If you're looking for the Blackburn Challenge race report, you can find it here.
Given what looked like pretty good downwind conditions on the way back to Lynch Park, we'd be running course #1 out to Eagle Island and back. Although it wasn't particularly windy, some nice SSE waves had formed for our enjoyment. High tide was just a half-hour before the race, so there'd be no high-stepping hijinks from the sprinters at the start.
In addition to most of the usual crowd, we were joined by first-time racer Ed Wonsek in his Stellar SR. Just in case he turned out to be a ringer, I took him out into the Sound beforehand and (giggling behind my hands) pointed out the various landmarks he'd need to know. He looked a little doubtful when I first told him the Salem power plant smokestacks were Eagle Island, but I think I eventually sold him on it.
After a quick run down the beach, an uncharacteristic number of paddlers got off smoothly. In his first Le Mans start, Ed had a little trouble with the mechanics, but demonstrated impressive shallow-water remounting skills. Kirk was out ahead with his habitual "This is a 500m race, right?" sprint, with Matt, Francisco, Ken, and I abreast behind him. As in our last race, I found myself unconsciously crowding out Ken to my left in my eagerness to get on the rhumb line to our destination - a breach of etiquette at best, poor sportsmanship at worst. I hereby vow to stop flouting maritime law.
I sensed from the start that Francisco either wasn't in fighting fettle or had hooked into some weeds early on. Once Kirk's delirious burst of speed appeared to be waning, I moved around him to the right. Francisco followed, but after a few moments had dropped back. Several minutes later I noticed him, perhaps accompanied by Matt, back several boat lengths and well off to the right of my line.
The trip out to Eagle was uneventful, excepting the cormorant that surfaced inches from my catch area, inspiring me to emit a passable imitation of the bird's shrill call. As expected, the far side of Eagle was a choppy mess of refracted waves. In my V12, this would have caused me to slow to an unsteady amble. In the V10, I instead slowed to the pace of a brisk constitutional. I was surprised to find Francisco and Matt (and everyone else) coming around Eagle counterclockwise.
The run back to Lynch Park was exhilarating, although as I found myself paddling all-out to get on a series of runners, I couldn't help but wish that I hadn't just tanked myself in a half-hour upwind paddle. Nevertheless, I had a grand time coming back, managing to piece together some nice rides. I had no idea where Francisco was, although based on his position coming around Eagle, he would have had to really crack on the downwind to catch up. Just to be safe, I pushed hard right up to the beach.
Although Ed finished near the back of the pack this evening, I expect we'll see some real improvements as he gets acclimated to ocean racing (and Le Mans starts). Here are the full results:
For the first time this year, I have the season lead to myself. Four weeks to go and I'm one point ahead of Francisco.
Given what looked like pretty good downwind conditions on the way back to Lynch Park, we'd be running course #1 out to Eagle Island and back. Although it wasn't particularly windy, some nice SSE waves had formed for our enjoyment. High tide was just a half-hour before the race, so there'd be no high-stepping hijinks from the sprinters at the start.
In addition to most of the usual crowd, we were joined by first-time racer Ed Wonsek in his Stellar SR. Just in case he turned out to be a ringer, I took him out into the Sound beforehand and (giggling behind my hands) pointed out the various landmarks he'd need to know. He looked a little doubtful when I first told him the Salem power plant smokestacks were Eagle Island, but I think I eventually sold him on it.
After a quick run down the beach, an uncharacteristic number of paddlers got off smoothly. In his first Le Mans start, Ed had a little trouble with the mechanics, but demonstrated impressive shallow-water remounting skills. Kirk was out ahead with his habitual "This is a 500m race, right?" sprint, with Matt, Francisco, Ken, and I abreast behind him. As in our last race, I found myself unconsciously crowding out Ken to my left in my eagerness to get on the rhumb line to our destination - a breach of etiquette at best, poor sportsmanship at worst. I hereby vow to stop flouting maritime law.
I sensed from the start that Francisco either wasn't in fighting fettle or had hooked into some weeds early on. Once Kirk's delirious burst of speed appeared to be waning, I moved around him to the right. Francisco followed, but after a few moments had dropped back. Several minutes later I noticed him, perhaps accompanied by Matt, back several boat lengths and well off to the right of my line.
The trip out to Eagle was uneventful, excepting the cormorant that surfaced inches from my catch area, inspiring me to emit a passable imitation of the bird's shrill call. As expected, the far side of Eagle was a choppy mess of refracted waves. In my V12, this would have caused me to slow to an unsteady amble. In the V10, I instead slowed to the pace of a brisk constitutional. I was surprised to find Francisco and Matt (and everyone else) coming around Eagle counterclockwise.
Although Ed finished near the back of the pack this evening, I expect we'll see some real improvements as he gets acclimated to ocean racing (and Le Mans starts). Here are the full results:
| Greg Lesher | Epic V10 (New) | 0:51:10 | 12 |
| Francisco Urena | Stellar SE | 0:55:15 | 11 |
| Matt Drayer | Epic V8 | 0:55:26 | 10 |
| Ken Cooper | Epic V8 | 0:56:14 | 9 |
| Kirk Olsen | Epic V12 | 0:57:11 | 8 |
| Bill Kuklinski | Epic V8 | 0:59:10 | 7 |
| Bruce Deltorchio | Think Evo II | 1:06:42 | 6 |
| Ed Wonsek | Stellar SR | 1:08:31 | 5 |
| Mary Beth Gangloff | Huki S1-R | 1:15:00 | 12 |
For the first time this year, I have the season lead to myself. Four weeks to go and I'm one point ahead of Francisco.
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