Canoe & Kayak Racing magazine is the newest digital publication to support flatwater and openwater paddle racing from sprints to ultra marathons.
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U.S. Surf Ski Championship draws elite paddlers from around the world U.S. Surf Ski Championship draws elite paddlers from around the world INSIDE: The scoop on SUP OC6 racing: history and the Queen Lili’uokalani Preview of the Mayor’s Cup in NYC The achievement of winning the Triple Crown Reports from the junior & senior World Sprint Championships INSIDE: The scoop on SUP OC6 racing: history and the Queen Lili’uokalani Preview of the Mayor’s Cup in NYC The achievement of winning the Triple Crown Reports from the junior & senior World Sprint Championships Recap of the MR340 from the front of the pack.
Transcript
U.S. Surf SkiChampionship draws
elite paddlers fromaround the world
U.S. Surf SkiChampionship draws
elite paddlers fromaround the world
INSIDE:The scoop on SUP
OC6 racing: history and the Queen Lili’uokalani
Preview of the Mayor’s Cup in NYC
The achievement of winning the Triple Crown
Reports from the junior & senior World Sprint Championships
INSIDE:The scoop on SUP
OC6 racing: history and the Queen Lili’uokalani
Preview of the Mayor’s Cup in NYC
The achievement of winning the Triple Crown
Reports from the junior & senior World Sprint Championships
World-class paddlers battle it out on San Francisco Bay in the 2009 U.S. Surf Ski Championships.
Page 6
Correspondent Stephen Mahalo-na digs deep into the past to give us a brief his-tory lesson about outrigger canoe racing. I bet you
didn’t know you aren’t supposed to swear or argue in or near a six-man outrigger.Before the Europeans ventured across the Atlantic, the Polyne-sians were crossing vast distances in outriggers.
One of the fastest growing paddling disciplines is stand up paddle-boarding. Cor-respondent Sean Williams gives us the down low on this exploding sport.In his article, “SUP, brah!” he describes the sports origins and benefits for those of us looking for another paddlesport or to enhance our performance in other paddling disciplines or other sports.
Canoe & Kayak RacingCanoe & Kayak Racing is a bimonthly electronic magazine containing news, articles and features about events, pad-dlers, training, race results and other information about canoe and kayak racing in the United States.
CKR seeks to promote canoe and kayak racing with editorial and pro-motional content designed to inform, educate and motivate beginners and experienced paddlers of all ages. Each issue will cover a wide range of edito-rial and promotional content from tips and how to articles to race reports and feature stories.
CKR regularly accepts by-lined edito-rial submissions with the right of final editing for style, tone, length and voice. Editorial and graphical content may not be used in any form, printed or digital, without permission of the editor with attribution.
CKR is posted bimonthly at http://is-suu.com/ckrmagazine.
Cover: Racers in the U.S. Surf Ski Champion-ships pass under the Golden Gate Bridge past the north tower. Photo by Jasmine Shahbandi.
More InsideKona becomes the center of the six-man outrigger universeThe time-honored Queen Lili’uokala outrigger canoe race in Kona, Hawai’i, attracts the world’s top OC-6 teams. Featuring a weekend of festivities, it’s the outrigger event every waterman must attend..................................page 12
Taking Manhattan by water is not as easy as it would seem: The Mayor’s CupRead this special section about the famous Mayor’s Cup in New York. This race around Manhattan features challenging waters and great prize money, but also some of the world’s fastest sea paddlers................................page 14
Ekolu Kalama of Hawai’i takes on the whole world one SUP race at a timeKalama is to SUP racing what Lance Armstrong is to cycling; the envy of his peers and a philanthropist for good measure.......................................page 20
A big PHAT challengeThe Phatwater Challenge, a marathon on the Mississippi River, attracts some of the nation’s top flatwater racers........................................................page 22
World canoe sprint championship recapSean Caven gives us a report of how Team USA and the top flatwater sprint-ers from around the world did at the ICF 2009 World Canoe Sprint Champi-onships in Halifax, Nova Scotia............................................................page 23
The mystique of the Triple Crown of canoe racingThis is the stuff of legends. Those who win these three races in a single year have their names written on the hearts and tongues of paddle racers all over North America...............................................................................page 26
Young flatwater stars race in MoscowTeam USA’s junior sprinters make a strong showing at this year’s world canoe sprint championships in Russia..................................................page 30
CR100: Good for the newbie and the wily veteranThis 100-mile race on the lower Colorado River provides opportunities for hard-nosed racing as well as a chance gain valuable experience........page 32
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From the
Editor
Aloha!
With this issue, we’re hoping to introduce many of our readers to the world of open-water racing. If you’re like me, you are landlocked and don’t know ebb from rip.
The racing world is large and varied, which is wonderfully illustrated by the fact that open-water racing is con-tested on surf skis, outrigger canoes, paddle boards, sea kayaks and a host of other platforms.
A single issue of a humble e-zine cannot hope to cover the depth and breadth of open-water racing. We will only be able to scratch the surface on this amazing sport. Rest assured, open-water racing will continue to gain coverage in CKR.
So, if we weren’t able to cover an important topic or write a profile of a famous paddler in this issue, no wor-ries, we’ll get to it in future issues. Open-water racing is simply as vast a topic as the oceans are wide.
Secondly, I also want to assure de-voted fans (I count myself one) of the Web sites out there that cover open-water racing that we have no intention of trying to usurp their turf. They do a far better job of covering these disci-
plines, and I encourage all our readers to frequent these Web sites to stay on top of the latest news and information in these disciplines.
I want to send a special mahalo to Rob Mousley of www.surfski.info for his tireless work to cover and pro-mote surf ski racing on a global scale. The folks at www.surfski.info do an amazing job and allow the world a voyeuristic look into surf ski racing in South Africa, Australia, Hawai’i and other exotic locations.
Rob’s work at the most recent U.S. Surf Ski Championship and earlier at Moloka’i allowed CKR to be able to cover those races by proxy to bring readers news and information about these two world-class events. We’re indebted to you, Rob.
There’s also a very lively gang over at www.ocpaddler.com where you can keep up with the latest in the world of outrigger paddling. It is a wealth of information about outrigger paddling, training, racing and even a chance to crack on each other a bit. Keizo, the site’s founder, keeps things simple and easy to find. But, you simply must register and enter the paddlers’ forum and engage with a great group of people who are certainly willing to share their opinions and even tell you why the other guy is wrong! It’s a fun place, believe me.
Speaking of the U.S. Surf Ski Cham-pionship, it is our feature story with sort of a play-by-play look at the race won by Australian Jeremy Cotter who held off Dawid Mocke of South Africa.
You’ll also see a special feature about the famous race around Manhattan known as the Mayor’s Cup Race. Ray Fusco and his crew put on a great prize race each year. Paddlers should
mark their dance card for this race. Do you have what it takes to “take Manhattan?”
In honor of the heritage of the outrig-ger canoe, our correspondent Stephen Mahalona writes about the history of the outrigger, the boats that enabled the largest human migration known to man.
Stephen will also give us a report about the world’s largest long distance (outrigger) canoe races named in honor of the last Hawai’ian monarch, Queen Lili’uokalani. He’s part of a team from Texas that made the long journey to join the hundreds of other teams to race the hallowed waters off the Kona coast.
Not to get too far away from flatwater racing, correspondent Wally Werd-erich continues to give us a look into the USCA world with his report on the Triple Crown Racing series. Only the biggest names in canoe racing can claim the prize of Triple Crown Champion.
Coach Shaun Caven reports from the World’s Canoe Sprint Championships that were held in Halifax, Nova Sco-tia, Canada. Coach Caven, one-time British canoe sprint coach, now is the director and head coach of the Okla-homa City program.
And if you still haven’t found any-thing you like, take a look at the promotional story about the Phatwater Challenge, the annual race on the Mis-sissippi River that finishes at Natchez, Miss. Join the hundreds of others to experience this race down one of the world’s greatest rivers.
The U.S. Surf Ski Championships, a world-class event hosted by the crew at Wavechaser, featured some of the biggest names in international open-water racing. The premier surf ski event on the U.S. mainland, the 2009 championships featured South Africans Dawid Mocke, Sean Rice and Barry Lewin as well as several of the top Australians, such as Dean Gardiner, Caine Eckstein, Reece Baker, Tony Schumaker and this year’s winner, Jeremy Cotter.With about ten minutes before the start, the sun began breaking through some high fog that obscured the tow-ers of the Golden Gate Bridge and winds were making a strong showing from the southwest. After the race briefing, the nearly 100 racers got in the water and warmed up, anxious to get out on a new course de-signed to give them a downwind run. Soon, two escort boats lined up the racers in Horseshoe Cove and with a horn blast sent them out on a course that required
Cotter ‘deserves the win’ as he takes U.S. Surf Ski ChampionshipsAustralian battles off Dawid Mocke of South Africa in the annual tussle in San Francisco Bay
navigation skills and the ability to read the water well.The new 17.5-mile course started in Horseshoe Cove near Sausalito, Calif., and took racers out past Point Diablo and into the bay heading upwind to Point Bo-nita and out to the turnaround where paddlers hoped to take advantage of a downwind experience across the bay to Berkeley, Calif., and the finish line at the Olym-pic Circle Sailing Club in the Berkeley Marina. The turnaround featured the Fenn Hot Spot and a $1,000 cash prize for the first racer to reach the mark.Paddlers had many decisions to make along the way with the first one being where their initial line would be rounding Point Diablo. “The racers are going to have to make decisions on the line they take through the bay before Point Bonita,” said Rob Mousley of www.surfski.info who provided live commentary online. “Do they go all the way around in the eddy, or do they go straight across and maybe hit the current head on?”
Jeremy Cotter (left) and Dawid Mocke challenge each other in San Francisco Bay.Photo by Jasmine Shahbandi
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Once underway, leaders pull away from packShortly after the start, two lead groups formed close to each other hugging the shore. Moving farther out in the coves, one lead group pulled ahead, including Mocke, Lewin, Cotter and Eckstein. According to race spotters, this lead pack opened a 20-meter gap between themselves and those chasing.
“We had a clean start,” said Mocke, who was favored to win the event. “Me, Cotter, Eckstein, Rice, [we] used the counter currents [and] could see how the currents were working.”
Mousley reported that when racers ap-proached the north tower of the bridge the waters became challenging. “Re-ally crazy water where they’re headed, trying to take the shortest line through the current.”
Once out beyond Point Diablo, Austra-lian Tony Schumaker took a different line through the current on the outside with Murray Stewart also from Aus-tralia following his decision, which sent them about 300 meters to the left of the leaders. Only six minutes into the race, Cotter made a run at leader Mocke and passes him moments later.
