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Paddle Challenge
We very rarely have rain on race days
but today looked like the exception. It had rained during
the night and although it had stopped by daylight, the lingering
rain clouds looked threatening.
Paddlers arrived slowly and though there
were about 130 adult paddlers the numbers were well down from
the days when this race first started. Perhaps they could
have been at the Run for a Reason race. There were very few
doubles in the race that would keep up with T2 and Mark. I
decided to paddle a Wild Water kayak and it turned out that
there was only Patrick Irwin and Bruce McWhirter in my class.
There was no way I was going to beat Bruce, he was just too
fast. There were several paddlers from the Saturday morning
crew taking part so I had paddlers I needed to beat. A few
of them were on Epics but I was really competing against the
paddlers on plastic PRSs as they were of similar speed to
my WW kayak.
Unlike when the top guys are lining up, our grid, all plastics
and 3 WW kayaks were very placid and no one attempted to break
the line. There was only one boat to my left and with the
boat on my right heading over to the right when we took off,
I had clear water. What an amazing start, no wobbles or being
speared off to one side by boat wash.
Usually the most difficult part of paddling
a WW kayak is keeping it straight at the start of a race or
when there is a lot of boat wash. WW kayaks don't have rudders
and are designed for racing down rapids in races with 1 minute
intervals between paddlers, so there is little wash to contend
in those races unless you are passing slower paddlers. So
I decided to line up to the left side hoping to keep away
from the wash.
With clear water in front
of me I had thoughts of keeping a straight course to take
advantage of it but then when I saw David Martin move right
and shoot ahead of me I decided to follow David's route. As
we moved closer to the centre of the river another paddler
headed towards David from the other direction. It was Glenn
Stewart in his converted Spirit Racer. He had chopped 500cms
off the stern, put the rudder back on and bingo it then becomes
a short plastic but with the near speed of a long plastic.
I latched on to David's wash but with
Glen beside him his wash was going to be a problem for me
but lucky for me, Glen managed to get ahead and the water
calmed. In the meantime a group on the right side was flying
ahead. I could see Bruce, Warren, John Carrol, Brad Stewart
and about 3 others paddling like mad men and fighting it out.
John Carrol and Brad
Stewart neck
and neck. Photo Lesley Stillman
Glen caught Steve Bolger who after 500
metres was about 50 metres ahead of us and at that stage we
had no chance of catching him. Big Dave was paddling at a
cracking pace so I knew that I would benefit from his wash
if I could keep on it, which I did. There was a white PRS
on my wash and a few boats on his wash so it looked like we
had a long line of boats behind us snaking up river.
Steve Bolger and Glen
Stewart. Photo Lesley Stillman
By the time we got within 300 metres
from Sandy Beach, the fastest paddlers, Simon Roll, Josh Kippin
and Brendan Rice shot by. They were followed by T2 and Mark
in an Epic double with James Morfitt wash hanging. The faster
paddlers in lightweight boats kept coming by in packs.
David stopped paddling to lift his water
tube to his mouth. I nearly hit his rudder but I managed to
peel off, accelerate across his wash and paddle beside him.
I didn't really want to be beside him at this time as it is
harder to sit on a side wash without a rudder, than directly
behind him.
Paddlers were passing each side of us
but I was keeping up, although not having a rudder my kayak
kept being dragged towards David by the wash. Another group
passed closely by us. I expect the lead paddler was trying
to get a couple of paddlers off his wash by coming that close
to us. That is what some lead paddlers will do when other
paddlers are wash-hanging them. They cut corners and try to
drive others into the trees or the bank, or they paddle close
to other paddlers to try to get paddlers off their wash. Some
paddlers take it too serious and get too close and drive paddlers
into novices who are toddling along and minding their own
business. It happened to paddlers today, when an experienced
paddler cut off a couple of skis in the hope to shake off
his competition but he hit them. The ski paddlers weren't
happy!
The wash from another big group helped
David to shake me and he hurtled ahead. Bugger, I lost his
wash but then I found some extra power and managed to accelerate
back onto it. When chasing paddlers wash you often want to
give up and let them go when it becomes too tough, but you
always regret it when you do, so I knew I had to keep fighting
as long as I could. Once you lose a wash your arms weigh heavy,
your fighting spirit goes and you watch the paddler slowly
paddle away from you. It's not a pleasant feeling especially
if you know there are paddlers behind you,(that you want to
beat), catching you up. The pack was gone and we were back
to a steady rhythm to the turn-around point. As I turned around
the bridge pylons I had my chance to pass David and although
I gained, he still managed to keep ahead.
Packs of faster paddlers continued to
pass and David tried to take advantage of their faster pace
and chased them only to be dropped a few minutes later. Every
time he chased other paddlers it made me struggle, but he
never managed to lose me.
After Tonkin Highway bridge we started
gaining on Steve Bolger who seemed to be tiring and by the
time we reached the Ascot race course we were passing him.
He fought back but we overtook and left him behind. It was
a good feeling to have passed Steve as he is a strong paddler.
David fiddled with his water tube again
slowing right down and allowing me to get over his wash, and
get up beside him. We said nothing as we paddled, I just paddled
hard, sometimes trying to surge ahead to take the lead and
allow David to sit on my wash but he just increased his speed
when I did, so I gained nothing trying to get ahead. We both
settled in for the long haul, but I knew David was just that
little faster.
By now Chris, Peter and Rob from our
Saturday morning group on Epics had passed me. I didn't mind
too much as they were on faster boats but I was hoping at
least to keep the ladies at bay.
As David and I headed towards the Ascot
Island channel Josh and Simon were on their last few hundred
metres with Josh leading but Simon managed to get home first.
They had lost Brendan Rice by that time.
We moved around the island side by side.
No one had passed us since before Garrett Road bridge, but
as we headed into the Ascot Waters channel a few faster skis
started to pass, one being Steve Cashion. I was hoping to
get onto his wash and lose David but he was just a tad too
fast. We were soon bending our backs and watching our heads
as we ducked under the low footbridge. Tony and Cathy Fry
were stationed there hopefully with a first aid kit just in
case someone clobbered their head.
Jason Gardner has a
dream of beating me in the same class of boat one day. The
trouble is he is getting very, very close so I'm getting nervous.
Photo Lesley Stillman
When we entered the main river and had
about 400 metres to go we were both wondering how we could
get rid of the other. We both lifted the pace but it wasn't
until after paddling under the bridge when we both started
sprinting. I thought I had a good chance of scraping across
the line because I was paddling a lighter boat but David was
a big strong guy and I soon found out his physical appearance
didn't desert him. David reached the finishing gates 1 second
ahead of me.
Josh Bowman another
paddler trying to beat me on Saturday morning. Photo Lesley
Stillman
We congratulated each other, had a few
moments and then looked back to see many paddlers close behind
us. It was certainly a different race from last year when
I did it with one bladed paddle in a WWC1.
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