Surfski Knowledge Base

San Francisco US National Champs Race Reports

Dean Bumstead
08/22/09 #6872

Way to go! Sounds like it was rocking. Peter M. took second in the short course, even after clearing the bay of weeds. Don K. was first from Washington in 24th. Erik B. (honorable Washingtonian) was 31st, and Bellingham's Morris Arthur was 43rd, beating out some big name California paddlers.

Dean

Re: results USSSC
Reivers Dustin
08/23/09 #6874

You were missed Dean. The other B'hamsters were totally unruly. I hid in my room the whole time.

Helen, David, Scott and the Wavechaser crew did hero's work. This race was a monster. Most of the legends were there. I wanted to meet Oscar, but maybe next year. Everyone is was friendly (shout out to Kim - HiYa). The volunteers had to manage thundering herds of paddlers at each of the gatherings, then fuss and chase the stray ducklings all over many square miles of storm-water during events. Special people these.

LG tried to talk me into paddling an R. But I wouldn't bend. I could have finished faster, but have a good glow from paddling my X - post nuclear. I've never gone that fast on a run and never had to fight so hard to get forward motion. Half-way out to the first turn I got hit by a chest slapper and it felt like my boat had turned into a refrigerator. I didn't settle down until I was back under the Golden Gate and started getting good rides and wind push. Interesting to read that Dean Gardner's forearms blew up on the way out to the big can. A little ways before Angel Isl. the rides started getting serious. Like our dangerous downwinders from Larrabee. That was fun. I was gassed, but having a great time. When I sprinted for a wave I would be gasping as I recovered on the mad-spree across the wave. My eyes are still messed up from so much salt spray. Summarizing my race: I didn't do the conditioning work I should have and got a result consistent with that. On the other hand, I'm pleased with being able to keep the sunny side up.

Kirk and DJ stood tall for our gang in the main event. Better yet, a couple of those honkin big medalions are coming home to Bellingham courtesy of Peter and Debbie. But I'm pretty sure the fastest downwind run was by DJ from the cold boat launch to the hotel hot-tub. And it turns out Peter knows best food in Berkeley: he took us to a BBQ place that was fantastic. The owner came out and chatted with us as we struggled to finish all that food. LG is like a mafia don with the boat arrangements. I think his trailer drove off north with 17 boats. Lots of them different than the ones he brought down. This is getting a little long. Just one more tidbit.

In this morning's doubles race I was told that Ian and (I think) Jeremy took the amma off of an OC-2 and blasted into the whitecaps. Unreal. For more stuff, get on Surfski.info. Hopefully we'll get a write-up from Joe G. who can weave more of these great stories together. Thank goodness for Rob giving us such a good forum.

RD

USSSC Results
twahine
08/23/09 #6876

Here are the results from this weekend's US Surfski Championships:

