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Classic Paddle
The Classic Paddle is the
only race that starts with the city sky scrapers in eye shot,
although we do pass through the city when competiting in the
City Lights race and we get glimpses when racing around Heirisson
Island in the Claisebrook Classic
The water looked calm as we looked out
towards the Perth skyline but Mark Lawson told me it looked
a lot sloppier around the corner. John Breed's son was our
driver for the day which saved John and I doing that long
car shuffle. This event has a mixture of kayakers, surf ski
paddlers, row boats, outriggers and dragon boats.
There was a crowd but it didn't look
as big as other years but it was good to be able to walk around
and chat to heaps of paddlers I knew. To my delight there
were lots of Epic skis sitting on the foreshore ready to go,
an indication that they are very popular and that they are
the ski to paddle. Because they are so beautiful to look at
and so amazing to paddle, why wouldn't you not own one? They
are a very classy ski!
Listening to the briefing
I caught up with several paddlers who
I hadn't seen for a long time and it was really great to see
Bob Welch who I hadn't seen for near on 30 years. Like me
he has aged, but you never lose that friendly banter that
you once had. Back in the late 70s Bob, Doug Lacklinson and
Ken Vidler, used to be three of WAs fastest kayak paddlers.
Steve Pilton, our Saturday morning trainer wasn't that far
behind them.
The race had a big line up with names
like Reece Baker, Travis England and Brendan Rice paddling
skis and Darryl Long and Mathew Dean in the kayaks. There
are very few kayaks take part in this race as it is usually
quite rough and some paddlers have difficulty keeping upright.
Of course there were the other big names like Bolland and
Breed who were competing in the double ski and Jenkins and
Ayerst competing in the plastic doubles.
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Aaron Jenkins and Ron
Ayerst two of our Saturday morning paddlers at the start.
Everyone got on the water soon after
the briefing. We talked to a few people as we eased our way
towards the start line. Bob Welch paddling a double ski came
beside us and he had a much prettier paddler in the back seat,
than I did. No reflection on John but Bob's daughter was stunning.
The different groups started racing
off. The row boats, outriggers and dragon boats went off first
followed by the singles and the single plastics, then all
the doubles. We were on the fifth grid, 3 mins after the plastics
and when the plastics raced off they left one paddler struggling
to get back on to his ski and it was one of the most stable
ones. He really did struggle and couldn't get back on but
finally the rescue boat helped him out. When paddling in rough
water new paddlers do need to consider how are they going
to back on or back into a boat if they capsize. It could result
in a very dangerous situation if you are far from the shoreline.
The start line seemed to be extremely
angled, so angled in fact, that it appeared that the buoy
must have moved. A few paddlers took advantage of the angle
by going close to the buoy over near the wall where it definitely
looked much shorter. I was in two minds to go over but I decided
to stay with the pack. As we took off it wasn't as chaotic
as last year and we had a lot more room to swing our paddles.
There were definitely less paddlers than last year. The boats
that were closer to the wall instantly got in front and left
everyone behind so I know where I will start next year!
We got a smooth start though the water
wasn't at all smooth. John and I hadn't paddled together in
rough water so it was going to be a challenge. My bum was
a lot smaller than the seat pan so I was slipping and sliding.
I just hoped that I wouldn't slide off and capsize. It then
might be us struggling to get back on the ski.
We soon left Bob Welch and his daughter
behind, but the K3 of Kevin White, his wife Wendy and Adam
his son were way ahead. So were young Coran and Michael who
started over to the right and shot off like rockets. Within
our pack there were about 5 or 6 skis just ahead although
2 or 3 others were already chasing down the K3. My target
for the day was not to win as I knew we wouldn't, but to beat
Guy Knowlden and his partner. I remember the first time I
met Guy I was paddling along near Garvey Park and I stopped
to talk to him. I think he had just started paddling. He was
paddling an Ocean Kayaks sprinter. I told him about our Saturday
morning training and soon after he joined us. Like most new
comers to the sport he wasn't that fast at first but when
he caught the paddling bug and started racing it didn't take
him long to become fast.
We had Guy and partner in our sights
but we didn't seem to be gaining. They were with a bunch of
other double skis nearby them. It wasn't too long before we
were catching up with the slower plastics and I was trying
not to get boxed in as we passed them. The slop was even sloppier
and at times sloppier still. When it got sloppier and sloppier
I could feel the other skis were edging away and when the
team of Andre, Adrian and Vince started passing us in their
K3 it wasn't a good feeling as we couldn't match their pace.
The waves were washing from all directions and our foot wells
were soon flooded. Our venturis were closed off so we needed
to open them, John quickly did his first and I opened mine
as we were crossing the Pelican Point sand bar.
No one likes shallow water but it seemed to be helping us.
The water calmed and being two relatively light paddlers,
well John is, I'm a bit podgy, we started to catch the others
up. By the end of the shallows I felt as if we were back in
the race. We had gained on 3 of the double skis and we even
got closer to Andre, Adrian and Vince in the K3. I had my
mind on catching Kevins K3 but 5 minutes later I realised
I must have been dreaming.
We were definitely back in the race and I was getting really
excited as we got closer to our opposition but then the rough
water came back and I could feel us slipping away again. As
the ski yawned to one side I even missed a paddle stroke but
I carried on as nothing had happen and John seemed to get
back in time without a missed beat.
