Re: [Paddlewise] Eddy currents and down river racing

From: Craig Jungers <crjungers_at_gmail.com>
Date: Sun, 23 Aug 2009 14:02:21 -0700
On Mon, Aug 10, 2009 at 5:32 AM, rebyl_kayak <
rebyl_kayak_at_energysustained.com> wrote:
>
>
> Matt the down river race is invariably run on a night when the currents are
> favourable at the start of the race, which means that really fast racing
> classes can stay in sync with the current for long periods.
>

Interesting that this is also what they do at the "Deception Pass Dash" held
north of Seattle in December (late fall with often winter-like weather). The
surf-ski paddlers finish much faster than the rest because they can go fast
enough to (barely) stay in sync with the favorable tides. Everyone else has
to deal with the adverse currents shortly after the start. Last December
this led to some serious nastiness on the return leg with many capsizes
caused by the big ebb against a strong wind. The jet ski safety riders were
very much in demand and the kayak safety paddlers who were unlucky enough to
be stationed in the places with the worst conditions saw a lot of action.

Not being much of a racer myself I wonder what it is the race promoters are
trying to do arranging things in this way. Maybe Matt Broze or PeterO or
some of the other active racers have some insight.


Craig Jungers
Moses Lake, WA
www.nwkayaking.net
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Received on Sun Aug 23 2009 - 14:02:29 PDT

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