LONG COURSE RESULTS SINGLE SURFSKIS
Rank Name Location Time Division Boat Make
1 Jeremy Cotter Miami, QLD, Australia 1:53:23 OP Fenn Elite
2 Dawid Mocke Cape Town, South Africa 1:54:01 OP Fenn Elite
3 Dean Gardiner Australia 1:54:42 MS Fenn Elite
4 Caine Eckstein Queensland, Australia 1:55:00 OP Fenn Elite
5 Murray Stewart Queenscliff, NSW Australia 1:56:08 OP Fenn Elite
6 Sean Rice Cape Town, South Africa 1:56:19 OP Think Uno
7 Barry Lewin Durban North, South Africa 1:57:13 OP Synergy
8 Tony Shumaker Sydney, NSW Australia 1:57:55 OP Think Uno
9 Michael Locke Australia 1:59:32 OP Fenn Mako 6
10 Reece Baker Perth, Australia 2:01:04 OP Fenn Mako 6
11 Ian Timbrell Wollongong NSW Australia 2:04:47 MS Fenn Mako 6
12 Adam McKane Queensland, Australia 2:05:21 OP Fenn Mako 6
13 Noah Hawke Irvine, California 2:05:44 OP Fenn Elite
14 Greg Barton Seattle, Washington 2:05:47 MS Epic V12
15 Patrick Hemmens Costa Mesa, California 2:06:03 MS Fenn Elite
16 Carter Johnson Sausalito, California 2:06:46 OP Huki Special
17 Darren Lee Balgownie NSW Australia 2:07:26 MS Huki Special
18 Philippe Boccara San Diego, California 2:08:21 SM Huki Special
19 Rami Zur Costa Mesa, California 2:08:44 OP Fenn Elite
20 Gareth Tudor-Jones Victoria, BC Canada 2:09:00 OP Epic V10
21 Mark Sandvold Hawaii Kai, Honolulu, Hawaii 2:09:07 MS Epic V12
22 Naomi Flood NSW Australia 2:09:36 W Fenn Mako 6
23 Donald Kiesling Seattle, Washington 2:09:58 OP Epic
24 Stewart O'Regan Rose Bay, NSW Australia 2:12:01 OP Think Uno
25 Robin Graham Atherton, California 2:12:17 OP Fenn Elite
26 Sean Morley Fairfax, California 2:14:03 MS Huki S1X
27 Gary David Balgownie NSW Australia 2:14:23 SM Fenn Mako 6
28 Justin Banfield Vallejo, California 2:14:50 OC1 OC1
29 Ian MacKenzie Victoria, BC, Canada 2:15:01 OP Epic V12
30 Erik Borgnes Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin 2:15:05 MS Think Uno
31 Dion Maxwell Mission, BC Canada 2:15:36 OP Think Uon
32 Tony Calderon Lahaina, Hawaii 2:15:50 MS Huki S1X Special
33 Mike Litter San Francisco, California 2:16:07 OP Fenn Elite
34 Jeff Smoke Chicago, Illinois 2:16:13 OP Fenn Mako 6
35 Richard Sprout Costa Mesa, California 2:16:17 OP Fenn Elite
36 Cliff Meidl Hawthorne, California 2:16:29 MS Fenn Elite
37 Barry Borm Bonsall, California 2:16:37 MS Fenn Elite
38 Brian Kummer San Clemente, California 2:16:51 MS Fenn Mako 6
39 Tommy Yonley Houston, Texas 2:16:59 OP Huki S1X Special
40 Corry Fitzgibbons Costa Mesa, California 2:17:06 MS Fenn Elite
41 Bernadette Wallace Queensland, Australia 2:17:38 W Fenn Mako 6
42 Morris Arthur Bellingham, Washington 2:18:22 MS Huki S1X
43 Mike McNulty Boulder Creek, California 2:18:32 MS Huki Special
44 Kenny Howell Montara, California 2:18:33 MS Epic V12
45 Joe Glickman Brooklyn, New York 2:19:27 MS Epic V10
46 David Jacobson Bellingham, Washington 2:20:32 OP Fenn Elite
47 Jerry Merayo Los Angeles, California 2:20:48 OP Fenn Mako 6
48 Daryl Remmler North Vancouver BC Canada 2:21:17 MS Think Evo
49 Paul Martin Oakland, California 2:21:34 MS Fenn Mako 6
50 Tyler Morgan Redondo Beach, California 2:21:36 OP Icon
51 Bob Putnam North Vancouver BC Canada 2:21:56 MS Epic V10
52 Craig Tanner Benicia, California 2:22:20 MS Huki S1X Special
53 Jo Bridgen Jones NSW Australia 2:23:53 W Fenn Mako 6
54 Kirk Christensen Bellingham, Washington 2:23:59 MS Huki S1R
55 Dylan Thomas Princeville, Hawaii 2:25:12 OP Red 7
56 Shane Bell San Diego, California 2:25:37 OP Epic V10
57 Bob Lambrose Antioch, California 2:25:43 SM Huki S1X Special
58 Craig McMannis Winters, California 2:28:00 MS Huki S1X
59 DeAnne Hemmens Costa Mesa, California 2:28:11 W Fenn Mako XT
60 Dean Jordaan Atlanta, Georgia 2:28:38 OP Fenn Mako 6
61 John Dye San Rafael, California 2:28:44 MS Fenn Mako 6
62 John Abrahams Duluth, Minnesota 2:31:31 MS Think Uno
63 Rusty Sage Santa Cruz, California 2:32:28 OP Epic V10
64 Vineet Buch Foster City, California 2:32:48 OP Fenn Elite
65 Christina Couch Costa Mesa, California 2:33:01 W Fenn Mako 6
66 Cory Lancaster Beverly, Massachusetts 2:34:05 OP Epic V10 L
67 Nick Hanoian San Diego, California 2:34:37 OP-JR Epic V10
68 Tracy Landboe Shoreline, Washington 2:35:17 W Epic V10 L
69 Tim Burke Crownsville, Maryland 2:35:19 MS Epic V10
70 Warren Bruce North Vancouver BC Canada 2:35:35 SM Epic V10 Sport
71 Alex McLain Byfield, Maine 2:35:43 W Huki S1X Special
72 Chris Dobrovolny Vanouver BC Canada 2:36:46 MS Think Evo
73 Olaf Beckmann St. Helena, California 2:39:26 MS Epic
74 Steve Kaspar Martinez, California 2:39:29 SM Epic
75 Kirk Atwater Ventura, California 2:40:08 MS
76 Mike Singleton Livermore, California 2:42:27 OP Think Evo
77 Kevin Cullinan Sacramento, California 2:42:46 MS Huki S1X Special
78 Larry Goolsby Fernale, Washington 2:43:07 SM Huki S1R
79 Jeff Hegedus Bellingham, Washington 2:45:18 SM Epic V10
80 Jay Wild Truckee, California 2:47:26 OC1 OC1
81 Rod Hope Vancouver, Canada 2:48:59 MS Think
82 Deon Lourens Encinitas, California 2:50:22 MS Epic V10
83 Reivers Dustin Bellingham, Washington 2:50:33 SM Huki S1X Special
84 Corky Armstrong Vanouver BC Canada 2:50:43 MS Think
85 Kathleen Petereit Nanaimo BC Canada 2:54:28 W Huki S1R
86 Tony Van Buuren Livermore, California 2:54:59 MS Huki S1X
87 Ed Visser Los Angeles, California 2:56:50 SM Fenn XT
88 Robbie Stewart Queenscliff, NSW Australia 2:57:35 SM Fenn XT
89 Jim Hoffman Bedford, New York 2:57:45 SM Fenn XT
90 Tom Kerr Monroe, Connecticut 2:58:12 MS Fenn XT
91 Andy Howell Englewood, Colorado DNF MS Fenn Elite
92 Gordon Burns Port Vila, Vanatua DNF OP Fenn Mako 6
93 Steve DelGaudia Bedford Corners, New York DNF SM Fenn Mako 6
94 Mike Gregory Bellingham, Washington DNF SM Huki S1X
95 Paul Jacob San Diego, California DNF SM Epic V10
96 Eric McNett Topsham, Maine DNF SM Huki S1X Special
97 Krisztina Fazekas Costa Mesa, California DNF W Fenn Mako 6