“Going into the current was horrible,
watching the current constantly,” Cot-ter remarked about the initial upwind leg of the race to Point Bonita.
With a surge in one of the eddies at the 10-minute mark, putting in an inter-val, Stewart surged to the lead, pass-ing Cotter putting him in second and Mocke third. As other racers surged with eddies and currents either helping or hindering, the lead group then be-came nine boats never getting too far away from the shore while Schumaker stayed out on his own line several hun-dred meters from the shore. Mousley reported, “Once past Point Diablo, Schumaker was taking on huge waves, taking a calculated risk.”
When racers rounded Point Diablo, Mousley said huge breaking waves were resounding against the rocks. “The current is creaming ‘em right now,” Mousley said. “It’s very windy, very cold. They’re all turning into the bay … much swell and confused water.”
At one point, a large wave broke over Mocke’s head and knocked him back three positions.
The lead group adjusted and headed out to a middle line a bit farther out from shore. This is when Cotter made
Start of the race in Horseshoe Covephoto by Eric Nguyen
Under the bridge and out into the bay.photo by Leslie Brown
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a slight move and pulled out ahead by 1½ boat lengths by adjusting his line closer to Schumaker’s who was holding on to fifth place after 25 min-utes. Battling, Mocke caught up. He and Cotter raced side by side as they plowed forward to Point Bonita.
Mocke and Cotter were running head to head as they approached Point Bonita. As the pack continued to head to the turnaround, a second group split off on a more shoreward line. This group included Michael Locke and Rice who made up some ground on the leaders. After 30 minutes into the race, a few boats closed the gap on the lead-ers to 10 meters. This second group included Stewart, as well as, Rice and Locke.
The leaders reach Point Bonita and made it to the turnaround led by Mocke who claimed the $1,000 price for reaching the Finn Hot Spot first. The lead pack has winnowed to seven boats with Mocke leading Cotter, Rice and Lewin as the front four boats mak-ing the turn.
Two make some distance on the restIt’s at this point the leaders began to separate from the pack. “Mocke and Cotter are dicing downwind with a monstrous lead of 50 meters on the next boats,” Mousley said.
Chasing them hard at this point are Locke, Schumaker and Stewart in the next group with Rice and Lewin out in midstream on a different line, but the two leaders continue to pull away.
“The two leaders are surging ahead in turns, extending their lead to 75 meters,” Mousley wrote.
At about the 46-minute mark, Judy Barker reports from a spotter that Cot-ter and Mocke are about half a mile from the bridge with Cotter opening up a 30 meter lead on Mocke.
Upon reflection afterward, Mocke said, “I made a mistake. I knew the last 10 kilometers was going to be tight so I conserved energy and let Jeremy go – but too far. At one stage,
I closed the gap, but he put the hammer down.”
Minutes later, Cotter and Mocke reach the bridge as the wind picks up dra-matically from the southwest. Mousley reports that boats are spread out every-where taking different lines and riding different swells.
Some lines pay offDuring the race, Mousley giving play by play said, “Dean Gardiner and Sean Rice have gone way out to the right, in the centre of the entire bay … Reece Baker also on that line ... the rest of the leaders are further to the left, heading for Angel Island. Deano’s gamble may pay off. He may be in deeper, faster water.”
Two minutes later it was clear Gardin-
er’s move paid off as he powered into third place. Mousley could see that although Gardiner had a longer line to take, he had larger waves to ride with about seven miles to go. “He just came out of nowhere!” Mousley reported. “He just rode a big swell for more than 10 seconds.”
With a buoy at Point Blunt near Angle Island to go around, all boats converged their lines before the last stretch to the Berkeley Marina. Cotter reaches the buoy at about the 1 hour 20 minute mark. From Angel Island to the finish, the paddlers enjoyed the bay.
“Had some really good runs from Angel Island,” Mocke said. “I had to focus, I was having too much fun!”
Cotter agreed. “From Angel Island it
Greg Barton andCarter Johnson (below)
phot
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slie
Bro
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was really good,” he said.
“They have to be loving the surf they have right now,” Mousley said. “They’re taking a few strokes and then rid-ing for ages.”
Only ten minutes behind Cotter, Naomi Flood of Australia, was the first female to pass Point Blunt. Flood eventually came in 23rd overall.
Cotter takes controlCotter’s “hammer” proved too much as his lead opened to 100 meters over Mocke. “Cotter’s stroke rate is incredibly fast right now,” Mousley reported.
After Angle Island, it was clear that, barring disaster, Cotter wasn’t going to be caught as the gap was just too great. He finished the course in a time of 1:53:23 with Mocke in second at 1:54:01.
It was Gardiner coming in third place that impressed ob-servers. In his report on www.surfski.info, Mousley wrote that Gardiner was having some forearm trouble early but that turned out to be a blessing in disguise once he made his turnaround.
“With the wind behind him, his arms ‘freed up a bit’ and he took off to make up the places he’d lost,” Mousley wrote. “He took a line to the right of the leaders, further out into the stream.”
He pressed and timed his runs well moving from eighth at Point Bonita to finishing third.
“It was a great race,” Gardiner said. “Lots of stuff going on. All the good paddlers were catching their runs so you really had to concentrate – you couldn’t afford to miss one.”
Not moments from crossing the finish line, Mocke gave due credit to his competitor. “Jeremy had a fantastic race, definitely deserves the win.”
After racing while ill in Spain, Cotter noted, “It was just really good to finally win one of these things.”
2009 U.S. Surf Ski Championship Results
Men’s Top Ten - Long Course1 Jeremy Cotter Australia 1:53:23 Fenn Elite2 Dawid Mocke South Africa 1:54:01 Fenn Elite3 Dean Gardiner Australia 1:54:42 Fenn Elite4 Caine Eckstein Australia 1:55:00 Fenn Elite5 Murray Stewart Australia 1:56:08 Fenn Elite6 Sean Rice South Africa 1:56:19 Think Uno7 Barry Lewin South Africa 1:57:13 Synergy8 Tony Shumaker Australia 1:57:55 Think Uno9 Michael Locke Australia 1:59:32 Fenn Mako 610 Reece Baker Australia 2:01:04 Fenn Mako 6
Women’s Top Eight - Long Course1 Naomi Flood Australia 2:09:36 Fenn Mako 62 Bernadette Wallace Australia 2:17:38 Fenn Mako 63 Jo Bridgen Jones Australia 2:23:53 Fenn Mako 64 DeAnne Hemmens California 2:28:11 Fenn Mako XT5 Christina Couch California 2:33:01 Fenn Mako 66 Tracy Landboe Washington 2:35:17 Epic V10 L7 Alex McLain Maine 2:35:43 Huki S1X Special8 Kathleen Petereit Canada 2:54:28 Huki S1R
Short Course Results1 Mark Huetter California 0:58:382 Peter Marcus Washington 0:59:013 Jeff Schwing California 1:00:074 Dan Coupland California 1:00:175 Benjamin Serrazin California 1:00:376 Eva Mauck California 1:00:527 Bruce Fincher California 1:01:218 Thadius King California 1:01:519 Pete Rudnick California 1:02:1810 Jim Nurse California 1:02:20
Relay1 Maxell, Schumaker, O’Regan, Rice 0:37:01 Team Think2 Lee, Timbrell, Lock, David 0:38:50 Team Huki3 Baker, Stewart, Cotter, Eckstein 0:35:00 Team Fenn
Doubles Men1 Dawid Mocke & Barry Lewin 0:54:382 Dean Gardiner & Murray Stewart 0:55:053 Jeremy Cotter & Caine Eckstein 0:55:27
Doubles Mixed1 Patrick & DeAnne Hemmens 0:58:222 Greg Barton & Tracy Landboe 0:58:373 Rami Zur & Krisztina Fazekas 1:00:04
In an era when the great maritime nations of Europe were still fearful of venturing too far from land lest they fall off the edge of the world, Polyne-sians were ranging thousands of miles across the Pacific in their voyaging canoes. With their knowledge of stars, currents, swells, winds and cloud
formations, they managed to discover the most remote archipelagos in the world and settle every habitable piece of rock in that vast ocean. Today, Poly-nesia encompasses an area defined by the triangle formed by Hawai’i, Rapa Nui (Easter Island) and Aotearoa (New Zealand).
Canoes – known as wa’a, va’a and waka in various Polynesian lan-guages – were vital to the survival of the seafaring Polynesians, providing their means of transportation, explora-tion, fishing, trading and war-making. Among the playful Hawaiians, wa’a were also a source of sport and recre-ation.
Wa’a were considered much more than inanimate, utilitarian objects and were accorded the respect due a living entity. To this day, tradition holds that one must walk around, not step over, the wa’a. Arguing and swearing in or around the wa’a is forbidden. One may not sit on or in the wa’a while on dry land (except for instructional purposes). And when on land, the wa’a should always face seaward.
Racing canoes did not exist in ancient times. The first canoe built specifically with racing in mind was the “A’a,” commissioned in 1902 by Hawai’i’s Prince Kuhio. Everyday fishing canoes, of varying length, weight and
paddler capacity were entered in races. The strongest paddlers were recruited by chiefs, and victorious paddlers enjoyed special status in society. Vic-tory brought great prestige to villages and chiefs, and betting was rampant. Sometimes at stake were great tracts of land or wives. But with the arrival
of Christian missionaries in the early 1800’s, the sport - and its attendant gambling - were outlawed. With the 1875 ascendancy of King David Kalakaua to Hawai’i’s throne, outrig-ger racing returned. The King, a lover of water sports, revived the sport and hosted an annual regatta.
The modern eraThe founding of Outrigger Canoe Club and Hui Nalu in 1908 can be consid-ered the launching point of modern outrigger canoe racing. With an eye toward promoting swimming, surfing and canoe racing, the rival clubs competed against each other and set the stage for the formation of additional canoe clubs.
The first full-fledged outrigger regatta was held in 1922. Outrigger race victo-ries began to regain the prestige they once enjoyed and by 1940 formalized rules were instituted to help avoid the disagreements that grew out of the competition. In 1950 the Hawaiian
Canoe Racing and Surfing Associa-tion, today’s Hawaiian Canoe Racing Association, was formed to govern organized outrigger canoe racing in Hawai’i.
“Malia”In 1933 on the Big Island of Hawai’i,
the legendary canoe “Malia” was carved from koa wood. Purchased in 1948 by “Dad” Center and later sold to Waikiki Surf Club, Malia gained fame for her run of racing success over the next few decades. In 1959, she trav-eled to Catalina for the California Out-rigger Classic, the first race between Hawai’i and California crews.
Today, the Catalina U.S. Champion-ship, known by all paddlers simply as “Catalina,” is one of the premier out-rigger events of the season. Following the inaugural race the Californians, re-alizing that the growth of the sport on
their shores depended in large part on the availabil-ity of outrig-ger canoes, made a mold of “Malia.”
