I'm assuming that if you're reading this, you know who I am. I've been submitting the occasional article about my surfski experiences to SurfskiRacing.com for the past couple of years, but it felt like time to step up from this kind of casual egotism to full-blown clinical narcissism. If you're only reading about some of my races, you're probably spending a little too much time concerned with your own life, at the expense of mine. The only way I can think to guarantee a life-sustaining stream of information about me is via a dedicated blog (assuming for the sake of this piece, that it's 2007).
In seriousness (a state which I promise generally to avoid on Full Tilt like powdered ham), I enjoy writing and thought it would be a fun exercise to adopt a project of well-defined scope. My plan is to write a play-by-play overview of each of the races I paddle in this season, throwing in some photos and videos when I have them. I hope to participate in all of the races in the SurfskiRacing.com and New England Surfski point series, as well as in the Salem Sound League. That will put me up somewhere near 25 races for 2013, so I'll probably write up a half-dozen in advance during the pre-season to keep my in-season workload manageable. From time to time, my race summaries may also appear on other sites (Wesley willing), but you'll always be able to find the whole collection here.
Between SurfskiRacing.com and New England Surfski, we enjoy a wealth of online resources that is unmatched even in areas where people have actually heard of surfskis. And just as adding more and more fishing boats to the New England fleet never put a dent in our boundless stock of cod, I trust that adding yet another web voice similarly won't diminish the enthusiasm of the local paddling community.
Exactly what kind of blog will this be? While race summaries from winners are fine and all, I eschew that path. Too predictable. Too vanilla. Too fictional. I think my audience is looking for something with a little more texture. Some drama on the high(ish) seas. Some blood in the water. Which brings me to the title of this blog...
I'm not the fastest paddler out there, nor the guy who's going to outlast everyone else in the long race. In one category, however, I'm the undisputed East Coast champion. Nobody can match me for falling out of boats during races. Full Tilt, baby! I'm head and shoulders below everyone else. I'm not saying that there haven't been a few scattered efforts worthy of praise, but consistency is the hallmark of a true master. Snow Row 2011 (thrice), Nahant 2011 (in my S1-R and calm conditions!), L2L 2011 (within swimming distance of the finish line), Snow Row 2012 (twice), Sakonnet River 2012 (S1-R again, but at least it was rough), Double Beaver 2012 (3 to 5 times, depending on how you count), and in at least a half-dozen different Salem Sound League races. And, of course, I achieved a state of zen-like oneness with the ocean in last year's Kettle Island race, where my DNF* deserves a Roger Maris-like asterisk to differentiate it from respectable DNFs. Fortunately, this masterpiece in Salem Sound was preserved for posterity via GoPro video. Enjoy the blooper reel...
I might get a little smarter about boat choices this year, but I wouldn't count on it. When life gives you lemons, select the V12 anyway, right?
As an adjunct to race blogging, I'll also be maintaining a couple of web tools for visualizing past and present race results. I've taken all the available New England race data and created various interactive plots, tables, and comparison graphics. I'm a novice web programmer, so these tools aren't perfect, but I do think they provide some novel perspectives on our racing scene. Over to the right, under "Pages", there will always be a link to the "Race Stats and Plots" page. This page provides an overview of the two web visualization tools. The "RaceTrack A" and "RaceTrack B" links (also to the right) take you directly to the actual stats and plots pages, which are hosted on a different web server. I'll do my best to get the latest results up within a day or two of each new race.
And with that, I'll sign off. Snow Row, coming up. I never miss a chance to visit Hull.
In seriousness (a state which I promise generally to avoid on Full Tilt like powdered ham), I enjoy writing and thought it would be a fun exercise to adopt a project of well-defined scope. My plan is to write a play-by-play overview of each of the races I paddle in this season, throwing in some photos and videos when I have them. I hope to participate in all of the races in the SurfskiRacing.com and New England Surfski point series, as well as in the Salem Sound League. That will put me up somewhere near 25 races for 2013, so I'll probably write up a half-dozen in advance during the pre-season to keep my in-season workload manageable. From time to time, my race summaries may also appear on other sites (Wesley willing), but you'll always be able to find the whole collection here.
Between SurfskiRacing.com and New England Surfski, we enjoy a wealth of online resources that is unmatched even in areas where people have actually heard of surfskis. And just as adding more and more fishing boats to the New England fleet never put a dent in our boundless stock of cod, I trust that adding yet another web voice similarly won't diminish the enthusiasm of the local paddling community.
Exactly what kind of blog will this be? While race summaries from winners are fine and all, I eschew that path. Too predictable. Too vanilla. Too fictional. I think my audience is looking for something with a little more texture. Some drama on the high(ish) seas. Some blood in the water. Which brings me to the title of this blog...
I'm not the fastest paddler out there, nor the guy who's going to outlast everyone else in the long race. In one category, however, I'm the undisputed East Coast champion. Nobody can match me for falling out of boats during races. Full Tilt, baby! I'm head and shoulders below everyone else. I'm not saying that there haven't been a few scattered efforts worthy of praise, but consistency is the hallmark of a true master. Snow Row 2011 (thrice), Nahant 2011 (in my S1-R and calm conditions!), L2L 2011 (within swimming distance of the finish line), Snow Row 2012 (twice), Sakonnet River 2012 (S1-R again, but at least it was rough), Double Beaver 2012 (3 to 5 times, depending on how you count), and in at least a half-dozen different Salem Sound League races. And, of course, I achieved a state of zen-like oneness with the ocean in last year's Kettle Island race, where my DNF* deserves a Roger Maris-like asterisk to differentiate it from respectable DNFs. Fortunately, this masterpiece in Salem Sound was preserved for posterity via GoPro video. Enjoy the blooper reel...
As an adjunct to race blogging, I'll also be maintaining a couple of web tools for visualizing past and present race results. I've taken all the available New England race data and created various interactive plots, tables, and comparison graphics. I'm a novice web programmer, so these tools aren't perfect, but I do think they provide some novel perspectives on our racing scene. Over to the right, under "Pages", there will always be a link to the "Race Stats and Plots" page. This page provides an overview of the two web visualization tools. The "RaceTrack A" and "RaceTrack B" links (also to the right) take you directly to the actual stats and plots pages, which are hosted on a different web server. I'll do my best to get the latest results up within a day or two of each new race.
And with that, I'll sign off. Snow Row, coming up. I never miss a chance to visit Hull.
Great post/film clip Greg! Until the end of the reel - I would have said you were a "left-leaning" sort of paddler as you always seemed to lose it by leaning to the port side! LOL
ReplyDeleteGreat blog - but don't see a way to be a "follower" on it like mine at www.kayakeclectic.blogspot.com. Can you add the "follower" feature to it when you have time?
Keep up the writing - it inspires me to update my out-of-date blog!! (or at least makes me feel guilty about it)
Hope to meet you at a race soon!
Scott Lovrien