SHORT COURSE RESULTS - SINGLE SURFSKIS
Rank Name Location Time Division
1 Mark Huetter Del Mar, California 0:58:38 MS
2 Peter Marcus Bellingham, Washington 0:59:01 MS
3 Jeff Schwing Oakland, California 1:00:07 MS
4 Dan Coupland San Carlos, California 1:00:17 MS
5 Benjamin Serrazin Sausalito, California 1:00:37 OP
6 Eva Mauck Newport Beach, California 1:00:52 W
7 Bruce Fincher Ventura, California 1:01:21 SM
8 Thadius King Montecito, California 1:01:51 SM
9 Pete Rudnick Pleasanton, California 1:02:18 SM
10 Jim Nurse Pleasanton, California 1:02:20 SM
11 Keith Keillor San Diego, California 1:02:40 SM
12 Jude Turczynski West Sacramento, California 1:03:20 SM
13 Kyle Tsuye Elk Grove, California 1:04:21 OP
14 Roger Dun Mountain View, California 1:04:25 SM
15 Scott Kelly Hayward, California 1:05:22 SM
16 Misha Riszkiewicz Sebastopol, California 1:05:42 SM
17 Craig Courtney Fairfield, California 1:05:46 SM
18 Beth Dressel Costa Mesa, California 1:05:59 W
19 John Weed Placerville, California 1:06:17 SM
20 Andrew Losli Hillsboro, Oregon 1:06:37 OP
21 Duncan Burns Tarzana, California 1:06:49 OP
22 Mike Staninec Sausalito, California 1:07:25 SM
23 Matt Tager Redwood City, California 1:08:07 MS
24 Patrick Pruitt Santa Rosa, California 1:08:11 SM
25 Danny Hough Huntington Beach, California 1:08:56 OP
26 Sergey Lipovetsky Pacific Grove, California 1:09:14 SM
27 Edgar Butts Vallejo, California 1:09:31 MS
28 Tom Kellerman Morro Bay, California 1:10:09 MS
29 Debbie Arthur Bellingham, Washington 1:10:47 W
30 Ariel McNett Topsham, Maine 1:11:38 W-Jr
31 Eric Neumann Belmont, California 1:20:44 SM
32 Patrick Campbell Glen Ellen, California 1:20:59 SM
33 John Hofman Folsom, California 1:25:44 OP
34 Tom Zappas Rocklin, California DNF MS

