Tuesday, September 28, 2010

Another Challenge Finished

Well the WaterTribe North Carolina Challenge is now one for the record books. I would consider the weather to have been mild for our area, yet it was still quite a formidable challenge for all. The challenges in this race are the distance and large fetch getting the Harlowe, then the current and tides getting into and past Beaufort, then the shallow water, winds, and nets on Core Sound.

Sailors found themselves rowing most of Day 1, until the winds finally came through around 3pm. Unfortunately by the time they all got to the filter (narrow and with low bridges) of the Harlowe Canal, they’d missed the tide and now also had a slight headwind to row against. Paul said they were lucky to get to .5 knots rowing the Canal. Many of the sailors didn’t make the Checkpoint about 2AM and continued on through the night getting in on Saturday afternoon.

Paddlers of course have to paddle the whole 100 miles, and with the winds Friday night and Saturday, they had some great following seas as they surfed up the sound. The few that did the challenge non-stop finished early morning on Saturday; those camping came in early and late afternoon. All but 2 camped Saturday night and came in early Sunday Morning.

There was both exciting racing among the classes, and there were those who cruised the event as a personal challenge.  And we did have a challenge for all, 29 boats finished the NCC, and 4 boats in the NCUM, 3 total DNFs.  This is a great finish percentage, but don't be fooled in thinking it was easy for anyone. 

It’s the members of the Tribe that always make these events so much fun for me, even if I didn’t participate and took race manager duties instead. These are not your average kayak or sailboat racers or cruisers. The few pictures below give you an idea of the variety of boats, from kayaks of all sizes and shapes and Kruger canoes, both without sail, with downwind sails, and with outriggers and bigger sails, and including monohull sailboats and catamarans.  It was all there.

 






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