From this mold they created the first line of fiberglass ca-noes known
as the Malia Class Racer. While fiber-glass canoes would not be officially recognized in Hawai’i for a couple more years, they were raced up and down the coast of California. Outrig-ger canoe racing quickly gained a fol-
Outrigger canoe racing:A bit of historical perspective
byStephen
Mahalona
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lowing there and a rivalry between the two states was born. Today California is home to more than 50 canoe clubs.
The TahitiansIn 1975 Tahiti, represented by three teams, made its first appearance in the Moloka’i to O’ahu race. With them came an artisan who built several koa canoes in the traditional Tahitian style. After what transpired the fol-lowing year, this canoe design would be banned from Hawaiian outrigger racing. In 1976 Tahiti returned with 10 teams, employing the traditional quick Tahitian paddling stroke and paddling the Tahitian-inspired canoes. They turned the outrigger racing world upside-down, claiming the top four spots and placing seven of their teams among the top 10. It would prove to be a turning point in Hawaiian outrig-ger canoe racing. The Hawaiian Canoe Racing Association immediately instituted new rules and guidelines to protect the integrity of the Hawaiian wa’a. Averaging the measurements of all registered koa racing canoes in Hawai’i, HRCA set limitations on the water line and overall length of racing canoes, standards which remain in ef-fect to this day.
Next generation wa’a de-signsThe second generation of fiberglass racing canoes debuted in 1984. The
Hawaiian Class Racer with its long, sleek lines was an instant success and would become the most prolific production canoe for the next decade, with an estimated 1,000 produced and distributed worldwide. In 1995 the Hawaiian Class Racer was reworked and introduced as the new Force Five canoe.
For canoe designers and builders, it has been proven that a canoe’s suc-cess in the Moloka’i Hoe equates to success in marketing that canoe. For that reason, performance in the type of conditions experienced in the Ka’iwi Channel has weighed heavily on the design of outrigger canoes all the way back to the Malia class of canoes.
In 1987 the Bradley Racer came on the scene and two years later, at the Moloka’i Hoe, the Racer claimed seven of the top 10 places. For the first time in the race’s history the winning crew finished the 48-mile race in under five hours. Modifications to the Racer have led to the creation of the Bradley Striker and Bradley Lightning.
After little success in marketing their first OC6 canoe, Outrigger Connec-tions came out with the Mirage. In 2000 they produced the first two Mirages, which finished 1-2 in the Moloka’i Hoe. The following year nine of the 30 Mirages entered fin-ished in the top 10.
Paddling techniqueWhile canoe design is regulated by the rules instituted in 1976, paddling technique continues to evolve and improve. By the 1980s the success of Tahitian, Mainland and Australian crews forced a review of traditional Hawaiian paddling technique and paddle design. Paddlers from the vari-ous locales arrived in Hawai’i with their own techniques and theories, based on tradition, science or lessons learned from other sports. Tahitians brought a faster stroke rate; Mainland-ers brought Olympic-style paddling; Australians upped the ante on overall fitness. The general paddling form now in evidence incorporates a higher stroke rate, more body rotation, power applied in the front part of the stroke and the use of paddles with smaller, lighter blades.
A global sportWhile the wa’a is a direct link to Poly-nesian culture and heritage, paddlers from around the world have contrib-uted to its evolution into the sport we know today. And while Hawai’i remains the heart and soul of outrigger canoe racing, the sport has exploded in popularity and gone global. Pad-dlers from all parts of the Pacific, the United States, Canada, the Caribbean, Australia, New Zealand, Japan, Hong Kong, Great Britain, France, Germany, Italy, South Africa and elsewhere, all consider themselves a part of the great outrigger ohana.
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The Queen Lili’uokalani Long Distance Race was created in 1972 to fill the need for a training venue for crews preparing for the Moloka’i Hoe (men) and Na Wahine o ke Kai (women) races from Moloka’i to O’ahu. The inaugural race was held on the Queen’s birthday, Sept. 2, and is hosted annually by Kai Opua Canoe Club on Labor Day weekend.
In the days leading up to the race, thousands of paddlers descend upon Kailua-Kona, filling the quiet town with energy, color and aloha. Billed as “The World’s Largest Long Distance Canoe Race,” this year’s field included 252 crews and more than 1,600 paddlers from Hawai’i and the Pacific, the U.S. mainland, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Hong Kong, Singapore and Japan – demonstrating the true international growth of outrigger racing.
The grueling 18-mile race along the ruggedly beautiful Kona coast is known for its hot weather and flat seas. But this year paddlers were blessed with rare un-kona-like breezes and soft swells.
The morning of the race brings an atmosphere of family reunion as paddlers greet old friends with hugs and laughter, and make new acquaintances, again with hugs and laughter. Canoes rest on every square inch of sand on the small beach, overflowing onto the lawn of the King Kame-hameha Hotel and the Kona Pier. Crews make final adjustments to rigging, adorn their canoes with leis and flags, hold hands in prayer and receive “good luck” wishes and cheers from family, friends, opponents and spectators. Canoes are lifted onto shoulders and carried into the sea where they join dozens of others in a reverent procession past Ahu’ena Heiau (Kamehameha the Great’s personal temple) on their way to the starting line.
Kona becomes the centerof the six-man racing universe
by Stephen Mahalona
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Kona becomes the centerof the six-man racing universe
The Saturday morning women’s race begins at Kailua Bay and proceeds south to Honaunau Bay. The relaxed, friendly atmosphere continues as teams sit side by side awaiting the start, trading jokes and good wishes with each other. As the horn sounds, the calm morning explodes in a blur of color, motion and sound. Paddles flash and canoes surge to the exhortation of hundreds of steersmen.
With more than 100 canoes packed into a half-mile wide swath of ocean, the action is exciting and non-stop. While some of the elite crews pull far ahead of the pack, most canoes find them-selves in fierce competition for the entire 18 miles. As crews walk up on those ahead of them, they are at the same moment fighting off challenges from behind, often giving this long distance event the feel of a sprint race.
The ladies of Hui Lanakila claimed the Iron Open Class victory in 2:12:16. Two crews from Waikiki Beachboys Canoe Club took 2nd (2:13:20) and 3rd (2:14:04). Onshore at Honaunau or aboard sightseeing boats in the bay, the men await their turn in the canoes.
As the women’s crews arrive at the finish, they exchange places in the canoes with the men, who will retrace their route back to Kailua Bay. In the men’s race, Team Primo cruised across the fin-ish line in 1:52:34, followed by Livestrong (1:55:14) and a second Team Primo canoe (1:57:10).
In the evening paddlers gather for a torchlight parade through town, then dance the night away. Sunday’s schedule includes stand up paddle races and OC1, OC2 and double-hull outrigger com-petitions. The evening’s farewell luau is an opportunity for paddlers to celebrate the weekend’s accomplishments and experiences, as well as bonds and friendships born of their love for the sport of outrigger canoe racing.
by Stephen Mahalona
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2 MAYOR’S CUP // SEPTEMBER 2009
2009 MaRkS ThE 400Th annivERSaRy of Henry Hudson’s voyage to our area where he settled New Amsterdam. To celebrate this amazing piece of history, the Mayor’s Cup will be hosting a Team USA vs. Team Holland race where 10 Olympic, former medalists and National team members from the Dutch and American teams will compete head to head to be the overall fastest team around Manhattan. To even the playing field, 20 brand new Epic V12 surfskis are on order for the team members. These are the lightest and fastest surfskis on the market today. Ten will be decorated in the traditional Dutch orange and the other 10 in the very patriotic red, white and blue for the U.S. team. These kayaks are limited edition collector’s items and will be sold after the race. Take a look online at nymayorscup.com for the custom graphics and pricing. We will take two surfskis, one from each team, and auction them off as a fundraiser for the Olympic programs for both countries. Stay tuned for details.
Team USa vS Team Holland – racing for Henry HUdSon
ManhaTTan iS faMouS foR Many ThingS and with the international paddling crowd it presents an opportunity to see New York like most rarely do…from the seat of a kayak. Last year’s Mayor’s Cup New York City Kayak Championships hosted racers form 22 countries and 25 states. Racers
inTernaTional appeal
HiSTory and legacy of ‘aroUnd manHaTTan’ racingThE MayoR’S CuP nEw yoRk CiTy kayak championships is not a new idea or a novel one. Its history dates back to 1927 when the Daily News sponsored the first official “Around Manhattan” canoe race. Even earlier were the canoe sailors and rowing regattas of the 1880s. The passion to circumnavigate this majestic island has pulsed in our veins since we first settled here. The first race was in 1927, then ‘34, ‘67, ‘83, ’86 and 2006.
In 2004, the seed was planted when a group of paddlers were discussing recent time trial runs around the island. Discussions revolved around times, cur-rents, moon cycles and which direction was the fastest. A very close friend, Joe Glickman said, “If we had an international field of really fast guys here we could break 3.” Meaning the elusive 3-hour mark for the full circumnavigation. The next question was who was going to pull this off and it was a classic game of, “Not it!” I was it. Shortly after that, I met the dy-namic team at the New York City Sports
Commission. During a kayak team build-ing outing commissioner Ken Podziba asked, “Can you produce a world-class kayak race in New York?” I said, “Easily.”
In 2006, we started this race with just over 45 racers and pulled off the impossible. An American Olympic gold medalist by the name of Greg Barton came to New York and won decisively with a time of 3:21. In 2007 we grew, boasting 98 racers and a strong South African named Herman Chalupsky who came in by the width of a fishing line to beat Barton with a time of 3:14. In 2008, Mother Nature threw 35 knot winds and 5- to 6-foot seas to force a shut down. The wind and choppy conditions were a little too much for our 150 -acer field. The race started but was shut down at the 13K mark.
For 2009, we are back and ready to tackle the conditions and set a new attendance record. We are expecting 200 racers from around the globe and around the region to race on October 18, 2009. —EvEnT diRECToR, Ray fuSCo
SEPTEMBER 2009 // nYMAYORSCUP.COM 3
travel from as far away as New Zealand, Australia, South Africa, Sinapore and Japan for a chance to be New York’s fastest paddler. The Europeans love the race, too. Good exchange rates and frequent flights across the pond make this race a must-do in their racing schedule.
Photos by Jeff Chen/Trigger Images
OctOber 18, 2009New york City
If you have the skills to take manhattan by paddle visit nymayorscup.com to register.