OP=19-39 MS=40-49 SM=50+

Here's the correct order of the Relay finishes. What can I say; it's been a long weekend! - hw

RELAY RESULTS - AUGUST 23, 2009

Rank Team Members Time Div Team Name
1 Baker, Stewart, Cotter, Eckstein 0:35:00 M Team Fenn
2 Mocke, Lewin, Boccara, Sprout 0:36:59 M Team Ocean Paddlesports
3 Maxell, Schumaker, O'Regan, Rice 0:37:01 M Team Think
4 Lee, Timbrell, Lock, David 0:38:50 M Team Huki
5 Jones, Flood, Wallace, Landboe 0:41:53 W Team Jackpot
6 Tanner, Banfield, Fitzgibbons, Calderon 0:42:20 M
7 Tsuye, Lambrose, Singleton, Schwing 0:46:03 M Team 2 Long-2 Short

2009 USSSC, agony and ecstasy in the middle of the pack
Morris Arthur <marthur@…>
08/24/09 #6879

My experience, doing the long course on Saturday:

We started, facing the current coming from the Golden Gate.
After slapping the water 20 times (I'm embarrassed to call them “strokes”), I looked up and saw that most of the field was already halfway to the bridge. I had expected some world-class paddlers, but–geez–everybody out there seemed competent, comfortable, and fast.

We were four abreast going under the bridge, glued to the north abutment to avoid the current. The boat to my right and slightly ahead of me–got his nose too far out into the current and swung left in front of me. I had a vision of me swimming beside my ski, rushing backwards with the current into the boats behind me: bludgeoned by carbon bows and slashed by carbon paddles…
Instead, I stayed upright, paddling and bracing on the other side of his boat until he got his boat pointing back to the rocks. Ut oh, this is gonna be a long day…

I finally got into a paddling rhythm and decided to join the conga line headed out to Point Diablo.
Kirk came by me and I jumped on his wash. “We hee. Take me to the buoy Kirk!”
, …hey, I'm going to need to pick it up a bit.
, , …nope, this isn't working.
Daryl came by me, grinning in his Evo. Ok, I'll stick with Daryl.
, … Ut oh…
, , …Nevermind, I guess I'll just try to keep him in sight.

DJ was somewhere in there too, but I didn't pick him out (white Fenn, Mocke vest, how could I miss him ??? :)

It was ugly, ugly, ugly at Diablo. It didn't seem as big as my last two times there (2005 and 2006), but somehow it seemed uglier: 3-4 foot waves going in every direction, 10-20 ft swells sucking you to and from the rocks. That morning, Debbie remarked that it had been over a year since I'd paddled in big water, and now it was painfully obvious as I took tentative strokes towards Bonita.

Closer to Bonita (and further from the wall) the chop got a little more regular and I relaxed a bit. The tide was high enough, so I decided to go through the Bonita rocks. Daryl took the more prudent line around the rocks.
“Ha-ha, maybe I can catch Daryl at the buoy!” —right after that thought, I bumbled a stroke–and hit the drink. Goodbye, Daryl… Hello, Bob.
Bob Putnam paddled by me in his V10; I tried to stay with him… He carved a wide arc around the buoy, and then started eating up the bumps towards the bridge. I was barely keeping him in sight.

I finally caught up to Daryl–still grinning and having fun–just before the bridge. I asked if he wanted to switch boats. He politely declined :)
At this point, I was still slapping the water and hadn't caught any rides: what a miserable paddle…

I passed under the bridge with Bob on my left… DJ and Kirk way out of sight (???)
… And then the wind picked up…. and then the waves: nice 3-4' wind waves rolling towards Angel Island.
Maybe there will be a little fun after all.

By the time I got to the Angel Island buoy, the wind was howling (20-25 ?), big clean waves (5-6' ?) were rolling through, and I was yipping with joy.
I connected wave after wave…. after wave after wave… for 6-7 miles to the finish at Berkeley: I was in my element…. What a blast.

