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OC1 Catalina race 08

Aloha Paddlers

Sunday we had the Catalina race.  The weather finally turned in our favor and the channel was windy and rough.  Never mind it was cold, because just being able to ride the waves was much more fun than a flat ocean.  All season we’ve had flat conditions and it was down to this last race, to see what was going to happen.  I had a hunch that it would be rough, because three days prior to the race, the wind began to blow, slowly at first but more regularly as the days went on.  When we arrived on Catalina two days before the race, the wind was already starting to pick up in the afternoons.  By Saturday, the flags in Avalon Harbor were already fluttering at noon.  On race day Sunday, the flags were standing stiff, pointing straight, “Viva Viagra” to Dana Point, our destination.  The boys were all happy and humming, 

The day before on Saturday, the Foti brothers, John and Jim gave a solid seminar on OC1 paddling, including all the nuances that comes with going fast in a one man canoe. It was very interesting especially when we were racing the next morning.  Everyone drank in as much information as possible to add to their mind’s library of racing. The single most relevant information that was confirmed in my mind was that in order to be good, “You’ve got to put in a million miles.”  Slightly overstated, but point well taken. Mahalo John and Jim for sharing your wealth of information. 

My wife Erin and I own a family condo that we rent out to vacationers and paddlers.  We had paddling friends from everywhere sleeping over. It was fun listening to all the funny stories that come with friends.  One thing we noticed that is evident with the paddlers is that they are very self sufficient and tidy.  After everyone left the condo, there wasn’t much to clean up.  I think it’s because paddlers have learned to prepare for races by taking care of themselves and their belongings while traveling to races.  For example if we overlook a piece of equipment, it could cost us our race and no one is to blame except ourselves. 

At breakfast on race day, the wind kept rising by the hour.  A few escorts come across the channel the morning of the race, but this day escorts coming across the channel reported they were only doing 10 miles an hour against the waves. It was going to be a good day for racing.  We were thrilled.  We finally had a race where we could have fun.

A few escort boats broke down and the usual panic swept over their crews.  Before the race one skipper called from the mainland and stated flat out he is not crossing the channel to Catalina.  His poor paddlers were totally deflated, disgusted and probably had a few choice words in their minds. I think we passed one of them, because all of a sudden about 2 miles into the race, he stopped.  We asked if he was okay.  He slammed his paddle against the water and shouted that he was told his escort was not coming.  We felt terrible for him. All of us train a long time and spend many miles and hours preparing for a particular race.  Our training life revolves around that one special day and when something happens that prevents us from racing, it can be devastating. 

The race started with SUPs (Standup paddlers) then the women and the men.  There wasn’t a lead boat to lead us out of the start and it was difficult to find the heading. So the next best thing was to race by dead reckoning using the wind and swell patterns to guide you until your escort comes to make a change.  Most of the pack played follow the leader with Danny Ching and Steve Sinkus in the lead.  Hawaiians Ryan Dolan and Jack Rooney followed by another Hawaiian team Jim and John Thomas Shahinian and Scott Granger made up most of the leading pack.  They went far north of the rum line, planning to bend slowly back to the south toward Dana Point and riding the waves home in the second half of the race.  

Our skipper Mike McKinney set a slightly different course even though it meant we were quartering at an angle to the main swell.  Our course eventually paid off as we had enough surf to get our speed to 8.5 knots on swells and less between. Chasing the confused swells was extremely hard work, but it was there for anyone to take and gratifying once you’re on it. I remember at one point when we were getting exhausted and shivering in the cold, one of my teammates asked out loud, “Are we having fun yet?”  We all started laughing.

