The End of the 2008 Outrigger Racing Season

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Originally uploaded by d.yaro

For our club the last race of the year has been the Bridge to Bridge race held in Victoria, BC. It's a long haul of a season that starts off in January with the Ice Breaker race at the Lotus Club in Burnaby, BC. On account of the travelling I did this year I think I did a smaller number of races this year: Duel in the Desert, Jericho Iron, small boat races at the CORA Canadian Championships, Liberty Outrigger Race in New York, NY, Length of the Lake and Bridge to Bridge. All in all it was a good season. I think I've lowered my time on the 10km distance by about 10 minutes (if not more). I think I'm a bit more comfortable with paddling solo but there's still a lot of room for improvement.

Anyways, the photograph shows the tools of the trade for me in outrigger paddling. I'm using bigger surface blades that are designed for OC6/team paddling in conditions that are at least moderately active in terms of wave action. The blades are carbon fibre and the shafts are wood. They are considerably lighter than the first all-wood blade I used when I started outrigger paddling. And they're not exactly cheap. Those two blades represent an investment in equipment that is close to $500(CAN). I'm also using a relatively long 52" paddle (the one without a decal on it) for OC6 paddling. I know of a couple of guys who use 50" paddles and they're at least my height, if not taller. I suppose it's all a matter of taste.

I'll still be out paddling on weekends until December. We'll probably do some V-12 paddling around New Years and in January. Then the whole cycle starts off again with the Ice Breaker V-12 races at the Lotus Club in late January...