2 weeks of beautiful weather that just couldn't hang on for one more day! The first rain in days didn't keep the racers at home over the weekend for another instalment of the growing Tour de Indian Arm Paddlesport Race.
In the past the race has been primarily a Surf Ski and Kayak race but the growing SUP division made up a good share of the racers this weekend. Last years race was the first to feature SUP as a category and we had a total of 12 racers. This year we had a total of 31 Stand Up Racers in a variety of categories, not a bad turn out for an early season race in the rain.
As many are aware by now, this was the first race in the brand new BC SUP CUP Race Series. Racers who competed in this race will gain points that will go towards their final placement in the series after the Final Race in August out at Jericho Beach.
The race began with the double surf skis, then surf skis, then the short course kayaks and finally the Stand Up Paddlers. I was lined up in the middle of the pack on the line and hoped to get a quick start. Getting stuck in a tight group with other paddlers right off the start makes it difficult to put in good strong strokes so I always try to get a quick jump. I shortened up the grip on my new Werner Grand Prix and went for some high cadence paddling right off the start in an attempt to get away from the pack. It worked fairly well but I still had a couple of people who stayed right behind me and I could see Norm Hann and Beau Whitehead pulling ahead from their respective positions off the start.
Rounding the corner towards Grey Rocks it looked like Beau and Norm were going to lead the way and the tighter race would be the one for 3rd place. I was in a small pack with Yannick Michaud and Mathew Abbott and the three of us stayed pretty close for most of the race. I stayed ahead until about halfway through the race until Yannick started putting some good strokes in and pulled ahead of me. I knew I had to stay near him or catching up at the end would be tough.
I managed to stay close while an unnamed surf ski paddler was attempting to draft him and I think that distracted him. I stayed a few board lengths behind until the final turn into Deep Cove where I had to try and give it my all to catch him. We ended in a sprint to the finish and I managed to pass Yannick right at the finish line...I think I won because I happened to get the last stroke in at the finish line, it was that close. Good race Yannick!
There were some good battles I heard about out there including Greig Gjerdalen on his Naish 14' and Kristian Pearson (Starboard Rep) on his Starboard Carbon 14' Coast Runner. Starboard came out on top on this day with Kristian making a good push to the finish.
Post race festivities included a BBQ, cold beverages and prizes! We had a great selection of draw prizes from Sponsors like: Werner Paddles, Starboard SUP, Kokatat, Think Kayaks, Clif Bar, Bartlett Tree Experts, Ryders Eyewear and more!
All in all, it was a great event despite the weather and I am looking forward to some more BC SUP Cup events this season!
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