Pinjarra to Ravenswood Race
At 1.00am on Friday morning I realised I hadn’t entered the race so I jumped out of bed, turned the computer on and lucky for me the entries hadn’t closed. They usually close at midnight on Thursday.
I had come in the top 3 of the last few Marathon Races in division 3 so I thought I had better put myself up to division 2 which was a big gamble as paddlers in that division are much faster, so I expected to be left behind.
Paddlers gathered at Pinjarra boat ramp. Chris Hollier was the main organiser with John Tomczac being the main official on the day. The tide was low, even lower than some other years so it was destined to be hard work.
John sent two grids off and then it was our turn. I looked at all the paddlers lined up and there wasn’t one that I could confidently beat, so I should have kept in div 3, I thought. With 14 on the line it was a bit of a squeeze so I went for the outside lane, probably not the best place to be as I was
closer to the trees and the shallows.
With 15 seconds to go paddlers started creeping over the line and then we were off. Some took off like
rockets but that was expected and Baillie Liddle was amongst that group. She flew. I was just keen to keep up with Simon O’Sullivan but he was a few boats over, however I kept up with Thomas Pawlowski who is faster than me – so it was yippee. With the eagerness for paddlers to get in front, the commotion it created, the stirred up water and shallow corners meant that Thomas soon dropped me, moved over to the left side of the paddlers and never to be seen
again.
All wasn’t lost as I did manage to get on Simon’s wash which was quite a relief but it wasn’t easy keeping there, especially on the
shallow U shaped corners. At least I was ahead of Ron Clarke who must have had a few problems with the wash as we took off. Eventually we caught up with a paddler who had slowed down but he was on the right side of Simon, the side I was on and with little room to pass I had to fall back. Within minutes I was back on Simon’s wash but now on the left side which I soon found wasn’t the best place to sit. I was getting soaked. I kept being smacked in the face and chest with water that flicked off
his left blade. It wasn't a comfortable position to be in and my kayak was filling up with water very quickly so I moved further away trying to get the right distance to avoid being drenched.
It’s very common for paddlers including myself to flick more water off the left blade than their right one. On the right the controlling hand positions the paddle blade in the water squarely and it usually comes out square but with the left swivel hand the paddle blade goes in square but it often comes out slightly angled at the end of the stroke as the paddler swivels it back to the controlling hand. (there
would be a better explanation but I can't think of one at this time.) The water on that blade then gets lifted and propelled further away from the boat. I and many other paddlers are guilty of it but it’s a good ploy to get paddlers off your wash.
The shallows didn’t help for good paddling but it was when the faster paddlers came by which made me grunt a lot more because paddlers around me would speed up and try to get onto their wash. As we came to the end of a short straight passing a few boats from the grid before us, out of nowhere Luke, Brett and Tom came flying around the outside of us like three hovercrafts barely
touching the water.
They were soon lost in the distance however Simon and Francis kept up a steady pace and at a shallow spot I was spat
off the side wash and ended up behind Simon again which wasn’t the best place to be but at least I was still up with him. A little further we caught up with Kris Smith, and moments later Darryl Long and a couple other boats started passing. Their wash threw us about, then I saw Kris suddenly shoot forward getting onto a nice wave that the passing boats had created. He zoomed along at good speed for a few minutes before the wave eased and he could no longer stay on it. Unfortunately I bogged
down and Simon and Francis got away from me. I wasn’t happy especially when I could see the gap between us widening.
The corners were still
quite shallow which didn’t help anyone. At one corner John Hilton came flying by, weaving in and out of the boat traffic I’m sure on a mission to catch some of the front-runners. If only I could keep up with him I would have been much happier. Maybe that’s what the slower paddlers were thinking when I passed them.
I eventually caught up with John Van Maanen who started two minutes ahead of me but he was a hard man to shake. I paddled harder but I still couldn’t shake him. He said, you don’t have to try and beat me you are already two minutes ahead. He didn’t understand that I was trying to catch back up to Francis
and Simon who were now 40-50 metres ahead. I kept the pressure on and eventually I left John behind and somehow managed to catch Francis and Simon and got on Simon’s wash again which was pretty pleasing but it had taken a bit out of me. Ron also caught up and he did one better and got onto Frances side wash, but I was happy behind Simon as my energy levels were pretty depleted.
Simon’s rear wash still wasn’t the best place to be because every time we hit a shallow part I would bog down and get left behind and have to sprint again to get over the wash and have to catch up again. But beggars couldn't be
choosers.
I noticed that Simon kept looking behind. Was it a glance with him thinking, keep up Terry old mate you can do it, or was it a glance
of him hoping that he had shaken me off! Although Simon and I paddled and raced together last week and were on the same side, I’m sure he was hoping to leave me behind today, - I would.
The worst thing about racing with other faster classes starting behind is that when the faster boats go by they can easily break up a group of paddlers as each paddler fights to get on their wash. The weaker paddler usually suffers and I was the weaker paddler today. Our group of four were going okay, but then the powerhouse team of Mark and Hugh in their Epic double came flying by like a tornado and Simon
took off trying to get their wash. Although Simon was unsuccessful lasting only seconds it did create a gap between us and after spending a lot of time sprinting to keep up and bogging down in the shallows I didn’t have the strength left to sprint after him again. All three of them were soon gone.
To lose the group is a paddlers worst nightmare and to see them slowly creeping away from me leaving me to fight through their wash, to paddle hard but seemingly getting nowhere was agonising. At that point I knew I had lost the race, they were better paddlers but it wasn’t the time to feel sorry for myself I still had to work hard,
switch to damage control and try to keep the margin between us as low as possible. Even though these three had beaten me, there were still others in the race who wanted to beat me so it was important not to give in, but to give it my all. At least now there was deeper water.
I saw the guys pass Jane and leave her behind just after the houses and boats on the right side of the river. Jane was several hundred metres away but she was now my target. I was still going my hardest but the boys were getting further ahead. It’s not that I cared about losing to Francis or Simon as they were much younger but I was
more concerned about Ron who is my age and who I will be competing against at the WA and the Australian Marathon Champs. He was looking quite at ease when he came by me earlier and sat with the other two, so he probably had more to give which is great for WA but not so good for me. I will certainly have my work cut out to beat him.
One more corner and then there was a big wide straight and the finish line way at the end. Jane was still a little ahead and I had to catch her so I fought 'tooth and nail' getting closer and closer. I pulled up along side and a few metres before the end I caught up and just pipped her on the
line.
Although it didn't work out the way I wanted, it was still another great race thanks to Simon, Francis and Ron and to the organisers
Chris, John and all the other volunteers.
Results here: https://www.webscorer.com/race?raceid=129774