As with other teams we had our share of excitement too. A swell caught one guy off guard and he flipped.  In his haste to get back, he didn’t replace the seat in the center, took a few strokes and flipped again. Everyone groaned when he went over again.  About mid channel I spotted a tall gray dorsal fin coming at me from right to left under my ama.  I looked at it anxiously expecting a large shark, but it was a big sunfish with a tall dorsal.  Meanwhile the guys on the escort began yelling, “Shark.”  I just kept on paddling without saying a word, until they said it one too many times.  I yelled back, “It was just a sunfish.”  The sunfish is also known as the Mola Mola and gets to about 300 lbs. They didn’t believe me and had to chase it down with the escort to confirm it.   When they left me alone, it got very quiet, but I was still a little jumpy when a small wave broke and grabbed the back of my ama.  It literally scared the daylights out of me.   The next time I got in the OC1, the escort went tearing off in the distance to check out a pod of breaching whales, hoping to get a few photos.  I could hear the escort boats around me yelling “Wow”, every time the whales breached. Later one of my teammates Chris Harper asked, “Hey who’s got the time?  How long has Al been in?” To which one gave a half hearted answer and the others shrugged their shoulders.  They raced back to me knowing they were in trouble.

Letter from 4^th place OC1 Thomas Shahinian and Scott Granger.                                    
We were chasing the Canadian guys, Derek Schrotter and Larry Cain the whole day.  They had a pretty good lead on us, probably close to a ½ mile in front.  In the last 5 miles we put on a good charge, had a good change strategy at the end to pass them just before the bell buoy.  Those guys were tough.  We felt fortunate to get by them. Eric and Marky had a great race.  They were hiding way up north and we never saw them until the very end.  I think they were only a minute or two behind us.  The conditions were fun.  I think a bit more challenging and confusing than we are used to here in California.  The wind seemed to die about mid channel and it got really hard for a while, but fortunately the wind picked back up again for a good finish.  We saw a nice pod of dolphins just before the start but that was it. -Scott Granger

When the field came together outside Dana, our team found ourselves in a favorable position.  Suddenly the front of my ama disconnected from the iako and dangled in the water.  Jerry Marcil dove in and reattached it.  A few minutes later while racing an OC2 entering the harbor the ama came off again.  This time it took longer to reattach, because the seat and paddle floated in different directions.  However we had ourselves in enough of a favorable position to hold off the others and finish a respectable third in our division. 

Standing on the escort I watched proudly as one of our team mates crossed the finish.  The confused timers studied our OC1, then yelled at our escort asking, “Al where is your canoe number?”  On Catalina, I was supposed to have attached it to the front of the OC1 on the right side.  I thought for a while, then dug around in my backpack and sheepishly raised the number for them to see, to which everyone on the dock burst out laughing. “Sorry.” 

Up front, Danny Ching said he started fast and held his pace for a few minutes.  He then decided to put the pressure on and see who would go with him.  When it became evident that no one was coming with him, he said he kept up the pressure and basically built up a good lead.  Surfing north at an angle Steve Sinkus began linking waves together to ensure their position.  As they slowly bent their course toward the south, the waves lined up behind them and they basically rode their way to victory on the long downwind swells to the harbor breaking their own course record they set in 2007 by several minutes.  Please check the official results at bottom of page.

Jeanne Barrett and Shienlu Stokesbury teamed up for the first time to win the women’s Open OC1.  Jill Schooler, Jeanne’s regular partner is pregnant.  This was Shienlu’s first channel victory and was thrilled to be in the winner’s circle. Meanwhile Juli Wolfe who had a great season and Molly Saxton were supposed to have given Jeanne and Shienlu a run for their money, but they had rudder troubles.  The word was that their rudder came loose.  Fortunately as they were checking it out, Molly caught it just as it was falling out the bottom.  Her fast reaction saved the rudder from falling to the bottom of the channel. They were able to somehow reattach it and continue the race. It cost they a lot of time and possibly the race. 

Coming in first in the mixed OC1 division was Josh Crayton and Tiare Lawrence.  They ran into trouble when their escort broke down. Josh ended up paddling a very long time.

