Leading up to this race I was eyeing the registration list and finding out who was planning on attending. I figured it was going to be the strongest field of racers this season and I was not disappointed. Looking around before the race I was thinking there must be easily 9 or 10 racers that were going to compete for spots on the podium.
I had a chance to review the race course with Scott prior to the pre-race meeting and was stoked to find out it was going to include some turns. I generally paddle better when I have short-term goals like a buoy to reach rather than a seemingly unreachable finish line that I can't see yet. I jumped out to a quick start and was not surprised to see Stu Robinson getting off to an even faster start. We may have been slightly ahead but I knew there were a lot of paddlers battling for position as we sprinted to the first buoy turn.
The course was a three-pronged buoy course with a central buoy that each paddler had to come back to 3 times. This meant about 6 or 7 buoy turns were included in the course that was just under 10km. The course design also allowed you to double back on the pack and see who was battling behind or in front of you. It is a lot of fun when you can cheer on your fellow racers and see who is at the front.
As usual there was some drafting going on out there but it seemed to be all done with good etiquette and class. I have to give Matt Parker some credit for jumping off his board to pull a weed from Norm Hann's fin. It would have been easy to let Norm drag that weed around and get tired but Matt showed some class jumping in the help another racer who was ahead of him at the time. Gotta give Norm credit as well for slowing down to let Matt catch up again. I go back and forth with my opinions on drafting but when it's done within a group of good competitors and good guys it really just makes the race a bit more exciting and interesting.
The lead pack shifted a few times but as the race progressed the top 3 pulled away from me and seemed to just slowly get further and further. I paddled with Matt Abbott for a while before he dropped back a bit (which is unlike him) and I ended up finishing the race on my own in 4th place. Lina finished just behind me and I figured if the race was about 2km longer she probably would just got faster and passed me. Overall, it was a great course with some amazing competitors and an awesome location.
Big thanks for Scott, Kim and the whole Sundog crew for putting together another great event!
The Sundog Semiahmoo SUP Classic was the last qualifying race in the BC SUP Cup Series prior to the finals. See below for a full list of BC SUP Cup Standings leading into the finals at Jericho beach on August 24th.
If you are on this list you have completed at least 2 races in the same category at the qualifying races. You may have done more than two but I have added up your two best scores. If you have any questions or if I have done some incorrect math, please let me know and we can get it sorted out!