We were now passing several paddlers
we knew, but it wasn't time to stop and chat. I apologise
to anyone I didn't say hello too. The rough water continued
to keep us cautious. Our venturis were working really well
as waves flooded the cockpits time after time. We started
to pass Samatha Pilton who was about 50 metres behind her
opposition Kylie Broad. The water conditions weren't good
for wash hanging and we were just too fast, so Sam had no
chance of wash hanging us and I didn't fancy slowing to give
her a lift. We were several metres over to the left of Kylie
when we started to pass her but when she caught sight of us
she came straight across to us hoping to get a lift. Luckily
for Samantha she wasn't able to catch us, although in the
end Kylie still won.
The waves never got any calmer and we
missed another beat but we plugged on and when a calmer spot
developed we powered on in the hope of catching up. When Point
Walter sand spit came into view across the choppy bay it was
a great sight as I had the thoughts of calmer waters on the
other side. About a kilometre away from the sand spit I felt
the ski run a lot better. There was more form in the waves
which allowed us to put more power into our stroke. The other
skis were still well ahead but after we picked up the pace
we started closing in. It was amazing how fast we were catching
the others. It was the best part of the race and I could feel
a new lease of life. We were even catching up with the K3
with Andre, Adrian and Vince. Now this was racing and I loved
it. About 100 metres from the sand we passed one of the skis
and we were only 3 metres behind Guy and his partner and the
K3 was also just ahead. We leapt off and I started to trot
but I dont think John had the same tactic in mind.
We lost several metres in the spit crossing
where people were cheering, but after a hard paddle we managed
to catch up with Guy and his partner. We sat behind them for
a minute or two and then made a break and steered well over
to the right to make sure they couldn't grab our wash. Everything
was good they were now behind but suddenly a big ferry started
passing and I could see them riding a couple of good waves
and overtake us again. We were too close to the shoreline
to use the waves to our advantage so we lost them again.
As we came up to the corner near Point
Roe Park two row boats were up ahead. We crossed the shallows
and with a few boats around us we started to get penned in.
We were faster than the row boat and as we closed in their
blades started to get close, too close. Colin Grimshaw was
slightly ahead and for us to be able to pass the row boat
I had to ask Colin to give us some space. He did and we were
soon around them. We were now catching up with more traffic
so I had to be careful not to get penned in again.
We started our chase again, turned the
corner at the boat club and hit an incoming tide. For a few
minutes we seemed to be slowing down. I just hoped all the
others boats were feeling the same pain. We managed to catch
up with Guy and his partner again, got on their wash and stayed
there for a few moments. When I noticed they were about to
go the the left of two boats we accelerated and steered way
over to the right. We soon caught up with a Dragon boat. One
of the paddlers in the boat shouted my name, but we didn't
make conservation, we just pushed on by. There was another
row boat ahead and several singles skis. The big heavy posts
of the boat club were getting closer and with the two big
boats cutting the corner beside us, and with the other singles
that we were passing getting pushed towards the posts we had
little room to pass. As we passed one single ski, John clipped
a post with his paddle but we managed to sneak through and
beyond the posts and by this time we could see the finish
line. At least we were still ahead of Guy and the other double
ski so times were good
I was feeling pretty happy as I knew
that as long as we could keep the pressure on we would beat
them. Suddenly I felt very vulnerable, as we hit the shallows.
The shallow water knocked the wind out of us and it felt as
if someone was tugging us back. If Alaine had been on the
backseat I would have said she wasn't paddling but I had John
and he would never stop paddling. It was tough going and I
thought the others had a chance of catching up but they must
have been having a tough time as well as we kept well in front
of them.
We crossed the line ahead of 3 double
skis that we were chasing most of the race so we were very
happy and even more happy after beating Guy and his partner
S.S. Weyers. Somehow though despite starting on the same grid
and beating them, their time was over a minute faster than
ours. It seemed that there were several times that were not
right so I don't know what happened, were we faster than our
time or what? With timing chips on our ankles how can they
mess up our times? Despite that it was a good race.
John and I at the end
feeling quite fresh
Last year Alaine and I did a time of
1.12.20 and this year with John we were only a minute faster.
Was our time right this year, was it the rougher weather or
was it that Alaine wasn't that bad after all.
Vince Lanadi, Adrian
Quick and John Breed at the end feeling a little chilly. In
the background Ron and Aaron carrying their plastic double
kayak up. They had beaten the more favoured team of Greg Murphy
and Paul Hannigan so they too were very happy paddlers.
Pauline Lane and Toni
Cronk broke a paddle along the way but luckily they had packed
a CDU split paddle which got them home
The were 100 less paddlers this year
than last year which is hard to understand why.
The 3 paddlers I had in last weeks newsletter
Reece Baker, Travis England and Brendan Rice were the first
three ski paddlers across the line. Shaun Rice who was pictured
two weeks ago was the first over 45.
Ruth Highman won the ladies class on
her Epic V14 in blistering fashion.
John and I were the first Double ski
55 and over and the fourth fastest time in the double skis.
Ron and Aaron beat the more favoured
Greg and Paul so they went home on cloud nine and were back
on the water two days later getting more practise for another
showdown.
Results go here
http://www.bluechipresults.com.au/Results.aspx?CId=11&RId=2227&EId=1
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Bird Life On
The River This Week
Near Fishmarket Reserve.
When you really look
at a cormorant in more detail you soon realise how beautiful
the are.
Mum watches over the
chicks
It's not yet feeding
time
The fluffy chicks are
dressed up like Santa
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