Florida series race 3
Photos
A fantastic venue at Shells Restaurant on Clearwater Beach proved to be very popular with 30 Surfskis and Outrigger canoes showing up to race, This was probably the biggest entry of Surfskis in a long time numbering 14 in total.
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Clearwater Beach delivered a spectacular day of 8 miles of ocean paddling fun. Starting out in 15 mph Southerly wind with gusts reaching over 30 mph, (for Florida this is epic conditions... not Hawaii here :-) this created a really hard 4 mile upwind slog, however, the return run was spectacular with perfect short steep chop that one could hitch a ride and hang on and at times run down the wave ahead as well. The upwind slog was tough and congratulations to all that hung in there and made it round.
The race started under the Sand Key bridge, headed around the break water and due South returning to the breakwater and then a half mile flat water sprint to the finish. For most, the down wind leg was twice as fast as the upwind leg. The Surfskis showed their dominance in the upwind work, but most impressive was JP Atherholt on his paddleboard completing the full 8.4 miles, however, not did he only complete the race in spectacular time, his performance upwind was incredible beating some OC1's. The OC1's had a fabulous ride back with all smiles agreeing that the slog upwind was worth it after all.
Once again, the real competition was at the front of the race on Surfskis with Reid and Derek both on Fenn's once again locked in battle (see attached pic of them rounding the half way mark) with Derek eventually jumping on two small runners turning past the breakwater and he sealed his lead at that point. Their times were really fast for the 8.4 mile race with the windy conditions. After 3 races they have traded first places, will be a fantastic series for them with 2 races left. Rob Mirlenbrink was third home on his Fenn 6.
In the OC1 division, Harry Mountain stamped his dominance on board his Hurricane in fine form winning by a comfortable margin, just spectacular how he has improved taking OC1 to a new level in Florida. Harry was followed by Jack Hunsucker just ahead of Lex Raas. In the ladies division, Karen Mirlenbrink on her Hurricane paddled a fantastic race to win the women's division. However, it was lower down the fleet where the real battle in OC1's was unfolding between Veteran paddlers Scott Woodburn on his Hurricane and Mike Holland on his Huki V1-B with Scott holding onto his lead, a great battle for series winner to follow.
The 2 man teams, one surfski with Mike Jordan and James Bryan on board crossed the finish line third in real time at a great pace on board their Fenn. Tim Streeter and Beans (with a total crew weight of 500 lbs... strong canoe) had a great race on their Hypr OC2.
Thanks to Harry Mountain for doing a tremendous job in arranging the logistics with Shells Restaurant, thanks to Leslie Mountain and Carol Raas for registration and timing. Also, special thanks to Bri Kruger for taking the support boat and sitting there so that all competitors could find the mark easily, Bri also stayed out there to make sure all got home safely.
Race 4 will be in Fort Lauderdale on Saturday March 24th with start time at noon, contact johnkee777@comcast.net. See you all there.
Kind Regards
Lex Raas
PositionCompetitor Time Class place Division Class
1 Derick Bezuidenhout 1:12:30 First SurfSki Masters
2 Reid Hyle 1:12:51 First SurfSki Open
3 Mike Jordan & James Bryant 1:22:15 First SurfSki 2pers Masters
4 Rob Mirlenbrink 1:22:37 Second Surfski Open
5 Lon Benson 1:25:10 Second Surfski Masters
6 Martin Gunda 1:27:34 Third Surfski Masters
7 Harry Mountain 1:27:46 First OC1 Masters
8 Mike Beck 1:34:05 Fourth Surfski Masters
9 Jack Hunsucker 1:34:49 First OC1 Open
10 Lex Raas 1:35:20 First OC1 Senior Masters
11 Jean Raas 1:38:32 Second OC1 Open
12 Cortland Reilly 1:39:20 Second OC1 Masters
13 Rand Perkins 1:43:13 Second OC1 Senior Masters
14 Dylon Bezuidenhout 1:43:40 Third Surfski Open
15 David Robertshaw 1:44:34 Fourth Surfski Masters
16 Eric McNett 1:50:25 Third OC1 Senior Masters
17 Mike Batell 1:52:50 Fourth OC1 Senior Masters
18 Andy Bezanilla 2:00:22 Third OC1 Open
19 Tim Steeter and Beans 2:02:22 First OC2 Open
20 Karen Mirlenbrink 2:04:22 First OC1 Women
21 Jim Lewis 2:06:26 Fourth OC1 Open
22 Cindy McNett 2:12:37 Second OC1 Women
23 JP Atherholt 2:12:37 First Paddleboard Open
24 Scott Woodburn 2:41:27 First OC1 Veteran
25 Mike Holland 2:44:37 Second OC1 Veteran
26 Nikki Roy 2:50:19 Third OC1 Women
Kip Koelsch Rtd Surfski
Andy Gerber DNS Surfski
Stan Holoquist Rtd Surfski
Dennis Guluzy Rtd OC1
Posted by keizo on Sat, 03/03/2007 - 3:07pm