The doubles race on Sunday was also fun: after grinding 5 miles into the wind, we turned around surfed back to the finish in nice 2-3' waves. Nice…

Helen, Dave, and the rest of the WaveChasers did a great job with the race. Everybody was super nice and supportive.
I might go back next year…
And maybe I'll spend more time training along Clark's wall, instead of shuttling to down-winders from Larrabee.

Nah………………… ;)

Morris
The week leading up to the USSSC……
Larry Goolsby
08/24/09 #6881

This trip being my 4th or 5th time to the USSSC, I decided to leave earlier than usual and get some serious rough water practice instead of the usual 'arrive on a Thursday night, paddle Friday and race Saturday'. So DJ, Peter and I hitched up the trailer and headed south with 15 boats adorning its massive racks. First stop was the Huki factory where we swapped out some boats and ended up leaving with 1 more boat than when we arrived. I had damaged my new S1-R in a trial run with the trailer (can't load the truck and top rack on the trailer under any circumstances)and was surprised to find that Jude had an identical boat (loaner) waiting for me while he fixed my boat. My R was only 22 lbs. but this identical twin was lighter yet and couldn't have weighed more than 20 lbs. Also on board were 4 tandems, an outrigger and a herd of single skis. We arrived late Monday night in Sausalito to cold foggy conditions and it seemed to stay this way most of the time we were there. I think it was Mark Twain that once said “The coldest winter I ever spent was a summer in San Francisco”.

Before our first paddle that Tuesday morning, I took the greenhorns up on the bluff to view the fog up close. We could hardly see the bridge so we drove over to Pt. Bonita to see the course before heading to Fort Baker to launch with Mike and Kirk. First thing I noticed was that there was a constant onslaught of wildlife. Sea Lions, Seals, Dolphins, and Pelicans were everywhere. On my previous trips, I would see a couple of these creatures but now there were literally hundreds. Later, I found out that there was a Herring run (spawning?) going on in the bay and all of these creatures were having a feeding frenzy. We paddled in semi-calm conditions out past Diablo, to Bonita, through the 'Rock garden', through the Potato Patch and out around the buoy. On a scale of 1 to 10, the conditions were a 1 with 10 being nuclear. The buoy itself has severely over-loaded with Sea Lions to the point that it looked like a large furry buoy with about 10 to 12 heads sticking out. They appeared to be about 3 deep and were barking at DJ as he rounded the buoy (later he said “What Sea Lions”?). They weren't about to get off their buoy and I was suspicious that maybe there was a reason they didn't want to be in the water. You never have a camera with you when you really need one. We paddled back to Ft. Baker and called it quits for day 1.

Day two was a repeat of day one only this time I had my camera and we also picked up Jeff Hegadus to to paddle out with us. This time I got a few good wildlife photos between the bridge and Diablo, but the further out we ventured, the rougher the conditions became to the point that I had to put the camera away. Scale of 1 to 10, it was now a 4 out in the Potato Patch. About 2/3rds the way to the buoy, I lost sight of DJ and got concerned so I did an about face and went back to Bonita looking for him. Turns out he went around the Potato Patch and was around the buoy before any of us could get out there. All of us linked up at Bonita except for Mikey who was spotted over in the shipping channel paddling like a champ. We could barely see him and tried to keep pace but he out ran our boats and was back at Fort Baker before we were. Learned two important things this day: 1).Go right at Bonita and skip the worst of the Potato Patch on the way out. 2). Head out into the shipping lanes for the best current back to the bridge. As we were coming back in under the bridge, a large bull Sea Lion launched himself out of the water right by my footwell and scared the shit right out of me. He obviously had been practicing his dramatics in order to obtain a good reaction from paddlers (bastard).We also paddled later that day when the tide was ebbing and the wind was close to 30 mph.

On Day 3, Reivers was with us and we were invited to do a downwind run in the afternoon with some of the locals. This was going to be during the ebb tide and we had already done a slow motion surf against the ebb the afternoon before. We chose to go early from Fort Baker to Pt. Blunt (Angel Island) and then all the way over to the finish line at Berkley. We needed to do this in calm conditions because we weren't 100% sure that we could find the finish line across that large bay. We rode the flood across with a slight tailwind and we were hitting speeds of over 11 mph on flat water. Peter was kind enough to drive the truck (Shuttle Buck, not Shuttle Bunny) over and meet us at the Marina by the hotel. We were across the bay in a little over 1 hour and arrived there about 40 minutes before Peter did.

