Back in mid-June we had quite a bit of chop disturbing swimmers and kayaks in a round-Manhattan marathon swim. One reason, cigarette boat race on the Hudson that churned up the waters. I was looking this week at a Boating Hudson magazine whose lead article covered the race and its results. Over 180 boats participated both cigarette type and another type (I really don't understand the distinctions). I read that the winning boat went from the George Washington Bridge to the Tappan Zee Bridge in under 5 minutes a distance of 15 miles. I did a quick calculation in my head and got 180 mph, then I noticed the previous sentence had stated a specific average speed, 178 mph. The winner in the second class did that distance in 118 mph. All the boats went interestingly enough to get their cards punched and trophies at a place called the Ossining Boat and Canoe Club, an odd name for what is strictly a marina which had probably started life as a Canoe Club probably in the late 1800s but is still kept as a name for permit basis, I suppose. The boats all then churned water all the way back down to just below mid-Manhattan's Chelsea Piers where they Chelsea Brewing Co. put out a barbecue and brew feast for the crews. My mind wondered as I read about those 180 boats operating at over 100 mph and in some cases approaching 200 mph in waters I regularly paddle. The Coast Guard issued warnings and guarded the race course. But 15 miles is a long stretch and it runs along an area with a number of kayak put-ins as well as inconspicious landing spots. What would have happened to some poor slob kayaker who had paddled over early in the day to some of the favorite beaches along the foot of the Palisades, which are probably not really known to the Coast Guard. And what if that said slob started paddling across river in his dark green PFD, dark blue boat, dark paddle. 180 miles an hour would mean that the cigarette boat would cover 3 miles in one minute, 1 mile in 20 second. How fast is your back paddling? ralph diaz -- ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Ralph Diaz . . . Folding Kayaker newsletter PO Box 0754, New York, NY 10024 Tel: 212-724-5069; E-mail: rdiaz_at_ix.netcom.com "Where's your sea kayak?"----"It's in the bag." ----------------------------------------------------------------------- *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - All postings copyright the author and not to be reproduced/forwarded outside PaddleWise without author's permission Submissions: PaddleWise_at_PaddleWise.net Subscriptions: PaddleWise-request_at_PaddleWise.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************Received on Thu Aug 03 2000 - 11:55:22 PDT
This archive was generated by hypermail 2.4.0 : Thu Aug 21 2025 - 16:30:29 PDT