Saturday Training
Saturday morning training is hotting up. Several new paddlers have been giving their all but Dave Tupling was probably the happiest paddler this week. He beat Bruce over the line, I think for the first time. Bruce has been unbeatable in a short plastic in the race over the last two years. A two week holiday did him no good. Dave in a Wavehopper was 18.34 and Bruce in a Finn Kayak 18.37.
Terry (T2) tried out the new PRS ski and did a time of 16.37. In his lightweight Finn Multisport he raced it in 17.06 so the PRS is a much quicker craft. Dave Tupling raced the PRS two weeks ago and did a time of 17.09. The challenge is now on!! Who can get the fastest time in a plastic boat?
The racing was close and Frank Paterson and Andre were neck and neck both coming over the line together in a time of 18.24 in Spirit Racers.
Andre and Frank on the right side. Andre kindly repaired my Cockle 7 so I can paddle it.
Some paddlers are staying back this week to do some rolling practise.
Saturday Morning Training, Sandy Beach Reserve. 7.20am. $5.00 Bring a PFD.
The winner of this weeks $50.00 Gift Voucher is Andre. Bruce wins a T Shirt and Frank a cap.
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PERTH TO FREMANTLE
When it was time to enter the water four of us lifted it down to the beach where there were about 400 other boats trying to do the same thing. Dragon boats, surf boats, outriggers, skis, kayaks and the most unique of all, my 1940s aluminium kayak. It seemed fitting that we were given the race number of Number One.
Most sane people would try to paddle the fastest boat to get to the end at the quickest pace. Thank god I’m not sane. I just like to paddle, no matter how slow the boat is.
The Cockle 7 kayak is unique. Not only was it made for secret operations in the second world war, I was told there are only 2 others in the world that actually float.
As we moved towards the start line 250 single skis and kayaks were lined up. It was a spectacle to be seen. Suddenly the horn went surprising many paddlers who were littered like driftwood all over the place. Because paddlers were faced in all directions the area took a long time to clear. Ironically as the doubles started to line up, the horn sounded again, this time surprising us.
When the faster paddlers spread out, it left us to find a space where we wouldn’t collide with others. If we hit someone with our tank on the water, any fibreglass boat would have been history. Several ski paddlers, mostly female and a double cross trainer with 2 females on were left floundering with us at the back.The wash at first was a problem but it was the easterly winds that made our passage across the bay to Pelican Point sandbar a nightmare. Without a rudder we were at the mercy of the wind which kept forcing us towards Canning Bridge. Thank god we had good sweep strokes, without them we would have been creating our own race course.
Alaine continued to complain but of course I expected that. It was hard work though and it took me all my time not to complain as well.
We managed to cross the Pelican Point shallows and get away from the big boats, the huge wash, the wind and the swell. For the next 3 kilometres the water calmed but chopped up again near the yacht club. We continually saw paddlers falling off their skis and jumping back on again. Most were women with nice figures. It was hard for me to keep focussed. It was also the first time I enjoyed being at the back!!!
As we crossed over to the sand bar at Point Walter we were up with Jan Gatt and Helen Moreby. Lucky for us the police stopped the big boats that were motoring through. At the sandbar we dragged the kayak over it and left Jan and Helen behind.
Back on the water we seemed to be catching some paddlers but as we were crossing another boat channel, the police stopped us and let the boats go by. I couldn’t believe it. Here we were in a race trying to break an aluminium double kayak record and we get stopped. As minutes flew by and the big boat wash bounced us up and down and the rich people on board the luxury boats drank wine and ate expensive cheese, I was happy that I was paddling a tin bath rather than be in a huge boat built for the rich.
When we got back to paddling a stupid boat owner somehow squeezed between the shoreline and us. Other big boats were cruising down the channel where the other boat supposed to have been. When the two big waves collided we just happened to be in the middle. What a lift we got. I was surprised the kayak was so stable. From then on the channel was bubbling with boat wash and the tin bath bounced. Within 2 kilometres of the end the boats increased in size and quantity but far worse were the dragon boats, outriggers and surf boats returning from the race. They were all over the place, most out of control and being more a hazard than the boats. We were lucky not to mowed down but somehow we dodged them. Some of the surf skis around us were not so lucky, not only were they made to swim they had about five oars bearing down on them. What a mess, more like a war zone. It seemed as if we were in the right boat after all. No one wanted to bump into us.