Finally, on Friday before the race, most of us had decided not to paddle and rest up for Saturday's expected calm conditions. Mikey decided to paddle no less than 6 hours this day (demoing boats) and topped this off by partying most of the night. By 3 pm, the wind was 20-30 and DJ, Reivers and I couldn't resist and went out for a 40 minute surf fest off the breakwater in front of the harbor. This was heaven with the mixed conditions, sunshine and warm water. These were the kind of conditions that I can play in all day long but I had to refrain because I really promised myself a restful day prior to Saturday.

Race day arrived with a fog around the Golden Gate and a stiff wind was already blowing. It was cold and unfriendly. Once the race started and we were under the bridge, I could see that the conditions were the worst that I had seen all week. Pt. Diablo was the worst of the worst and you couldn't help but think that if the chop was this bad here, what is it doing out past Bonita? By the time we reached Bonita, it was calmer and the Potato Patch was not as big as it was on Wednesday. Today it was a 3 and getting out there was easier after learning not to make a beeline from the point. Heading east was not the surf city that I had hoped for until just before the bridge when true waves (in our direction) were forming and we were seeing speeds increase. After the bridge, the waves continued to build and eventually I started losing sight of all the other paddlers. This bay is big and there was a lot of room for everyone to get spread out. Combine this with a lot of out of town paddlers and you have a huge area for the escort boats to cover. The further I went, the more conservative I became and I was no longer being aggressive; I just wanted to survive the trip across to Berkley. I came across a guy clinging to a ski and I asked him if he could remount. He said 'no' so I paddled up close to him but the waves here were 5'+ and breaking, and I almost went in just by bringing my boat to a halt. I told him that I was going for help and paddled about 300 yds. parallel with the waves to a large powerboat that was governing the sailboat race. I alerted them to the paddler in the water and they immediately went out to retrieve him. After this, land was getting closer and my confidence was returning and I suddenly felt like racing again. I chased down two skis that were about a quarter of a mile in front of me and came in just seconds behind them at the finish.

Later, we heard that a paddler was missing and the escort boats went out to find him. The found the guy and he was a bit hypothermic so they brought him in to warm him up. DJ and Erik B. assisted Scott Kelly in getting some color back into his face. He was shivering when I first saw him and this is actually a good sign: it's when they are not shivering that you need to really worry. Scott, DJ and Erik missed most of the awards ceremony and should be commended for their efforts in helping this poor guy.

Helen, Scott, Dave, Mike and the rest of the gang did a great job of putting together one of the greatest surfski races this country has seen so far. Thank you for all your hard work.

Larry Goolsby

Re: The week leading up to the USSSC……
twahine
08/24/09 #6882

Hey everyone,

On behalf of Wavechaser (Mike, Dave, Scott and myself), I want to thank all of you who came to the US Surfski Champs. What a contingent from Canada and the Pacific Northwest–you all are the nicest folks and it was great to see familiar faces and meet new people (and even to hear some of Mike's terrible jokes–ok, he had one good one.) I think this was one of our best Championships ever with a great mix of paddlers from all over the world. Am enjoying reading all your posts of your personal perspective and experiences and encourage you to share them on surfski yahoo groups. And thank you for all the kind words–it was a lot of work, but totally worth the effort. I won't say I can't wait for 2010 right now, but am looking forward to seeing you all again.

a hui hou!

Helen

race report from the rear of the pack
kathleen petereit
08/25/09 #6886

I was a little nervous before the start as the winds were really picking up, but thankfullly the stretch from Fort Baker to Pt Bonita was not as bad as last year. I was in my new Huki S1R with the big surfing rudder. After about 5 min I settled in and was quite comfortable. Paddlers were dumping all around me and some having great difficulty getting back in. I offered help but they said they would be ok.

Heading out to Angel Island and surfing back in on 4 - 6 footers was the best. I passed two guys here. My GPS reached a top speed of 18.6 kmh. This is the first time in 5 years I really enjoyed the race. I was actually able to relax and have fun. I thought the conditions were easier than last year but some of the locals said that I had probably just become a better paddler. I guess all those camping trips to the west coast paid off.

The course was definitely better. I was happy with my goal of crossing the finish line and even managed to beat an Aussie along with a few other guys. There were also several DNF's. A huge congrats to Gareth Tudor-Jones from Victoria who hasn't trained much at all this summer and decided last minute to do the race…came in 20th overall. Very impressive ! Bob, Daryl, Ian and gang also did very well. We just need a young fast Canadian woman now.

Kathleen