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OC6 Paopao 9-man 07

Aloha paddlers. 

Blessed with sparkling water and blue sky we lined up, slowly bobbing next to each other.  The color of the sky reflected blue in the ocean around us.  As the tension built, so did the terse burst of commands to keep the lineup straight.  All the hours of training came to this point, in the water, in Oceanside, in an outrigger.  Every nerve in your body amplifies to the max and colors seem more vivid than normal.  Your awareness of things around you is crisp.  Suddenly someone shouts the word, “GO”, it shatters your surreal world.   The race is on.

SCORA held its second 9-man race at Oceanside California this Saturday.  A 20 miler under a blazing sun, every team slugged it out against each other. The women as well as the men performed under brutally hot conditions.  Even the 19/under men and women raced with competence earning the respect from their elders. 

Women’s race

Coach Jill Schooler Shore of Lanakila said, “We had a bit of a scramble the night before the race as Suzanne who is in my top crew got stuck on the East Coast due to weather problems and went standby all day Friday until she finally had to call and tell me there was no way she was going to make it back that night!  So I had to do some re-arranging of crews on Friday night and no one really knew until that morning!  My top team girls did awesome with Garrett as our change coach!  We were up against a full NAC crew so the intensity was very high and I was very proud of how all the girls stepped up and kept their cool even though we lost a paddle twice, almost missed a change, because Garrett was scared and Josh driving our escort like a wild man!  Dan Barbosa was our video man and all-around cheerleader and they both helped us immensely.  Everybody wants to know what vitamins we are feeding our paddlers!”

Men’s race

Finishing first overall in the men’s was Lanakila followed by Team California and another Lanakila team in third. Coach Tim Dougherty of Team California said, “All three of us started pretty tight.  I was surrounded by red, one Lanakila on each side.  We even got a brief lead, but after one got away we battled side by side with the other for about two thirds of the race.  Our regular steersman Tony Serafin was away and wasn’t scheduled to return till the day of the race.  He called to say he would not be much help to the team, because of jet lag.  Paul McNamara became our steersman.  He is the coach of Jericho, Canada and finished first Masters in Catalina’s OC1 race.  Going into the first buoy we were third, but coming back along the downwind leg, we finally worked into second place and held it until the finish.” Team California is also listed as first Masters since they registered as a Masters Team.   Congratulations to all the contenders in every division.  For more information about the races please see the official results at www.SoCalOutrigger.org

My race

We took second to Dana’s Senior Masters.   They won every race this season and seem to be unstoppable.  It looks like they might be favored to win the division in the Catalina race, but in sports nothing is guaranteed.  After years of being in the game, I can safely say one thing, “Anything can happen.”  Oh well so much for that.  Dana got a lead at the start and slowly increased it.  Or could it be, we slowly dropped back?  We had our moments of flying and dying.  We had a few great combinations where we walked on everyone around us.  We felt invincible.  Aaah, those were the moments we savored, for we knew that eventually we would tire and a change would have to be made.   We had our bad moments too when two bad combinations caused us to drop back.  Bummer.  These, we tend to learn from, but not dwell on, probably a genetically programmed human instinct in order to survive... Sounds good.

Turning downwind to catch the swells, as we ran with the wind I noticed it became incredibly hot. My back dried out and someone later said they could see the salt encrusted on it.  I started bonking some where along the downwind run, but didn’t even realize it until it was too late.  The only thing that brought me back was when I decided to choke down several very large mouthfuls of Cytomax and splashed my head with water from my cap.

As if that wasn’t enough, then we got into a dogfight with Kahakai; who had been creeping up on us.  With no more changes allowed in the last two miles, Kahakai inched by us with only a mile to go.  Everyone was so tired; both teams had been running on empty for a while.  My arms were like poi.  I thought it was over.  Then our stroker Jerry Marcil took it upon himself to raise the stroke to, “The shortest, fastest stroke I could muster.”  Incredibly everyone in the canoe followed and we slowly took the lead again by a mere boat length.  With the last buoy coming up fast we thought the race was just about over.  I was pretty delirious and crossed the buoy going straight ahead.  Suddenly everyone began yelling at me to turn right and go another 200 yards toward the finish line. The race was not over.  Behind us, Kahakai turned as we turned and they were now ahead by less than half a boat length. We had just lost the lead.

My team was extremely fortunate to finish ahead by the smallest of margin.  After the final horn sounded, for a frozen moment, we glided in golden silence.  Gazing at our rippling wake, I reflected on what a great adversary Kahakai had become.  In the last two years we have battled frequently, this being only one of several victories and defeats for each of us.  The ripples revealed nothing but respect. Congratulations Kahakai, good job boys. 

Happy Birthday Cody

Saturday night of the race, Danny Ching and Tyson Poppler came home late after chaperoning Cody Quirarte, who was celebrating his 21^st birthday.  Together they went to a party after the race, then to a bar, where amazingly, no one checked Cody’s I.D.   Isn’t it funny how they always ask for an I. D. when you’re under age, but the day you turn 21, nobody bothers to even look at you.  Apparently as a joke, they made him carry a bucket wherever they went.  Anyway, they put poor Cody to bed and along side they left a bucket.  Written on it were the words. “Cody’s barf bucket.”  

Host club

Mahalo Oceanside Canoe Club for hosting the race.  Thanks for getting all the escort boats and organizing the logistics.  You did well.  We thank you. 

Off weeks

This week we are off, but some of the California teams are traveling to the Kilohana Race in San Francisco on the 25th.  Others will be in Hawaii for the Dad Center race the next  day.  The following weekend will be the Queen Liliuokalani Race on the September 1^st.  The Catalina race will be September 8^th women and 9^th men.   Hope to see you all there.  Meanwhile train hard and see you on the water.  

Mahalo  Al