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Pinjarra to
Ravenswood
I had been thinking about
the Pinjarra to Ravenswood Race for a week or two. Back in
1981 & 2000 I paddled a Wildwater C1 and established two
records. My second attempt was better than my first so now
I'm another 13 years older I thought I would see if I had
lost any of my shine.
Now a C1 is not your normal boat, you
have to kneel in it and paddle it with a single bladed paddle.
You have to steer it by doing a subtle steering stroke called
the J stroke and by leaning the boat. Because you are kneeling
you are virtually sitting on your feet. Of course this can
mean that your legs can and do go to sleep.
In a C1 you kneel
In the last month I have paddled the
C1 about 10 times. I can usually do about 30 minutes before
my legs go totally asleep so it was going to be a battle just
to get through two hours on my knees. Just in case I got dead
legs in the race and capsized I decided to wear a PFD for
safety sake. Otherwise swimming to the shore might be a little
difficult without legs.
A wild water C1
About 90 paddlers gathered at the boat
ramp in Pinjarra. Many years ago the race started upstream
under the road bridge, but it was too congested, so it was
changed when a better start point was found. Because I was
paddling a slow boat I put myself in the 4th division with
all the plastics and other slower boats. Other paddlers couldn't
believe I was paddling such a boat. Many hadn't even seen
a WC1 before as very few people in WA paddle one. Paddlers
think a C1 is too hard to paddle so very few try, but with
practise anyone could do it, they just need to give it a go
and persevere for a few months.
Peter Martin shouted go and we were
off. There was a lot of wash so I took off carefully. When
you only paddle on one side it's not easy to keep the boat
straight. As I wallowed on the wash, young Zac Ashby took
off like a rocket. I'm not quite sure why he was in the 4th
division as he is a very fast paddler. I think he may have
a confidence problem as he said earlier that he hadn't paddled
17kms before. That was no excuse Zac!
Grid one taking off. Photo Anne Crouch
The 2nd grid taking off. Photo
Peter Ashby
With a few faster boats taking the lead
I followed a group of plastics which were bunched up with
a few kayaks mixed in. The wash wobbled me a little as the
faster plastics started to move away but I hung on to the
tail end. I got into a rhythm and hit the first corner behind
the main pack but at least I was ahead of a few paddlers.
Fallen trees and snags were evident on the corners but I wasn't
too bothered as I had no rudder to break, I only had one paddle
blade to think about and I could slide over anything. We paddled
corner after corner and at one corner I saw Tony Fry capsized
and pull himself to shore. He said he hit a rock.
The 3rd grid taking off. Photo Anne Crouch
Photo Peter Ashby
Around the same corner Jane Liddle was
turning her Epic Ski. She had hit something really hard and
broken her rudder so she was heading back to the start. With
all the snags I expected to see more rudders broken and I
did. I managed to get onto a green Spirit PRS ski of Gavin
Murton. He had lost the main pack, but with his help I thought
we might have a chance to gain a little ground.
4th grid taking off. Photo Peter Ashby
We soon had other faster paddlers passing
us. Josh Kippin was one of them. He was way ahead of other
division 1 paddlers. In fact in the last few races there has
been very few paddlers of his calibre take part. It's a shame
really as it indicates that we don't have many good marathon
K1 paddlers in WA taking part in races at the moment. That
is really sad.
Another crowd of paddlers came by. They
whipped up the water causing me to get washed to the left
and then to the right. I lost Gavin and then caught up with
him again and then lost him again. Then another group started
to pass and amongst them was Michael Leahy in his multisport
and a few metres behind Martin Watson the old guy who paddles
like a young guy who beat me last week. I would have been
in the same class if I hadn't picked to paddle a C1, but they
would have been too fast for me anyway!
Gavin was in front of me and we were
catching up with Doug Hodson on a white Endorfinn, but before
we caught him I passed Gavin and then went on to pass Doug
too, so that help to make me feel pretty happy. As we passed
under some powerlines Doug asked if we were half way. I didn't
know but apparently we were. The river started to widen as
more paddlers passed. Then Gavin managed to get a ride on
the double of Greg and Paul and sped away from me and managed
to get a good 25 metre lead. Alan Moreby started passing and
Mick Mantell was several metres behind him. I was quite surprised
because Mick was usually further forward and when I managed
to get on his wash for a minute I just knew he wasn't paddling
well but eventually he got away from me.
As we turned another corner the wind
got stronger and it made it quite difficult for me to steer
the C1. It's bad enough with two paddle blades but with one
paddle it was frustrating. Gavin was still a little ahead
and I was trying desperately to catch up but the wind came
at me again. This time it was at an angle that it really affected
my steering. It was so strong I had to change sides twice
and I usually never change sides. I felt quite cheated as
the wind slowed me considerable and I lost my rhythm after
doing so well.
Anthony Mee had passed me earlier and
as I turned a corner Mick and Anthony were there hardly moving.
Anthony had lost his steering and wasn't able to keep up the
pace. He had been about the 4th ski that either had a broken
rudder or the steering had gone. I left him behind so at least
I wasn't going to be last over the line.
Sam and Ray near the finish. Photo Anne
Crouch
Houses began to come into view and I
knew I was getting closer to the end. I didn't even feel tired
and the best of all my legs still had some feeling. I was
fitter than I even imagined. I passed the row of houses and
got closer to wider Murray Bend. It was here that I saw Roger
Smith, an old friend taking photos from the bank. We shouted
to each other. Once around the corner I could see the caravan
park and the pub at the end of the long straight which was
near the finish line. Yiippee, I was nearly there. We used
to finish at the pub but I don't think we drank enough so
the finish got put on the other side of the river. In the
80s/90s there was a kayak club situated at the finish line
but when a lot of the main stayers moved on, the club just
folded.
I pulled onto my paddle harder. It had
been 13 years since I paddled this race in a C1 and I was
hoping to get close to the time I did back then. In 1980 I
paddled it in 1 hour 48 minutes 57 seconds, in 2000 I must
have been much fitter or had a faster boat as I paddled it
in 1 hour 42 minutes 32 secs. I found out later that this
year I paddled it in 1 hour 48 minutes and 18 seconds so I
was faster than 1980 but a few minutes behind 2000. In 1980
we would have started at the bridge therefore making it a
longer paddle..
Me near the finish. Photo Ann Crouch
It wasn't long before I reached the
houseboats near the finish and passed other paddlers who had
just finished and were getting out. At this point I could
feel someone breathing down my neck. I didn't know who it
was or how long he had been there but I still beat him over
the line. It was Patrick Irwin in his down river kayak.
Tailed by Patrick Irwin. Photo Ann Crouch
I couldn't believe it, I had hardly
done any C1 paddling but I crossed the line feeling really
great and doing a reasonable time.
I paddled back to the beach and joined
a queue of other paddlers getting out one by one. Having paddled
on my knees for nearly two hours my legs weren't that numb
and although I struggled to get out the cockpit, after a few
steps I was right as rain.
It was another good race. I still felt
that I have enough energy to live a few more years yet. It's
going be such a shame when I don't have the energy to race!
Thanks to Peter Martin and his team for organising the event.
After the racing season, which is not far away Peter is hanging
up his boots and grabbing his paddle and hoping to race next
year. Although I don't like the division system, I do appreciate
all the work Peter, Judy, Bronwyn and other volunteers have
done over the last 2-3 years.
Results here: http://www.wa.canoe.org.au/default.asp?Page=26030
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