Tuesday, August 31, 2010

Race This Month

The (rescheduled) MR340 kayak/canoe race is over.  Eight WaterTribe members started and finished, with 4 finishing in the top 10 of their class.   Now, WaterTribers will start to turn their attention to their own upcoming North Carolina Challenge (NCC) September 24th. 

We'll all be watching the weather as hurricane season is well underway.  Earl is planning a fly-by later this week but should pass through right before the holiday weekend.  I've been working hard trying to fight off a bad cold, but am hoping to get to the coast sometime this weekend for some scouting/training and maybe some left-over rough water training.

The route may mislead some into thinking our race is “inside” and therefore somewhat protected, but there is a huge fetch on Core Sound (which is very shoal-y and shallow), and down the Neuse River. The first photo below was taken at the start/finish beach during the race last year on Saturday when we had an unexpected (Nor'easter) storm blow in.   The next photo is the beach during a calm.  On our coast, full calms are somewhat unusual.




The WaterTribe Rules and Regulations stipulates "You must be an expert in your craft".  Make sure you've included rescue practice in your training and preparation.

Last years NCC weather history:

Friday 25th:
   AM: winds 5-10 mph from the WSW becoming WNW
   PM: winds 15-22 mph from the NE, max gusts 26-32 mph
   Air temperatures 70-86 (F)

Saturday 26th :
   AM: winds 10-20 NE becoming E, max gusts 26 mph
   PM: winds 10-20 E becoming ESE, max gusts 26 mph
   Air temperatures 70-78 (F)

Sunday 27th:
   AM: winds 5-10 SE becoming WSW, max gusts 20 mph
   Air temperatures 70-80 (F)
 
The Dawn Patrol blog has a couple of posts up reporting on their experiences last year.  Photo is of Dawn Patrol with Paul (DancesWithSandybottom) and Alan (SOS) coming in to their 2nd place Class 4 finish, fully reefed..

1 comment:

Unknown said...

Dawn, With your experience, and the circles you travel in, you must have a pretty good idea what gear works and what doesn't. For the Kruger, what portage cart (both sand and rough terrain) and what downwind sail rig would you recommend?