Meanwhile his skipper didn’t have a toolbox, but managed to take apart and partially clean the gunk out of the fuel line.  As they drifted, the smell of gasoline filled the rocking boat in the rough, windy sea.  Tiare who just came from Hawaii was not acclimated to the weather said, “The smell of fuel was terrible.  I was getting sea sick and cold.  I was so miserable and wet.  I just wasn’t prepared.  Next time I’m bringing booties and a wet suit.”  Later when the line was only partially cleaned and put together, but they managed to putter back to Josh and make a change.  As Josh relived his story, he seemed strangely happy about the misfortune. Knowing him, he probably loved nothing better than to have been left alone to catch bumps for miles. No pressures, just ride, and hopefully not get rescued too soon.

Letter from Event Organizer: Chris Okeiffe

The 2008 Catalina Challenge is complete.  Epic Conditions made for a great race with several new records set. The forecast for race day called for a mixed South and NW swell at 4-5 feet, winds out of the west at 15-25 Knots. Race day was exactly that. A great push right off the start, white caps forming even in the shadow of the Island.  With Danny Ching And Steve Sinkus favored to win, Ryan Dolan and Jack Rooney were a threat, as well as Jim and John Foti.  Could the Hawaiian Boys use the swell and wind to their advantage and pull out
a win?  The cold weather and colder water would prove to be a bit of a challenge.    Dry changes are a must in these conditions and with little experience this would become the deciding factor. Steve and Danny Led from the start with a very impressive start. They would go on to set a New Record of 4:51:44.   Several minutes faster than the record they set in 2007.

The women had a great race as well.  Jeanne Barrett found herself looking for a new partner this year with Jill Schooler out this year with a baby on the way.  The two have been racing the relays in Hawaii and California for over 5 years.  They have five consecutive wins in Catalina.  This year Jeanne picked up Shein-Lu Stokesbury. The unfamiliar match up would not slow them down and they pulled off another win.   A loose rudder may have been the deciding factor for challengers Molly Bishop and Julie Wolfe.  This year we had 47 teams with 126 total paddlers with the best
conditions ever.   The 2008 Ocean Ohana Catalina Challenge will no doubt be talked about for years to come.  We could not have asked for better conditions or a better field.

I want to thank all those that participated and the spectators that came down to the finish to cheer their favorite paddlers on as well as my support crew.  Thanks to Hennessey's Tavern for the great food, Laguna Tribe (Steve Caldwell) for the awesome race jerseys.   The wind made for a great race.

For the daily blog / video and pictures visit http:// outriggercanoe.blogspot.com

For news and stories please visit http://mudbrookracingpaddles.com/ I am sure Al
will have stories posted soon.  Also please visit  http://www.ocpaddler.com/   for more write ups pictures and results. - Chris Okeiffe

Thanks to Chris Okeiffe for organizing the Catalina Channel Crossing, the skippers and especially all the paddlers who competed. Thanks to all those who sent in their photos, comments and stories.  We couldn’t publish them all due to space constraints, but I’m sure everyone will enjoy what we had managed to publish. Thanks to the Canadians Derek Schotter and Larry Cain, East coast team Ross Flemmer and Johnathan Hillins and the Hawaiian teams for coming.  Sorry we didn’t get anything on you, but you guys rocked.  It was a fun and exciting crossing and worth the preparation and sacrifices we gave up, especially our families and friends.  California’s one-man season is over, +9however we take with it many fond memories and new friends.  We have formed a stronger bond with the association of paddle boarders, Olympic K-1 paddlers and standup paddlers, “Wha SUP” making it more exciting.  Our races have grown three fold with the inclusion of our new friends. 

The Hawaiian one-man season is going into its final big races culminating in the upcoming Molokai Solo.  A few such as Danny Ching and possibly his partner Steve Sinkus, will be competing in those races even though the airline fares are getting very costly.  In the meantime the rest of us will be preparing for the 6-man season. Thanks for a great season.

Mahalo  Al