La Conner

Old NY Taxi

Today I did a 7 mile kayak race from La Conner. The conditions were near perfect, except for the tidal currents which did the opposite of what both NOAA and the local SAR said they would – or maybe it was me that got mixed up. There were about 100 boats in the race – not all kayaks, all sorts of boats. Some are very serious, even world-class, for others it seems to be more a lifestyle thing.

Short version: I beat my expected time, and even a competitor, and finished 2nd in my class (FSK).

My skeg repair did not work. I finished with 5 gallons of water in my aft compartment. I felt it happening on the way back so I decided to take it easy. I sprinted up to a double kayak and drafted them for a mile – for those who don’t know, drafting in kayaking is probably more effective than drafting in bike racing. I would guess 30% savings in effort, more upwind. But you have to get on the first of the 3 wakes to get the best effect. In my long flat boat, this means being within 5 inches of the other boat. I am going to post video to show what it look like. It seems like a lot of work but it is very easy with enough experience. Never touched them and in my defense, I broke from the draft in the channel and then chose the wrong side and ended up losing to them by a minute. If I kept my draft I would have done a lot better. Also, 3rd place started drafting me so I sprinted to break the draft – that is legit.

Videos:

The Start (the kayak in front of me at the end is my arch-competitor. He usually beats me but not always.)
The Sprint and
The Draft (excerpt) and Extended version (Sorry, it is hard to watch because I accelerated the video so much. I see now I drafted for almost 10 minutes – closer to 1.6 miles).

Notes to self:

• Fix skeg
• 1h25m drive
• Bring HEED!!!
• Don’t overthink currents:  Hana ka hoe, pa’a ka waha