14
2 MAYOR’S CUP // SEPTEMBER 2009
2009 MaRkS ThE 400Th annivERSaRy of Henry Hudson’s voyage to our area where he settled New Amsterdam. To celebrate this amazing piece of history, the Mayor’s Cup will be hosting a Team USA vs. Team Holland race where 10 Olympic, former medalists and National team members from the Dutch and American teams will compete head to head to be the overall fastest team around Manhattan. To even the playing field, 20 brand new Epic V12 surfskis are on order for the team members. These are the lightest and fastest surfskis on the market today. Ten will be decorated in the traditional Dutch orange and the other 10 in the very patriotic red, white and blue for the U.S. team. These kayaks are limited edition collector’s items and will be sold after the race. Take a look online at nymayorscup.com for the custom graphics and pricing. We will take two surfskis, one from each team, and auction them off as a fundraiser for the Olympic programs for both countries. Stay tuned for details.
Team USa vS Team Holland – racing for Henry HUdSon
ManhaTTan iS faMouS foR Many ThingS and with the international paddling crowd it presents an opportunity to see New York like most rarely do…from the seat of a kayak. Last year’s Mayor’s Cup New York City Kayak Championships hosted racers form 22 countries and 25 states. Racers
inTernaTional appeal
HiSTory and legacy of ‘aroUnd manHaTTan’ racingThE MayoR’S CuP nEw yoRk CiTy kayak championships is not a new idea or a novel one. Its history dates back to 1927 when the Daily News sponsored the first official “Around Manhattan” canoe race. Even earlier were the canoe sailors and rowing regattas of the 1880s. The passion to circumnavigate this majestic island has pulsed in our veins since we first settled here. The first race was in 1927, then ‘34, ‘67, ‘83, ’86 and 2006.
In 2004, the seed was planted when a group of paddlers were discussing recent time trial runs around the island. Discussions revolved around times, cur-rents, moon cycles and which direction was the fastest. A very close friend, Joe Glickman said, “If we had an international field of really fast guys here we could break 3.” Meaning the elusive 3-hour mark for the full circumnavigation. The next question was who was going to pull this off and it was a classic game of, “Not it!” I was it. Shortly after that, I met the dy-namic team at the New York City Sports
Commission. During a kayak team build-ing outing commissioner Ken Podziba asked, “Can you produce a world-class kayak race in New York?” I said, “Easily.”
In 2006, we started this race with just over 45 racers and pulled off the impossible. An American Olympic gold medalist by the name of Greg Barton came to New York and won decisively with a time of 3:21. In 2007 we grew, boasting 98 racers and a strong South African named Herman Chalupsky who came in by the width of a fishing line to beat Barton with a time of 3:14. In 2008, Mother Nature threw 35 knot winds and 5- to 6-foot seas to force a shut down. The wind and choppy conditions were a little too much for our 150 -acer field. The race started but was shut down at the 13K mark.
For 2009, we are back and ready to tackle the conditions and set a new attendance record. We are expecting 200 racers from around the globe and around the region to race on October 18, 2009. —EvEnT diRECToR, Ray fuSCo
SEPTEMBER 2009 // nYMAYORSCUP.COM 3
travel from as far away as New Zealand, Australia, South Africa, Sinapore and Japan for a chance to be New York’s fastest paddler. The Europeans love the race, too. Good exchange rates and frequent flights across the pond make this race a must-do in their racing schedule.
Photos by Jeff Chen/Trigger Images
OctOber 18, 2009New york City
If you have the skills to take manhattan by paddle visit nymayorscup.com to register.
15
4 MAYOR’S CUP // SEPTEMBER 2009 SEPTEMBER 2009 // nYMAYORSCUP.COM 5
ThERE aRE ThREE Main ConCERnS wiThin this 28-mile course.
1 The distance – 28 miles is no walk in the park.
2 The commercial traffic – the waters around New York are no different
than rush hour in Times Square.
3 The Battery – we save the hardest for last. The most confused and
choppy sea state in the race, commer-cial traffic and a building current against you on the Hudson.
Other hot spots on the course are:† Passenger ferry terminal and Circle Line terminal at Pier 68 to 84.† Halfway point at Yankee Stadium.† Hell Gate – the home of the second largest explosion after the A bomb. The confluence of the Harlem, East River and Long Island sound.
THe coUrSe
diCk TRauM ESTaBliShEd aChillES International in 1983 to encourage disabled people to participate in mainstream athletics. Runners of all levels and disabilities are welcome. Volunteer guides accompany athletes to participate in workouts and races with the use of crutches, wheelchairs, prostheses, handcycles or without aids
Founded in NYC with six members, the event has expanded throughout the United States and 70 countries and is 11,000 members strong. achillesinternational.org
In 2004, we began a program at Walter Reed Army Medical Center called Achilles Freedom Team of Wounded Veterans. It encourages recently wounded soldiers to mainstream through sports while still going
through hospital rehabilitation.The Mayor’s Cup Kayak Marathon is an
extension of Achilles to water sports. The disability of the participants include people who are blind, paralyzed, missing limbs, have traumatic brain injuries, organ trans-plants, and an injured soldier who served in Iraq from the Freedom Team.
The kayak race is the great equalizer. Amputees and people who are mobility impaired are at the same competitive level with those who do not have ambulatory disabilities. The kayak race is one of the few sports in the world where the disabled and able-bodied can compete equally.
During this summer, the disabled athletes have been participating in weekly clinics to prepare. —Ray fuSCo
acHilleS freedom TeamSuRfSki RaCing iS Blowing uP aRound the globe, fetching huge purses (upward of $100,000 in Dubai of course) and driving international travel for the worlds’ top flight paddlers. In this year’s Mayor’s Cup we will have over 65 surf ski racers from 22 countries and 25 states come to compete for New York’s fastest paddler trophy.
For those who are unfamiliar with surfskis, they are long, narrow, high- performance sit-on-top kayaks first developed for open-ocean lifeguard use in Australia, then later morphing into the sleek, high-speed racing craft used in South Africa, Hawaii and other parts of the world. These boats are 20 feet long and have a 17- to 20-inch beam and
coaST To coaST are made of carbon/Kevlar to weigh in at a featherweight 28 pounds.
The paddler sits in a “bucket” or seatwell, and the boat is steered via gas pedals controlling an understern rud-der. The position of the rudder assures pinpoint steering accuracy on a wave. Designed for combining high speed to surf ocean swells and covering long distances in the biggest of conditions with efficiency, a the surfski’s minimal approach makes it a pleasure to paddle. Integrated venturis in the hull empty the cockpit of water when underway; if the paddler “hulis” or falls off, he or she simply remounts, without the need to roll, or pump out a flooded closed
cockpit. Many paddlers of fast sea kayaks have transitioned into surf-skis for reasons of fun and safety. For the kayaker looking to extend his or her skills or experience the thrill of surfing ocean conditions, surfskis might be worth a look. These designs are not limited to ocean use; many surfskis are purchased for flatwater use and are popular among adventure racers for the ease of ingress and egress.
There are regional and national race schedules, paddler profiles from paddlers around the globe, training articles, a wide variety of related links, a blogspot, and most recently, a clas-sifieds section at surfskiracing.com.
ThE MayoR’S CuP TakES all of iTS vinyl banners and event signage and recycles them into stylish gear totes, shoulder bags and small messenger bags. This green event movement is in partnership with Ecological Designs of Boulder, Colorado.
green gear
OctOber 18, 2009New york City
If you have the skills to take manhattan by paddle visit nymayorscup.com to register.
16
4 MAYOR’S CUP // SEPTEMBER 2009 SEPTEMBER 2009 // nYMAYORSCUP.COM 5
ThERE aRE ThREE Main ConCERnS wiThin this 28-mile course.
1 The distance – 28 miles is no walk in the park.
2 The commercial traffic – the waters around New York are no different
than rush hour in Times Square.
3 The Battery – we save the hardest for last. The most confused and
choppy sea state in the race, commer-cial traffic and a building current against you on the Hudson.
Other hot spots on the course are:† Passenger ferry terminal and Circle Line terminal at Pier 68 to 84.† Halfway point at Yankee Stadium.† Hell Gate – the home of the second largest explosion after the A bomb. The confluence of the Harlem, East River and Long Island sound.
THe coUrSe
diCk TRauM ESTaBliShEd aChillES International in 1983 to encourage disabled people to participate in mainstream athletics. Runners of all levels and disabilities are welcome. Volunteer guides accompany athletes to participate in workouts and races with the use of crutches, wheelchairs, prostheses, handcycles or without aids
Founded in NYC with six members, the event has expanded throughout the United States and 70 countries and is 11,000 members strong. achillesinternational.org
In 2004, we began a program at Walter Reed Army Medical Center called Achilles Freedom Team of Wounded Veterans. It encourages recently wounded soldiers to mainstream through sports while still going
through hospital rehabilitation.The Mayor’s Cup Kayak Marathon is an
extension of Achilles to water sports. The disability of the participants include people who are blind, paralyzed, missing limbs, have traumatic brain injuries, organ trans-plants, and an injured soldier who served in Iraq from the Freedom Team.
The kayak race is the great equalizer. Amputees and people who are mobility impaired are at the same competitive level with those who do not have ambulatory disabilities. The kayak race is one of the few sports in the world where the disabled and able-bodied can compete equally.
During this summer, the disabled athletes have been participating in weekly clinics to prepare. —Ray fuSCo
acHilleS freedom TeamSuRfSki RaCing iS Blowing uP aRound the globe, fetching huge purses (upward of $100,000 in Dubai of course) and driving international travel for the worlds’ top flight paddlers. In this year’s Mayor’s Cup we will have over 65 surf ski racers from 22 countries and 25 states come to compete for New York’s fastest paddler trophy.
For those who are unfamiliar with surfskis, they are long, narrow, high- performance sit-on-top kayaks first developed for open-ocean lifeguard use in Australia, then later morphing into the sleek, high-speed racing craft used in South Africa, Hawaii and other parts of the world. These boats are 20 feet long and have a 17- to 20-inch beam and
coaST To coaST are made of carbon/Kevlar to weigh in at a featherweight 28 pounds.
The paddler sits in a “bucket” or seatwell, and the boat is steered via gas pedals controlling an understern rud-der. The position of the rudder assures pinpoint steering accuracy on a wave. Designed for combining high speed to surf ocean swells and covering long distances in the biggest of conditions with efficiency, a the surfski’s minimal approach makes it a pleasure to paddle. Integrated venturis in the hull empty the cockpit of water when underway; if the paddler “hulis” or falls off, he or she simply remounts, without the need to roll, or pump out a flooded closed
cockpit. Many paddlers of fast sea kayaks have transitioned into surf-skis for reasons of fun and safety. For the kayaker looking to extend his or her skills or experience the thrill of surfing ocean conditions, surfskis might be worth a look. These designs are not limited to ocean use; many surfskis are purchased for flatwater use and are popular among adventure racers for the ease of ingress and egress.
There are regional and national race schedules, paddler profiles from paddlers around the globe, training articles, a wide variety of related links, a blogspot, and most recently, a clas-sifieds section at surfskiracing.com.
