Me with the mens winner, Eric Borgness of Wisconsin. He has been a friend of ours for a long time and was the one who talked us into racing in Canada. I’m sure he said its not really that cold there?
First time on his new Mako Elite..way to go!This was a fun weekend away from the kids and absolutely the coldest race I have ever paddled. 31.2 KM with every condition. Some side bump/slop, downwind section, totally flat and big headwind. I was not ready for this, and obviously a good thing I did not go to Molokai either. Died at 15km and managed to battle on in the flat and limped home in the headwind to win, just barely. Heather Nelson, who holds the race course record was a close second..with a 3 month old waiting on shore to great her. Jeez..good job Heather..and I trained for this.
Pat also had his troubles..Lead through the early part of the race(downwind) and then kicked the bucket at 10km in. He managed 6th place. We enjoyed the race atmoshere and thanks to the Bowen Island crowd for a really fun event. Also thanks to Alan Carlson and Mike Fitzmaurice for the use of their Mako 6s and, Jeff Raymond for the transport of the skis. Also a well done to Think Kayaks to have such a presence in the race for such a new company. The Legend and the Evo are hot and people are starting to know it!