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 The weekend forecast looked a bit dismal: highs in the upper 40's with rain and possible thunderstorms. We planned accordingly, in an attempt to keep everyone safe and warm in the predicted weather...propane heated tents, hot stew for lunch instead of cold sandwiches, possible shortened race distances, extra blankets in the safety boats, etc. As it turned out, the weatherman didn't get it right, and we had decent weather for WaveChaser's Winter Challenge.
Click 'read more' for Race Recaps and the Results...
Race Recaps WaveChaser Race #3, Winter Challenge-Redwood City, Feb 18, 2006 WaveChaser Race #4, Winter Challenge-Treasure Island, Feb 19, 2006 Results BAIR_ISLAND_2006_WC_Long_Results.pdf TREASURE_ISLAND_2006_WC_Short_Novice_Results.pdf TREASURE_ISLAND2006_WC_LONG_RESULTS.pdf Pics taken by Mike Martinez Despite the threatening weather forecast, we had the same number of paddler entries this year as we did last year: a total of 244 for the weekend of races. As has been the case in past years, our double-header weekend of races offered up the most competitive races in our entire series. In addition to Northern California participants, we had one racer from New York and at least a couple dozen racers from Southern California. Saturday's Redwood City races had later than normal starting times. Parts of the course are without water at low tides, and the high tide wasn't until mid-afternoon. Like baseball's ‘rain delay', the WaveChaser race committee opted for a ‘tide delay', hoping racing conditions would be a bit more favorable. Still, the afternoon high tide wasn't all that high, and on parts of the course many paddlers felt the extra drag caused by the shallow water. 
Grabbing first place in the short course was Hideru Inoue in a K-1. Chris Heath paddled a surf ski into second place, 17 seconds off the lead, with Jude Turczynski, also in a ski, placing third. First place in Women's surf ski division and 7th place overall was Elaine Baden. Top finishing OC2 was the team of Leslie Churan & Rex Walters. Shaun Evola captured the first place finish for OC1 Men and the OC1 Women's winner was Elosia Rieza. Also of note was the participation of Gina Sanchez's Stanford racing team. It is great to see new young paddlers out there competing and getting involved with the sport. A total of 63 boats started the 8.9 mile long course race which wound through the muddy sloughs of Bair Island. Former Olympian Rami Zur was the top finisher in a K-1, flying through the course in a time of 1:06:22. Danny Ching, also in a K-1, followed 2 minutes behind. The race's top three surf ski paddlers, Patrick Hemmens, Dave Jensen and Chris Stout, added a bit of excitement as all three boats overlapped at the finish. Finishing first in Men's OC1 was Justin Banfield and the Women's OC1 division was won by Aimee Spector. 
Because of the threatening forecast, we held off on the final course decisions for Sunday's Treasure Island races. As it turned out, the race day conditions were benign enough to run the short course around Treasure Island and Yerba Buena Island. Under surprisingly sunny skies and calm waters, 33 paddlers lined up for the start of the approximately 6 mile short course which would have the racers circumnavigating Treasure and Yerba Buena Islands in a clockwise direction. Top 3 finishers overall were surf ski paddlers Chris Heath, Dan Coupland and Scott Kelly. OC2 Co-Ed was won by the team of Karen & Mike Scales, OC1 Men's winner was Kyle Muin, and Women's OC1 was won by Cathy Newton. By the start of the 10.2 mile long course the tides were just starting to change from ebb to flood. This can make for challenging course selections as currents are switching direction and eddies are forming. The course would lead racers out towards Angel Island, rounding a red buoy just off the island and then heading south to Alcatraz. Next, paddlers would travel back to the Bay Bridge, around Yerba Buena, finally finishing at the Treasure Island starting point. We had 67 entries for the long course, including paddling phenom Danny Ching, Olympian Rami Zur, Former Hungarian National Team Member and Zsolt Szadovski, 4th place finisher at the US Surfski Championships. Other perennial top finishers from California were Patrick Hemmens and Dave Jensen. When the dust settled, it was Rami Zur taking first by a 23 second margin, Patrick Hemmens battling impressively to grab the number two spot, and Thomas Gallagher placing third. Only one second separated each of the 2nd through 4th place finishers. Danny Ching would be the first OC1 in the Men's Division, finishing in 7th place overall. At one point near the finish, Danny had two surf skis drafting him! Danny also won the coveted Waterman Award for the best two combined times racing canoe one day and kayak the other. As racers rolled in lunch was served and soon after the awards ceremony was held. With a great turn out and surprisingly cooperative weather, another exciting WaveChaser Winter Challenge weekend came to a close. The next race is the Wave Chaser Championships at Fort Baker on March 25th?
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