Photo: Dawn, Sara, Camille, VirginiaFriday evening, Sara, Camille, and I, all members of our local Women on the Water (WOW) paddling group drove down to Wrightsville Beach to race in the 5th annual Wrightsville Beach Sea Kayaking Race on Saturday, and to paddle again on Sunday with Virginia and her women's group CBKAYAK local to that coastal area.
From the picture you can tell we were all quite successful. I, Virginia and Sara took 1st, 2nd, and 3rd respectively in the Women's Master Division (40-59 yrs), and Camille took 2nd in the Grand Master's Division (60+).
The race was a fund raiser for the NC Coastal Land Trust. There were 47 racers, 14 of whom were women (which was a very successful womens showing). The main event was a 6 mile paddle (which we all did), with a 3 mile fun race.
It was a hard circle race. The first 1.5 miles was against a full current and 15-18 mph head winds paddling towards Masonboro Inlet, then a turn and what we'd hoped would be a 3 mile fly up the Intercoastal. I decided to rename this section 'One-Way Waterway' as all the yachts and boats were motoring down the Intercoastal creating wakes and chop that totally worked against any benefit of wind and current. There was enough boat traffic that the Coast Guard boat acting as safety, was stopping boats at one section to let the racers get through. The 1.5 mile return was a hard slog back into more building headwinds.
Hard yes, but a great workout. I loved it. My time was 1hr 18min 39sec, which also placed me 3rd women overall. I know next year's race is going to be even harder, Virginia is not going to let me win again :)
Some pics below:
6 comments:
Gee... nice looking sof in there!
AHEM! The Master's category is 40-59.
I'm 42, thank you very much. See, Dawn's just trying to rush me.
Glad yr doing some shorter races, Dawn, where I even stand a chance of catching up. I'm bringing my 23 foot kayak next year...
Oops, thanks I fixed that. I have a hard time believing 40-49 years is a master. I believe 50 is the new 30 :)
Dawn: I was looking over the stats again and saw that Nanci Lamarre, who is a Grand Master, clocked in at 1:17:05. I didn't even see her! Did you? It's crazy. Where WAS she?
V
I certainly don't remember seeing her, and I guess I didn't pay much attention to the results to see who came in before Camille in her division. Wonder what she was paddling?
She was ahead of both of us time wise, second overall in the women's, and I swear I never saw her...She just listed as CSK. Gives me hope, though.
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