ThE MayoR’S CuP TakES all of iTS vinyl banners and event signage and recycles them into stylish gear totes, shoulder bags and small messenger bags. This green event movement is in partnership with Ecological Designs of Boulder, Colorado.
green gear
OctOber 18, 2009New york City
If you have the skills to take manhattan by paddle visit nymayorscup.com to register.
17
18
The sun was setting over the lake and I was paddling hard to reach the shore before dark. The paddling was dif-ficult, not just because of my lack of skill, but because I was paddling a sail board with my hands. The winds were rough I decided it was easier to paddle than to fall in the water for the 400th time. It is amazing how much drag a small sail creates when in the water.
I had forgotten all about this trial in my sailboard career until I started re-searching a new form of paddle racing. And since I have learned a few things about a relatively new sport – remem-bering my own brush with the sport – I couldn’t help but kick myself a little. It has been one of those, “if I only knew then what I know now,” moments.
The new sport is standup paddling or SUP. Basically, the sport of SUP involves a type of surfboard and about an eight-foot long, single-bladed pad-dle. So, maybe new is a relative term. SUP has been hot in the U.S. for about five years on both coasts. Yet, it has been around since the Polynesians first used surfboards for travel and fishing. Even in places where there is no surf,
it is now starting to pick up. People are enjoying and racing paddleboards everywhere there is water, and they have developed recreation and racing communities all across the country.
HistorySUP has had a couple of resurgences. It first died out when mis-sionaries in Hawai’i and around Polyne-sia frowned on surfing. They did not recog-nize surfing or SUP as part of tradition and culture.
SUP came back in the 1940s when the “Beach Boys” of Waikiki began to use it. They would stand atop their boards, paddle around and bark orders at their students out on the water. From their perches they could see waves before the prone surfers could and spot any trouble on the water. SUP wasn’t seen as a sport then it was just a way of teaching “real” surfing to others; cer-
tainly not a discipline in its own right.
It slowly faded into the background as surfing had its boom for the next few decades. Surfing went from something to do to a legitimate sport pushing boundaries. Surfing became seriously competitive, and not just among surf-ers, but also against the waves. It was
in the shadows of the giant waves where today’s SUP began.
Laird Hamilton had become a surfing legend. He and a few friends helped develop tow-in surfing which
made it possible to catch waves that had never been accessible before. In the 1990s, Hamilton and his buddy Dave Kalama had been paddling around on a very small wave day when Kalama mentioned using a paddle to get around. They went to Kalma’s car and got his OC-1 paddles and they stood up on their boards and paddled
SUP brah!by Sean Williams
19
around. So taken by this was Hamilton that he had two long paddles made the next day. And thus began the SUP we know today.
EquipmentSUP today is much like many other paddle sports. There are many types of boards and paddles for many types of paddlers and conditions. SUP boards are made similar to regular surfboards with a foam core shaped to desired specifications with fiberglass and resin laid over the foam. The resin is then polished and painted to produce the final finish. Mass-produced boards use an injection molded foam core to make each blank identical. Many boards have a padded surface on the deck to provide traction and cushion-ing. They also allow a rider to custom-ize a board.
Stand up boards come in different lengths and widths for different riders and conditions. The smaller the board the more agile it is and less stable it can become. These smaller boards (around nine feet), are made for wave surfing. Longer boards can also catch waves but are less maneuverable. The longer boards are used for less turbulent water, such as deep water ocean riding and flat-water lakes and rivers. Boards more than fourteen feet in length are used for racing. They are narrower and longer to help it glide through the water.
The paddles differ from regular canoe paddles in a couple of ways. The obvious difference is length is because paddlers’ hands are higher above the water and farther from the catch. The blade surface is typically dihedral to allow the force of the paddle to push down as well as back on the water. This is used to create lift to help the board plane. The paddles often have a 12 to 14 degree bend in the shaft to keep it perpendicular to the water.
The boards also have anywhere from one to three fins to keep the board stable and help turn. Some boards have rudders that can be adjusted for the rider’s stance but not usually used
during paddling. A flat-water board usually has a single fin and a surfing type board has three fins. The two extra fins allow for carving action.
SUP is the next big thing with athletes and paddlers looking for something different to add to training. Athletes, such as mixed martial arts fighter Tito Ortiz, ultra marathon runner Dean Karnazes and many top triathletes are extolling the cross training virtues of SUP. Many OC and canoe paddlers also use stand up paddling and racing as a way to train for their discipline.
SUP provides an excellent core work-out while being fun at the same time. People are even practicing yoga and stretching exercises on their boards as part of their paddle trips. SUP gives the micro and macro muscles a great workout and helps to build balance and coordination.
Racing SUP racing is also growing quickly with regattas, sprints, relays and dis-tance formats. There are charity events and fun touring events. The regattas generally involve a course where the start/finish is usually the same point and racers navigate a marked course of buoys or natural landmarks. Sprint races usually have heats for different
classes. The most common race format is point to point where racers paddle from one location to another.
The sport’s biggest point-to-point race is the Rainbow Sandals Moloka’i to Oahu race. SUP racers paddle across the Ka’iwi channel from the island of Moloka’i to Oahu. This race is about thirty-two miles and racers contend with swells, currents and winds in treacherous open ocean.
This year’s men’s solo SUP champ was Ekolu Kalama, who paddled the thirty-two miles in 5:02:06. While prone paddleboarders were lamenting the course, Kamala said, “That was like a 5½ hour surf session. I’m not going to have to surf for a while … I’m good for about a week.” Kamala exemplifies the attitude most stand up paddlers have; they seem to be part of the water not just racing across it.
The FutureSUP is making its way all over the country and the world. There are stand up events in non-surf states such as Arizona and Utah, while Colorado folks are paddling SUP boards on their whitewater rivers. This sport is taking hold and wherever there is water, soon there will be someone trying to SUP on it. And I can’t wait.
Ekolu means three in Hawaiian. Ekolu Kalama, however, takes third place to no one in the world of stand up pad-dling or in life. Kalama said he was “born with a paddle in his hand.”
His grandmother paddled for Waikiki Surf Club and his grandfather started Hoopili Canoe Club on Moloka’i. He has paddled OC-1, OC-2 and OC-6 canoes all around Hawai’i. His wa-terman pedigree doesn’t end there, his uncle, Ilima Kalama was a U.S. surfing champ in 1962. Ekolu Kalama is an accomplished longboard surfer as well and has spent much of his life in the ocean. With this background he became a natural standup paddler.
Introduced by legendsHe got into SUP with the help of the guys who rediscovered SUP, Laird Hamilton and cousin, Dave Kalama. Cousin Dave and Hamilton pioneered SUP in the shadows of the giant 40-foot waves in Maui and they asked Kalama to come along one day. He climbed down the jagged rocks of the Maui coast and learned to patiently wait for his waves and immediately he was hooked.
“It was kind of a sink or swim experi-ence. I got a couple of rides,” Kalam said. “I came in and I was stoked.”
The next day, as he was leaving Maui to go back Moloka’i, Hamilton dropped by and gave him a board and a paddle and told him to practice. And practice he does.
Kalama has been standup paddling for only four years, yet in 2009 he has won a couple large events including a 32 mile paddle from Moloka’i to Oahu in five hours and two minutes and the first SUP World Cup 10K Men’s Sprint in Germany. In October, he will compete in the second annual “Battle of the Paddle” race in Dana Point, Calif. This race is a five lap circuit race where each lap is about 1.5 miles; the format gives racers an opportunity
to paddle both upwind and downwind in each lap.
Kalama has worked hard for every-thing he has achieved as well as taking a few chances. He was a good student in high school and at Pepperdine Uni-versity where he also played volley-ball. But the lure of his home and the warm breezes of Moloka’i were too much and after college he headed back to the islands.
Following his father’s steps, he became a firefighter. On his 30th birthday, Kalama realized there was something more, “…that’s when I got scared,” he said. “At this point in my life I hadn’t accomplished anything truly meaningful … and I knew if I continued the path that I was on I’d wake up one day, 60 years old with tons of regrets.”
A few months later he left the security of his county job and went to pursue his dreams.
Kalama‘s dreams were to become a professional surfer, musician and to help people in need. He has accom-plished each of these dreams in a very short time.
Making dreams come trueIn 2008 he signed a contract with SUP board maker Starboard making him
the first true professional.
His first music album, “Black and White Pictures,” is expected to be released soon.
Earlier this year he started a nonprofit organization with his pal, John Per-ell, called The Ohana Project (ohana means extended family) in which they travel the globe helping communi-ties with basic needs, such as water, food and shelter. He gives concerts to raise funds for the people he helps. And when he’s done with all of that he paddles into some of that country’s most amazing surf.
Kalama pursues his standup paddling with the same passion he does life. He uses the races and sprints to keep himself in shape for paddling the big waves. Kalama has an interesting per-spective of the ocean and the paddler’s role within it.
“Spend a lot of time in the water … that is the only way you are going to get to know her,” Kalama said. “It is like any other relationship…you got to know her moves and every side of her. And then still, when you learn every side of her she’ll show you another side and surprise you.”
We should all get to paddle in this world with such passion and dedica-tion.
power line crossing the Mississippi and as I passed beneath it at about 3:50:00, the boys in the lead were no-where in sight. I knew at this point that one of them would be taking home the prize money. As it turned out, Woods would finish a mere one second ahead of Manson, at 3:54:00, to set the new record. One second, over a 42.5 mile course.
As for this fall, Kayak Mississippi is opening the Phatwater Kayak Chal-lenge to all who dare in all classes. It’s a great event, and a great opportunity to meet others of like mind. This year we will offer $1,000 each to the first female and male solo paddlers, $1,000 the first tandem team. If the weather and river cooperate, a $1,000 bonus goes to the first boat to break the exist-ing record of 3:54:00.
A safety zone issued by the U.S. Coast Guard will be in place for the duration of the race to prevent commercial traf-fic from entering or moving through the course.
For information visit www.kayakmis-sissippi.com
After three and a half decades as a serious runner, while training one afternoon I managed to divide the ar-ticular cartilage in my right knee with such finality that the surgeon who later removed it suggested I “find another hobby.”
Thus, in October 2002, Kayak Missis-sippi was born with the first Phatwater Kayak Challenge, a 42.5 mile paddling marathon on the Mississippi River, from Grand Gulf to the oldest city on the river, Natchez.
We’ve grown the race each year since, and are now on the countdown to Phatwater VIII, which will take place on Oct. 10, 2009. We are expecting no fewer than 150 paddlers this year, up from 135 last October.
Among the participants expected in 2009 are Olympian Mike Herbert, of Arkansas, and open water stars DeAnne and Patrick Hemmens of California. We are also hopeful that Carter Johnson will be present, along with other world level competitors from Australia and South Africa.
