahead.
On the last few hundred metres we were slightly behind them and as we caught up with single paddlers it was a fight to keep as close as we could, but they managed to keep ahead and pipped us by 4 seconds.
We were very happy with our race as we were only 1 minute behind the leaders. We beat Bruce and Warren and both Joe and Gordon are much faster paddlers than we are in singles so to be 4 seconds behind was encouraging.
Thanks to Doug and all the volunteers for putting on a good show. And many thanks to the Mandurah Kayak Club volunteers who were at each corner so we didn’t get lost.
After the race I jumped on my V10 single and went for another 14 km paddle around the canals to make up 26kms for the morning.