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Shaw Race Report
Kevin Olney
08/05/19 #25278
A small continent of Bellingham paddlers made the trip. Jamie Klein and I paddled in a double ski, Amber in her single and Larry B showed up as well. Other skis included Dot H from Seattle, Kelly W from Pt Townsend, Russ,Steve, and John from Seattle and Toby C from Orcas.
We had perfect weather for the race. A steady but light breeze from the NW kept us from overheating and provided enough texture on the water to break up any monotony.
Our competition was Peter and Juraj in another double ski and the Storbs in their quad rowing shell. We had a fast start and jumped to an early lead. Everything felt good so we pushed for another 5-6 minutes before settling into our race pace.
Our counter clockwise route pitted us against wind and current for about 5 miles through Blind Bay and Wasp Passage. We struggled to stay above 7 mph at times but we were rewarded in San Juan channel where we reached over 11 mph for some sections.
As we rounded the southern tip of Shaw and the finish came into view I knew we had a shot at the course record (Rob O’Brien/Jeff Knakal 1:39:45 in 2003). We kept a strong pace, speeding up as we neared the line. We finished in 1:37:56 beating the record by nearly 2 minutes!
Results: https://www.webscorer.com/racedetails?raceid=190174
Photos: http://soundrowers.org/racePhotos/2019/RoundShawRow/index.html
Paul Reavley
08/05/19 #25281
Thanks for the write-up Kevin. You and Jamie were smokin!
Did Amber and Dot have a sprint finish?
Kevin Olney
08/05/19 #25282
Thanks Denise and Paul. No, Amber and Dot were in more leisure paddle mode and tried to tie at the finish.
Denise, Thursday’s course will be shorter than usual (probably around 2-2.5 miles) but there will be some tight turns and likely shallow water in a couple places. I’ll post a course map in the next day or so.
Alan, OCs won’t earn you any bonus points. Now if you were in a plastic rec canoe you could max out the bonus…