In 2007, the sixth year of the race, we broke the magic barrier of 100 partici-pants, while Mike Herbert, in his first Phatwater appearance, tried desper-ately to break the elusive four-hour mark. There was $1,000 on the line, and along with Herbert, USA Canoe/Kayak racer Chris Hipgrave would battle for the cash.
But ours is a fickle sport, and the Mis-sissippi is a mysterious place to pull a paddle. As things turned out, Hip-grave tweaked his shoulder halfway through the course, and at about the same time, Herbert hit a 20 mph head-wind. Herbert finished in 4 hours 16 minutes and some change, and though
setting a new record, he gave everyone pause to wonder if breaking the four hour barrier would ever be possible.
Not to worry. Herbert was back in 2008. The prize money had doubled and along with Herbert came a pair of Okes from South Africa, Steve Woods and Bevan Manson. Rounding out the pro-class was Dr. Erik Borgnes, of Sturgeon Bay, Wis.
The forecast for the morning of the race was for partly cloudy skies and light tail wind. Woods and Manson had been on the course two days ear-lier, measuring their splits and the pace they would need to set new records and break barriers. The river stage was twelve feet above the 2007 level. It began to look as though the four hour mark might well be shattered.
As with many other races, the Phat-water has a broad, dead water bay, which opens to the Mississippi at the port of Grand Gulf. It was here that all participants were able to mingle with the favored pros. But at 8 a.m., when the starting gun fired, we had only a brief glimpse of their elbows and then they were gone, shrinking to specs on the distant, south-bound horizon.
Six miles above Natchez there is a
L-R Steve Woods, Bevan Manson, Mike Herbert and Erik Borgnes at the halfway point of the 2008 Phatwater Kayak Challenge.
Photo by Karen Sutton
A big PHAT challengeThe Phatwater Kayak Challenge on the Mississippi River attracts top flatwater racers
For a Scotsman, having the world sprint championships in Nova Scotia was like being in “Old Scotland,” and when Team USA unloaded the trailer on the Monday before the regatta, I remembered why this place is called Nova Scotia — it was pouring rain. Fortunately, that was the last we saw of the rain and the rest of the week was probably some of the best weather Dartmouth has ever had – hot, sunny and very little wind. That made the course for the 2009 Canoe Sprint World Champion-ships (Canoe ’09) good for fair and quality racing.
Canoe ‘09 would be historic for two reasons: the inclusion of Paddleabil-ity athletes as full medal events and women competing in C1 and C2.
United States, Canada, Great Britain and Italy are the main leaders in dis-ability paddle sports. It was great to see these athletes competing in the same event as the able-bodied athletes. The International Canoe Federation must embrace these athletes so that the International Olympic Committee will include canoe sprint in the Paralym-pics Games. (See Gerald Baboa story at right).
Women in canoe have been included at this level due to the tireless efforts of Team USA’s Pam Boteler, who has been at the forefront of this campaign for a number of years. I first met Boteler in 2002 at the world champi-
onships in Seville, Spain. Since then, and before, she has never stopped pushing to have women included in canoe heats. The IOC wants gender equality across all sports, therefore the ICF must take this seriously and en-courage more countries to get women
into canoes.
Bomb dropsPart of a major regatta is the team lead-ers’ scratch meetings. These normally are routine
and straight forward. Not this year. ICF officials announced to team lead-ers at the meeting that the Olympic Regatta Program would be changed to included 200 meters racing and would drop 500 meters racing for men. The idea behind it is to make racing more exciting, especially for television. The changes added more events to the program, which means more athletes reaching the podium. This announce-ment has huge implications for teams and athletes because training regimens and team direction will have to be reworked. The new events are K1, C1 and K2 200 meters for men, plus K1 200 meters for women.
Team USA recapThe USA PaddleAbility Team showed the world that paddling and Paralym-pics are a natural fit and took giant steps toward the inclusion of paddling in the Paralympic program in 2016. The team collected three podium spots over the weekend, highlighted by a
History made at Canada ’09, the Canoe Sprint World Championships
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by Shaun Caven
PaddleAbility Updateby Gerald BabaoThe 2009 ICF Canoe Sprint World Championships opened the door to more paddlers than ever before. This year, for the first time, physically challenged paddlers from around the world had the chance to show off their canoeing skills.John Edwards, chair of ICF’s Canoeing for All Committee, is Canoe Kayak Canada’s Domestic Development Direc-tor and is directly responsible for promoting PaddleAbility throughout Canada. And it was the ICF committee that made it possible to see PaddleAbility events in the ICF World Cham-pionships.“I am very pleased with the competition,” Edwards said. “I think it is sometimes difficult for those of us who are able-bodied to fully understand the impact of this event on pad-dlers with a disability. They are frequently treated as ‘second class’ citizens. The ICF’s pro-gram, as exemplified by this world championship competi-tion, is aimed at removing this attitude and respecting all pad-dlers as equals.”The goals of the PaddleAbil-ity program are twofold. First, to gain “official” sport status in the 2011 Special Olympics World Games. At the moment it is a “recognised” sport. Once
Hanna Menke
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early success would indicate that the prospects indeed bright.
Both the men’s and women’s K4 and K2 teams made a strong showing and further proved coach Luce’s convic-tion that his young team has the op-portunity to see great success at future international paddling events if they remain dedicated.
Regatta resultsMen’s reportIn K1, Germany had it covered. In the 1,000 meters, Max Hoff won in style
with Anders Gustafson (SWE) taking silver and local favorite Adam Van Koeverden (CAN) third. Next up, Ronald Rauhe won the 500 and
200 meter K1 titles. This was a change of direction for Rauhe as he previously dominated the K2 500 meter event. Perhaps he was anticipating that 200 meter racing would be in for 2012.
The K2 1,000 meters was won by Spain. Former junior world champion Diego Cosgaya, teamed up with mara-thon expert Emilio Merchan to form a new crew this year. They outdistanced the Australian crew of David Smith and Luke Morrison, with the Cubans showing potential by winning the bronze. In the shorter K2 races the Belarus crew of Vadzim Makhneu and Raman Piatrushenka dominated, win-ning both the 500 and 200. Canadians Andrew Willows and Richard Dober, Jr., gave the local supporters reason to cheer by taking bronze in the 200 meters.
The K4 events were also dominated by the Belarus team. Makhneu and Pia-trushenka were joined by teammates Aliaksei Abalmasau and Artur Lit-vinchuk to form the best K4, winning
gold medal performance by Augusto “Goose” Perez and Tami Hetke in the C2 200 meters. Mark Dunford and Rebecca Lloyd placed 2nd in the K2 200 meters and Robert Brown won a bronze for his K1 200 meters race.
For the able-bodied athletes, head coach Nathan Luce had hopes that the championships would be a great learn-ing experience for a young Team USA.
“The average age of our athletes is 21,” Luce said, “while the average age for perennial medal winning teams is closer to 28 or 29 years old.”
The team showed a lot of prom-ise over the weekend and their per-formances reinforced Luce’s belief that there is a bright future for America’s young pad-dlers.
The weekend was full of strong racing by Team USA that earned many semi-final berths. Maggie Hogan finished third in the B Final of the K1 1,000 meters, Robert Finlayson advanced to the B Final in the C1 200 meter race and Yariel Rodriquez earned a spot in the B Final in the C1 1,000 meters. Morgan House advanced to the C Final in the K1 1,000 meters.
Hannah Menke, age 23, member of Team USA and a member of Rocka-way Olympic Canoe and Kayak Club, took home two silver medals in both the 200 and 500 meter C1 races. The C2 team of Pam Boteler and Anna Crawford finished fifth and sixth in the 500 and 200 meter races, respectively.
Tim Hornsby won the C Final for the K1 200 meters. He had been anxiously awaiting the news of the inclusion of 200 in the Olympic program and is excited about the possibilities for his future in the short sprint races. His
official status is achieved, the next step of developing Spe-cial Olympic programs at the national level will ensure that PaddleAbility is an official sport in the 2016 Paralympics.In the shorter-term, the main challenge is to have 24 nations from three continents partici-pating in the 2010 ICF Canoe Sprint World Championships in Poznan, Poland, next year. The goals of developing Pad-dleAbility as a sport include giving more opportunities for paddlers with physical and intellectual disabilities. This means that national federations should include PaddleAbility events in their national champi-onships. In the world championships in Halifax, the PaddleAbility races were received with overwhelm-ing support from the Dart-mouth crowd. Races included the women’s and men’s 200 meters for athletes in the Legs Trunks and Arms category, the K2 200 meters for athletes in the Trunks and Arms or Arms only categories, and the C2 200 meters for athletes in any category. Italy had the greatest presence on the medals table with two golds and two silvers. Other prominent nations were the U.S. and Canada each gaining three medals. Other nations represented were Bra-zil, Great Britain, Portugal and France. The athletes “were all very in-spiring. They all treat our sport very seriously and are a great addition to our world cham-pionship program,” Edwards said. “Their collective spirit was very positive and they all look forward to the future and more events.”
Morgan House
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500. The shortest distance was won by the Lithuanians Thomas Gedeikis and Raimundas Labukas. With only the 1,000 meters in C2 being contested in 2012 Olympics, it will be interesting to see how teams adjust.
The C4 event is traditionally domi-nated by Eastern European countries and is used by most teams to develop younger athletes by teaming them up with some older, more experienced athletes. Belarus won both 1,000 and 200 meter distances.
RelayThis is an exciting addition to the world championship program. Four athletes race 200 meters. Two start at one end of the course and two on the other end. There is a start gate at both ends. As one competitor crosses the line, a judge presses the start button to release the next competitor. All the athletes who entered really enjoyed the racing and it was a great way to finish off the world championships because there were a lot of athletes on the wa-ter and a big crowd stayed to watch.
In the relay finals, Spain won the men’s kayak race, Germany won the women’s kayak race and Russia won the men’s canoe race.
SummaryIn the first year of an Olympic cycle there are always going to be changes. Canoe ‘09 saw 200 meter racing added to the Olympic schedule and an increased chance of the inclusion of canoe sprint in the Paralympics in 2012. The campaign to add woman in canoe events by 2016 took another giant step forward.
We all look forward to 2010 and Poznan, Poland, to see what will hap-pen next in this dynamic sport. The biggest question yet to be answered: How will the introduction of 200 me-ter racing shape the future?
both the 1,000 and the 200. This may be an Olympic strategy for a lot of countries — to have K4 1,000, and K1 and K2 200 with the same athletes.
Women’s reportThe first final for the woman was the K4 500 meters. In an extremely tight photo finish Hungary nosed out Germany by 0.004 of a second with Spain taking the Bronze. Who said it’s only close for the 200 meters? The 200 K4 was a reversal of fortune with Germany claiming gold from Hungary and Portugal.
