Re: [Paddlewise] How Windy Was It (Really)?

The San Juan Challenge, a 2-day, 40-mile sea kayak race from Anacortes to
Rosario Resort on Orcas Island, in the San Juan Islands of Washington state,
had a very windy second day for its inaugural run (April 19 and 20, 1997).

On that second day, the official weather station at Smith Island reported
winds of 25-29 knots with a peak of 45 knots.  The wind was from the
Southwest, generally from the side or slightly behind the overall direction
of the course, but there were areas where it was directly in the face of the
racers.  The fetch varied, but was up to 30 miles in the most exposed areas.

The seas were as large as 8 feet in the Bellingham Channel tide rip.  This
was based on a reliable report from a safety boat skipper that he was
standing on the deck of his power boat and couldn't see over some of the
tops.  Even in that tide rip most of the waves were smaller, and in most
sections of the course the waves were 3-4 feet.  45 racers started and 33
finished, with most of the rescues being in Obstruction Pass, where a strong
current against the wind generated 5-6 foot waves.  Obstruction Pass was
early in the course, and triaged out most of the paddlers who couldn't
handle rough conditions.

Olympic gold medalist Greg Barton won the race, paddling his very tippy
Black Marlin (it has a 14" water line), using a feathered wing paddle, with
a total 2-day time of 5 hours, 11 minutes, for 40.3 miles!

This coming year, the race will be run May 15 and 16, as part of the
Anacortes Waterfront Festival.  The 1997 weather was unusual for April, and
May tends to be quite a bit better.  The start and finish lines will be
right in the middle of the staging area of the Festival, which draws crowds
of 25-30,000.

Hope to see many of you there!

Bob Apter
-----Original Message-----
From: Dave Kruger <dkruger_at_pacifier.com>
To: PaddleWise <PaddleWise_at_lists.intelenet.net>
Date: Thursday, October 15, 1998 4:52 AM
Subject: [Paddlewise] How Windy Was It (Really)?


>Several postings in the last couple weeks have included claims of
>paddling home "...10 miles against a 20 knot head wind ..." or similar.
>(At least one of these was made by a paddler soloing a canoe!)  I wonder
>about those 20 knot head winds.  Was it really that windy?  Here are the
>reasons for my skepticism.
>
>1. It's darn tough to make much headway against a 20 knot head wind.


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