Since our normal Lynch Park start was scheduled to be occupied by local revelers, we relocated to the Water Street beach. Since this is a little deeper in Beverly Harbor, the race out into the Sound would be a little longer than usual. We'd be paddling 3.4 miles out to the Bowditch Ledge pylon (course #2) and back. With a mild SSE breeze and incoming tide, this would be approximately an upwind/downwind race.
I didn't get the advance memo, but it was boat swap night on Salem Sound. Ken tried out his new red-tip V10 Sport, while Bill paddled Ed's black-tip build of the same boat. Kirk was looking to put a bruisin' on everybody in Bill's old black-and-blue S1-X Special. I stuck with my V10, not really wanting to paddle the 12 foot sit-on-top fishing kayak that was in the area.
From a standing start at water's edge, Francisco, Matt, and Kirk jumped out to their characteristic fast starts. After a couple of minutes, Matt settled behind Francisco, Kirk dropped off the pace, and I hooked on behind Matt. Five minutes later, Matt dropped back a half boat length and I skirted around him to latch onto Francisco. After a few minutes resting there, I accelerated on the right to pass.
As expected, Francisco had an adverse reaction to this move. For the next 10 minutes, we paddled side by side, arguing about the impact of late 19th century industrialization on the Russian aristocracy. Not in actual words, of course, but I sensed that was the subtext of our repeated attacks and parries. I'd throw in a brief interval ("Chekhov clearly shows the negative effects of mechanized farming in Uncle Vanya!") to which Francisco would quickly respond ("Chekhov, Shmekhov. The emancipation of the serfs in 1868 is the obvious causal factor!"). This went on for a while, but I ultimately got the upper hand (with an irrefutable argument hinging on the collapse of grain prices) and pulled slowly away.
At the Bowditch marker I had a 7 or 8 boat length lead. Heading downwind, I was disappointed that there weren't more helpful runners. Even without any big waves, however, the tidal current made for a much quicker return trip. I wasn't able to spot Francisco behind me, so I spent the second leg worried that he was heading home on a better line. Fortunately, that turned out not to be the case and I was able to finish in first. Here are the full results:
With 3 weeks left (including two double-headers - can't wait), I have a 2 point lead over Francisco. I'm betting that he's going to arrive with a bag full of hurt at the next race.
I didn't get the advance memo, but it was boat swap night on Salem Sound. Ken tried out his new red-tip V10 Sport, while Bill paddled Ed's black-tip build of the same boat. Kirk was looking to put a bruisin' on everybody in Bill's old black-and-blue S1-X Special. I stuck with my V10, not really wanting to paddle the 12 foot sit-on-top fishing kayak that was in the area.
From a standing start at water's edge, Francisco, Matt, and Kirk jumped out to their characteristic fast starts. After a couple of minutes, Matt settled behind Francisco, Kirk dropped off the pace, and I hooked on behind Matt. Five minutes later, Matt dropped back a half boat length and I skirted around him to latch onto Francisco. After a few minutes resting there, I accelerated on the right to pass.
As expected, Francisco had an adverse reaction to this move. For the next 10 minutes, we paddled side by side, arguing about the impact of late 19th century industrialization on the Russian aristocracy. Not in actual words, of course, but I sensed that was the subtext of our repeated attacks and parries. I'd throw in a brief interval ("Chekhov clearly shows the negative effects of mechanized farming in Uncle Vanya!") to which Francisco would quickly respond ("Chekhov, Shmekhov. The emancipation of the serfs in 1868 is the obvious causal factor!"). This went on for a while, but I ultimately got the upper hand (with an irrefutable argument hinging on the collapse of grain prices) and pulled slowly away.
At the Bowditch marker I had a 7 or 8 boat length lead. Heading downwind, I was disappointed that there weren't more helpful runners. Even without any big waves, however, the tidal current made for a much quicker return trip. I wasn't able to spot Francisco behind me, so I spent the second leg worried that he was heading home on a better line. Fortunately, that turned out not to be the case and I was able to finish in first. Here are the full results:
| Greg Lesher | Epic V10 (New) | 0:55:27 | 12 |
| Francisco Urena | Stellar SE | 0:57:55 | 11 |
| Matt Drayer | Epic V8 | 0:59:02 | 10 |
| Kirk Olsen | Huki S1-X Special | 0:59:45 | 9 |
| Ken Cooper | Epic V10 Sport (New) | 1:00:20 | 8 |
| Bruce Deltorchio | Think Eze | 1:03:45 | 7 |
| Bill Kuklinski | Epic V10 Sport (New) | 1:04:01 | 6 |
| Mary Beth Gangloff | Huki S1-R | 1:16:20 | 12 |
| Ed Wonsek | Stellar SR | DNF | 0 |
With 3 weeks left (including two double-headers - can't wait), I have a 2 point lead over Francisco. I'm betting that he's going to arrive with a bag full of hurt at the next race.
Bull Cookies. Here's the root cause of Russia's unrest during that period.
ReplyDeleteDuring the 1890s, Russia's industrial development led to a large increase in the size of the urban bourgeoisie and the working class, which gave rise to a more dynamic political atmosphere and the development of radical parties, hence putting pressure on the established Russian aristocracy.
See that's what Francisco thought too, and look where that got him...
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