The K1 500 was taken by Katalin Ko-vacs (Hun) with Katrin Wagner (Ger) in second. Bronze was awarded to the 45-year-old inspiration Josefa Idem of Italy. She has been competing at this level longer than most of the other girls in the finals have been alive. It was fantastic to see. Her husband and coach later told me, “She was happy with the medal and is motivated to do better next year because she can do it, we are getting ready for 2012.” Hungarian Natasa Janics won the 200 meter gold with Poland and France taking the minor medals.
Hungarians Danuta Kozac and Gabri-ella Szabo won the K2 500 title out pacing the defending world champions from Germany with Sweden securing third. The K1 winners Kovacs and Janics teamed up to win the K2 200 final. This gold medal put Kovacs one world title win behind the great Brigit Fisher of Germany. Kovacs has now won 27 world championships.
CanoeVadim Menkov of Uzbekistan won the C1 1,000 meter race, with France and Germany taking silver and bronze. In the 500, Dzianis Harazha of Belarus won gold and the 200 meter title was won by Valentin Demyanenko of Azerbaijan. It is refreshing to see the medals spread around.
In the C2 1,000 the German crew of Erik Leue and Tomasz Wylenzek won gold. A different German pairing of Stefan Holtz and Robert Nuck won the
Edwards added, “paddlers with a disability taught all of us a valuable lesson: canoe sport, like all sport in the past, has al-ways focussed on the outward presentation of success and physical beauty and perfection. However, the PaddleAbility athletes have taught all of us a more important message of sport. What we truly celebrate in our world championships is the human spirit and its desire for improvement. The body is but the outward container of the human spirit which far excels what can be seen by the eye. The spirit of the Paddle-Ability athletes in overcoming their personal challenges is an example to us all.”
Agusto “Goose” Perez and Tami Hetke of the U.S. Paddle-Ability team sport their mixed C2 200 meter gold medals from the 2009 ICF Canoe Sprint World Championships.
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In sports, the phrase “Triple Crown” invokes thoughts of prestige and ath-letic achievement.
A thoroughbred that wins the three biggest horse races in the United States is crowned the winner of the Triple Crown (only 11 horses have ever accomplished this feat). In cycling, a bike rider earns the title of Triple Crown winner when he wins the sport’s three grand tours, the Tour de France, the Vuelta a Espana, and the Giro d’Italia (only 5 riders have ever been able to win all three).
While not as well known as the Triple Crown in higher profile sports, mara-thon canoe racing in North America
has its own version of the Triple Crown which invokes the same sense of amazement to paddlesports enthu-siasts. Marathon canoe racing’s Triple Crown consists arguably of three of the sport’s hardest, oldest and most prestigious races.
These races are The General Clinton Canoe Regatta, a 70 mile non-stop race held on the Susquehanna River in New York; The Au Sable River Canoe Marathon, a 120 mile non-stop race held in Michigan; and La Classique in-ternationale de canots de la Mauricie, a 193 kilometer stage race held over three days on the St-Maurice river in Quebec, Canada.
The mystique of the Triple Crown of canoe marathon continues
Triple Crown spokesman Steve South-ard extols the popularity of the three races, stating, “Marathon canoe racing on the grand scale of the Triple Crown is an action-packed spectator favorite, with the competitors maintaining a tor-rid pace of up to 80 paddle strokes per minute and featuring pitched competi-tion, frenzied running portages and spills, which all take their toll on the contestants.”
A Triple Crown of Canoe Racing prize was created in 1992 to recognize top performances in the three marathon races. The prize is widely recognized as one of hardest and most sought after honors in marathon canoe racing. Here
is a closer look at the three races of the Triple Crown.
The General Clinton Ca-noe RegattaThe General Clinton Canoe Regatta takes place each year on Memorial Day weekend. The race, which is named after Revolutionary War gen-eral and expeditionist James Clinton, begins on Otesgo Lake in Cooper-stown, N.Y. and concludes after wind-ing down the Susquehanna River in Bainbridge, N.Y.
The regatta features more than 50 types of paddlesport races leading up to the weekend’s main event, the 70 mile pro endurance race. This pro race is the first leg of the Triple Crown.
The General Clinton, as the race is often called, has been contested for 47 years. Similar to the other Triple Crown events, the race rules dictate specifications on the canoes and the top tandem paddlers use USCA style pro boats.
The 70 mile course begins with a sprint off the starting line on Otesgo Lake where competitors jockey for good position going into the area where the lake feeds into the Susque-hanna River.
“The mouth of the river is narrow and shallow, which creates havoc and excitement,” said racer Jeff Shultis of Otego, N.Y.
Once fed into the river which varies widely in depth, the race becomes diverse with a multitude of portages. Accordingly, canoe handling and rac-ing skills become paramount.
Thousands of spectators line the banks during the General Clinton at every ac-cessible point offering encouragement. The race ends in Bainbridge where competitors can enjoy festival activi-ties and dinner.
“My favorite part of the General Clin-ton is the tough competition,” said Pat Faul of Lake Zurich, Ill. “I have done it three times and will do it again if I can find a partner who wants to paddle
70 miles in such an intense atmo-sphere.”
The Ausable River Canoe MarathonThe second leg of the Triple Crown is the AuSable River Canoe Marathon which bills itself as the richest and toughest non-stop canoe race in the United States. The Marathon, as the race is often called, also boasts that it is the world’s toughest spectator race as well. There are many racing enthusiasts -- even Texas Water Safari veterans -- who agree with the claims.
Notwithstanding other races’ claims, in terms of the race being the richest race, The Marathon awarded more than $50,000 in cash and prizes in 2009.
The overnight nature of the race not only makes the race difficult for the racers, it makes the race tough for fans as well. For the fans, sleep does not matter as they flock to the race in the tens of thousands and follow the com-petitors all night in person and on the radio in what has become a Michigan institution.
Traditionally held each year on the last weekend in July, this year The Mara-thon was contested for the 62nd time. In fact, The Marathon’s many tradi-tions are some of the main reasons why spectators and competitors flock to the race each year.
It is easy to see the passion for the race among families as multiple genera-tions have contested The Marathon for decades. Often times, family members paddle together so that knowledge of the race is passed from one generation to the next.
“I have been coming to The Marathon with my family for years,” said Mike Kies of St. Charles, Ill. “First I went as a spectator, and with help from my family and through inspiration from other families who live near the Marathon’s course, I went later as a competitor.”
The marathon’s traditions do not end there. Among fans, two of the favorite traditions are the pre-race qualifying event, an out and back mini race to de-termine the starting order for the com-petitors. The Marathon also features a fan favorite Le Mans start with racers
sprinting four blocks with their canoes through streets lined with thousands of fans to the river bank. Whether it is competition or tradition, the AuSable River Canoe Marathon is truly a race worthy of awe.
La Classique Interna-tional de canots de la MauriceThe last and final leg of the Triple Crown is La Classique internationale de canots de la Mauricie or La Clas-sique for short.
Its name gives away the fact that the race is the portion of the Triple Crown not held in the United States. Raced in Quebec, Canada, the 193 kilometer (approximately 120 mile) race consists of three stages between towns on the St-Maurice River.
The first stage begins in La Tuque and ends in St-Roch-de-Mékinac, the second stage begins in St-Roch-de-Mékinac and ends in Shawinigan, and
the third stage begins in Shawinigan and ends in Trois-Rivières.
La Classique is held annually on Labor Day weekend and has been con-tested every year since 1934 (with the exception of five years during World War II). Since La Classique is held in French Canada, the cradle of North American style canoeing, the competi-tion is ultra fierce as it pits Canada’s best with the best from the United States. That being said, there are many instances where top paddlers from both countries pair up to paddle the race together in hopes of a top finish.
As with the other legs of the Triple Crown, fans are passionate about the race and thousands show up along each stage of the race to cheer on the competitors.
Triple Crown race legend, Serge Corbin hails from the region where La Classique is held bringing another level of folklore to the event. Corbin, who is from St Boniface, Quebec, has
won the General Clinton 28 times (in-credibly, finishing first every time he has ever entered the race), the AuSable River Canoe Marathon 18 times and La Classique 26 times. Corbin holds the record for the most wins in each of the events and a team that has included Corbin holds the course record in each of these events as well. The interna-tional competition and the legendary competitors, make La Classique truly a classic.
The team of Andy Trebold of Spring Harbor, Mich., and Steve Lajoie of Mirabel, Quebec, won all three races of the Triple Crown of marathon canoe racing in 2008 and 2009.
More information on each race can be found by clicking on the race names below.
General Clinton Canoe Regatta
The AuSable Canoe Marathon
La Classique internationale de canots de la Mauricie
Photo by Mark BialekStart of the AuSable Canoe Marathon
The 2009 USA junior canoe sprint team, comprised of 14 of America’s best young flatwater paddlers, com-peted in the 13th International Canoe Federation Junior Canoe Sprint World Championships in Moscow, July 31 – Aug. 2. They joined the world’s best junior athletes from 55 countries. This is a solid increase from last year when 46 countries competed in the previ-ous championships in Racice, Czech Republic.
The regatta took take place at the Kry-latskoe Course which hosted the 1980 Olympic Games. ICF president Jose Perurena Lopez stated that he believed the juniors who competed in Moscow this summer will successfully start in 2012 in London.
The 16- to 18-year-old junior division athletes competed for seventeen sets of medals: five for girls and twelve for boys. Heats were contested in 1,000 meter and 500 meter races in C-1, C-2, C-4, K-1, K-2 and K-4 over the three days.
Team USA highlightsBen Hefner, paddled well in the quali-fying heats of the C-1 1,000 meters and reached the semifinals with a time of 4:27:526. He later joined with C-2 partner Ian Ross in the 500 meters advancing to the semifinals and then B Finals where they placed 8th with a time of 1:58:861.
Luke Potts and Cedric Bond came in 4th in their preliminary K-2 1,000 heat with at time of 3:26:710, which was fast enough to advance to the semifinals. In their semifinal race, they paddled fast enough for a berth in the B Finals and a 9th place finish with a time of 3:32.910. The same paring reached as far as the semifinals of the men’s K-2 500.
Similarly, Chelsea Smith and Katy Hill came in 5th in their K-2 1,000 heat with a time of 4:02:548. They advanced to the semifinals where their run ended. However, Smith and Hill also advanced through the semifinals
of the K-2 500, achieving 8th place in the B Finals with a time of 1:56.086.
Jarek McArthur, Nick Hanoian, Chris Miller and Zach Robertson competed well in the men’s K-4 1,000 ending with a time of 3:14:983, but missed the semifinals.