As we crossed the finish line after 1 hour and 37 minutes we felt pretty good, the boat had performed well, although a rudder would have been nice. I now think it’s nearly ready for a quiet paddle from Bunbury to Perth. Just need to make a rudder.
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Mick Mantell won the long plastic class overall in our PRS ski but because he was in the over 45 class instead of the open he received a T shirt instead of the $150.00 prize.
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A Story from Dave Boldy
I took delivery of my new Spirit PRS plastic ski at the start line of yesterday’s Classic Paddle, thanks to CDU (what lovely people). It turned out to be a good move, as I managed a respectable 3rd in Open LP despite the best efforts of Qantas and my children. Qantas had got me home fairly late Saturday evening from interstate, and my children had kindly donated to me a cold that had me coughing and feeling generally not like racing yesterday. Conditions suited me just fine: tail wind and lumpy in places, and the PRS is as stable as any other Long Plastic. As I expected, I was below 100% with an alarmingly high heart-rate and big green goobers of flem every few minutes. So I slowed my rating and tried to paddle at a tempo that would not result in a repeat of the ‘spew incident’ I had in the Moore River race last December. After the early chaos where it’s impossible to know what other plastics are where, Mick Mantel came cruising by in another PRS – he had the CDU demo boat. I didn’t see anything else plastic all race, and was wash riding Molokai skis as they came by. So getting a place was down to having one of a handful of clearly quicker boats.
There’s now a class-within-the-class for Long Plastic – those who’ve got the PRS and those who don’t. That’s a pity, as racing in evenly matched boats creates genuine competition. Making a new class for Long-Long-Plastics addresses that issue, but creates yet another class when in most Marathon races there are already plenty of classes. Any more and we can all win our class every time, which is meaningless. So I think it’s a bit of a dilemma at the moment!
Dave Boldy
There’s now a class-within-the-class for Long Plastic – those who’ve got the PRS and those who don’t. That’s a pity, as racing in evenly matched boats creates genuine competition. Making a new class for Long-Long-Plastics addresses that issue, but creates yet another class when in most Marathon races there are already plenty of classes. Any more and we can all win our class every time, which is meaningless. So I think it’s a bit of a dilemma at the moment!
Dave Boldy
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Every Uni semester I get the opportunity to share the joys of kayaking with some Outdoor Education students. The session starts off with a brief summery of my life adventures. This either lifts their spirits or make them feel tired just thinking about what I have done. Then we get into water and they have the opportunity to have some fun, to learn some skills and strokes and try a large number of different types of craft.
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110 Fishin' BuddyFishin' Buddy
Simple Clamp On & GO
& Find the Fish
& Find the Fish
The 110 Fishin' Buddy offers a 4 level grayscale 160V x 128H 4" display, Single Beam sonar with 1000 Watts PTP power output. The ultimate in portability, with an ergonomic clamp mount designed to use nearly anywhere. No rigging, wiring or transducer to mount.
Just 6 AA batteries provide hours of on-water enjoyment.
Display 4.0" diagonal 160V x 128H FSTN LCD
Sonar Single Beam Down 200 kHz / 34˚ @ -10db Depth: 240 ft.
Shaft Length 24" Fixed Pole
Power Output 125 Watts (RMS) 1000 Watts (Peak-to-Peak)
Available in other models and colour screen.
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Sea Kayaking Training Courses
Have you bought a boat from us and want to get more experience in the ocean? If so Les Allen will be conducting courses mid November. Les Allen is an Australian Canoeing National Training Provider, Level 3 Advanced Sea Kayak Instructor and Assessor. He is also an avid sea kayaker who has paddled over 3,000 km of the West Australian coast, Bass Straight and the East Coast of Tasmania and southern Thailand.
Les will be running Sunday sea kayaking courses for novice and more experienced paddlers. There will be 3 different instructional courses, day trips and weekends away. These courses are available for all paddlers with small sea kayaks, like the Gecko, Discovery 15, Contour or any other small or longer sea kayaks.
Let me know if you are interested.
Cost: $30.00 for 1.5 hours.
For Bookings 9378 1333
Sea Kayaking Courses
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Leonie & I around the camp fire near the Arctic Sea. Drying clothes. It had been a wet and very cold few days.
END OF THIS NEWSLETTER - 201