However, it was in the women’s K-4 where Team USA enjoyed the greatest success. In the K-4 500 meters, Cannie Ash, Morgan Smith, Giulia Anderson and Katelyn Dill paddled well enough to advance to the semifinals. Then, with a strong showing in the semifi-nals, the crew advanced to the B Fi-nals. Even though a slight breeze made its way over the water for the finals, the four-woman crew sped ahead and claimed second place of the B Finals with a time of 1:42.257.
For full results, visit the event’s Web site by clicking here.
World’s top juniors compete at 13th ICF Canoe Sprint World Championships in Moscow
(left) Team USA juniors at the 2009 Canoe Sprint World Championships in Moscow; (below) U.S. women’s K-4 team that took 2nd place in the B Finals of the 500 meters.
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They say everything’s bigger in Texas and this year’s Colorado River 100 Marathon Canoe and Kayak Race was no exception. On a holiday weekend when most people are drinking beer and grilling by the pool, 300 paddlers lined up outside their boats at the start in Bastrop, Texas, to take on the larg-est canoe race in the state.
Despite record-setting 100-degree temperatures and the prediction of low water due to the drought, the Lower Colorado River Authority provided an unpredictable and much appreciated dam release on race day which gave racers a nice water flow. As an added bonus, the weather was the coolest day that central Texas had experienced all summer.
“I saw a need for a marathon canoe and kayak race in Texas that would fill the gap between the shorter races and the 260-mile Texas Water Safari,” said Mike Drost, the race director and creator. “Having the event over Labor Day weekend gives everyone an extra day to recover.”
Since its first year in 2004 with 100 boats, the race has doubled in size and
with volunteers, spectators, kids and barking dogs.
This 100 mile portion of the Colo-rado River is a meandering, wide, tree lined river that has been described as free flowing and virtually hazard free. Other than a few sweepers and some shallow rapids, the river is not techni-cal and can be easily navigated by the novice paddler.
Drost hires a medical/ emergency team to monitor the race and manage the extraction of any racers should they need to be evacuated. Emergency exits are marked with reflectors and a map is handed out at the pre-race meeting to warn racers of an easily avoidable, yet potentially dangerous area that most reach after dark.
Every year the race attracts both recreational paddlers as well as pro athletes who come from all over the U.S. and Canada. The more competi-tive paddlers have a chance to race against the best in their class for cash awards. Special awards are given for other categories, such as the fastest overall times in a class, fastest plastic boat, fastest out of state racer and the
sold out with more than 200 boats and 300 racers in 2009. The race is di-vided into two classes: adventure and competitor, with both solo and tandem divisions in each. The race begins with a staggered start. Adventure class solos (with a record 80 boats this year) started first, followed by adventure class tandems 10 minutes later. Two hours behind, the competitor class so-los start with the competitor tandems 10 minutes behind them. This gives the plastic boats and the less com-petitive racers a head start. This also gives the faster boats a target to chase down. It is designed so that a lot of the adventure class and competitor class racers finish at the same time.
For safety and tracking, all racers are required to turn in a bar code tag at the two check points and the adventure class has one extra mandatory check point in between. Most paddlers don’t mind the extra stop as it gives them an opportunity to resupply during the heat of the day and get ice packs. Paddlers are allowed to receive full support along the way from friends, family and race crew, which creates a lot of excitement on the banks lined
The Colorado River 100:A race for the expert and novice
By Debbie Richardson
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notorious “what were you thinking Deliverance Award” given this year to the team who came in last.
The types of boats that enter are just as varied as their paddlers. This makes the mandatory Friday night check in an evening of entertainment as racers drop off their boats at the staging area. The fact that this race appeals to both the novice and experienced paddler is a unique niche. Some show up on a whim or a bet and just want to fin-ish. Others have raced every year and seek to improve their personal best or to break a previous record. No matter what the objective, 100 miles presents a challenge for paddlers of all levels of ability.
“I keep coming back for the same reason I would recommend the race to someone, said Texas racing veteran and four-time CR100 finisher, Gin-sie Stauss. “Mike and his crew, year after year, build on what works but he always looks for ways to improve, or-ganize and promote river awareness.”
While the popularity and the growth
of the race speak for itself, it is Drost who has built this race into what it is today in just six short years.
“I do think that the CR100 has shown better organization and management each year of its six year history,” said racer John Erskine. “Something about the race, distance and venue really captures people’s imagination. It is far enough that people see it as a major accomplishment, but not so far that they consider it out of reach. “This works to actually build the paddling community in a positive way all year round in ways that many other Texas races have not.”
The race offers opportunity for the veteran and the new paddler. When asked what keeps her coming back six years in a row, this year’s women’s solo winner, Erin Magee spoke up. “The CR100 is the right course for the experienced to race. While the inex-perienced gain experience and skill. That’s a unique race environment to be found in any type of race, in any sport – anywhere,” Magee said. “The CR100 is something one can aspire to
when a new racer; and then live up to greater potential when experienced. It does not get old.”
The Colorado River 100 marathon canoe race takes place every Labor Day Weekend. Registration opens in February and fills up two months prior to the race. Organized group training days with shuttles are set up in the weeks before the event so paddlers can scout each section of the river as well as meet some of the other racers.
For more information and race results visit the website at www.colorador-iver100.com.
One curious thing about ultra-mara-thon races is that paddlers and crews show up at the start with a year’s worth of anticipation. The fourth an-nual Missouri River 340 was no differ-ent. As start time approached on Aug. 4, so did a thunderstorm from central Kansas. As beautiful as the lightning display was, it meant a start delay for the safety of all concerned. Race director Scott Mansker, who runs a spectacular event each year, moved the start time back an hour, then another 30 minutes to let the storm pass. The smart racers shrugged it off thinking what is 90 minutes in a race that lasts as much as 88 hours?
The pent up energy was evident as paddlers, ground crews and specta-tors milled around Kaw Point with a nervous energy. Racers triple and quadruple checked their gear in order to take their mind off the delay.
The men’s tandem team of Los Hu-mungos Paddleos from Illinois (Wally Werderich and Nick Josefik) provided
some comic relief as they donned their luchador masks, tights and flowing capes while parading around the start area shouting challenges to other teams, entertaining their new-found fans and mugging for cameras. Their braggadocio was backed up by a third-place overall finish – an effort that took many observers pleasantly by surprise. Their ground crew tossed mini bags of cookies to the crowd with the team logo emblazoned on them.
Leading up to the race, most prognos-ticators were pointing to the mixed tandem division as the group to watch, some even thinking one of these boats would make it to the finish in St. Charles, Mo., first.
The dynamics of the race changed even before it started as two top teams withdrew leaving the contenders of West Hansen/Katie Pfefferkorn, Chuck McHenry/Di McHenry and Ron Ladz-inski/Hilary Kelly to entertain those following the race results. However, as the race unfolded early on, it was clear
The story from the point of the spearA recap of the Missouri River 340 from the front of the race
that it would be the men’s tandem division instead that would offer the battle for podium positions.
At the first checkpoint, 50 miles into a race of 340 miles, it was evident the event would evolve into a seven-boat race for second place. This included two men’s tandems, three mixed tandems and two solo men who had all reached the Lexington, Mo., boat ramp within about 17 minutes of each other. This flotilla was lead, however, by front runners Will and Dave Anderson from Washington State paddling their Huki OC2 clocking in at 4 hours 50 minutes. They had a 37-minute lead on the ICF C2 of Bryan Hopkins/Joe Mann who were only two minutes ahead of the McHenry’s Ruahine K2, the only kayak in the mix.
Pushing these two were Hansen/Pfefferkorn in an unlimited C2 and Werderich/Josefik in a USCA pro boat who kept close to each other through-out most of the race. Phil Bowden of Texas, one of the two contending
Will and Dave Anderson, overall winners of the 2009
Missouri River 340
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solos in the lead group, eventually had injury trouble and had to withdraw leaving Santo Albright pushing his gull-winged Huki surf ski alone in front of the men’s solo division.
The Andersons reached the second checkpoint in 7½ hours still about half an hour ahead of Hopkins/Mann and the remaining boats just minutes behind them. Yet, with each sub-sequent checkpoint, the Andersons pulled away, demonstrating they were the class of this year’s race. By the time they reached the finish, they had amassed a nearly 2½-hour lead on the next boat.
By about the midway point, the Mis-souri River had claimed about 25 percent of the entries and the Hop-kins/Mann boat took a strong hold on second place leaving a three-boat race for third. Through the night, the third-, fourth- and fifth-position boats negotiated the fog on the river where the Mchenrys were still battling with Hansen/Pfefferkorn and Werderich/Josefik. However, through the next couple of checkpoints the effects of the hard push earlier from the McHen-rys became noticeable and longer checkpoint stops allowed the two other boats to overtake them.
The buzz at each checkpoint was how far the Andersons had pulled away. The ground crews of the following racers had all be meeting each other at the boat ramps getting to know each other. Yet, by this point, the Anderson ground crew was never seen again until the finish as their team had taken such a lead they were leaving the checkpoints before the next teams would arrive. This is was the sign that it was unlikely that anyone was going to touch these guys even if they had technical or physical problems.
With the McHenrys now in fifth place with no threat to their position by Ladzinski/Kelly, the final podium position was yet to be determined. By this point, it appeared that fatigue, de-hydration and even a bit of malnutri-tion set in to these teams. In the miles
between the Herman checkpoint and the fol-lowing Klonkike check-point, delirium began to set hard on Pfeffer-korn who at one point thought she was in a car with a stranger. Hansen made an unplanned stop at Washington, Mo., where the ground crew re-rigged the steering to fit Hansen who now took the stern seat to al-low Pfefferkorn to rest in the bow seat. This allowed Werderich/Josefik to widen their narrow gap and take third overall position which they never would relinquish - about a hour behind Hopkins/Mann in second.
Final placings for the2009 Missouri River 340
Women’s Solo Melanie Hof 55:58 Natalie Courson 57:41 Jenna McClelland 65:53Men’s Solo Santo Albright 44:54 Jason Locke 47:30 Travis Konda 51:05Women’s Tandem Cami Ronchetto & Linda LaFontaine 61:50 Carol Heddinghause & Abigail Tuttle 65:02 Hanna Grow & Marissa Weber 78:48Men’s Tandem Dave & Will Anderson 38:50 Brian Hopkins & Joe Mann 42:22 Wally Werderich & Nick Josefik 43:24Mixed Tandem Katie Pfefferkorn & West Hansen 44:32 Chuck & Di McHenry 47:26 Hilary Kelly & Ron Ladzinski 51:50Team Division Green, Swartz, Wilson, Cowley 46:42 Ronk, Stoffells, Meyer, Beck, Brumley, Young 60:11 Gordon, Gordon, Geisinger 60:58
