Saturday, September 14, 12024 Human Era (HE)
This is a continuation of a previous post. Click here for part one of “Whey-ah-wichen Whipper Welcome Back.”
- …A Messy Start
- First Turn
- On To Hamber Island
- Get On Board
- Draft Dodgers
- Jug Island Split
- Draft Switches
- The Turn at Twin
- Fording the Fjord
- The Southern Slog
…A Messy Start
Time was ticking down to the race start, so I made my way towards the start area. The long-distance stand up paddlers were the second wave of racers, but unfortunately, many other watercraft were amassed at the start line. The flooding tide and, hence, current, meant that the start line was drifting eastward. Attempting to navigate between two vessels, I misjudged the space along with the effects of the current and possibly the backwards paddling of a sea qajaq and made contact with their rudder. Damn, I thought in another four character profanity. With little time to spare, I quickly apologized and continued on to the start line, worried I would miss my start window.
I was slightly annoyed as the race organizers had asked for participants to be mindful of their race order, and had taken the time to explain the order during the pre-race meeting (in my mind to avoid this exact scenario). However, as I positioned myself at the start line and then continued to drift eastward I felt how strong the current was when trying to be stationary and realized that many racers had likely been pushed into the start area rather than positioned themselves there.
Mouth of Arm: Draft Dilemmas
There was little time to contemplate the situation. While back paddling in my own attempt to maintain both my position and alignment on the start line, the start siren sounded. The mass standing start began. Unfortunately, I was poorly poised with my position on the most port side point of the start line to join the fastest racers as they formed a draft train off to my left. However, it mattered little, as I was unlikely to be able to hold their pace, even with a 30% energy savings (though the possibility of trying always tantalises me).
Instead, I jostled for position around my surrounding racers, trying to decide who, if anyone, to draft. In the end, I mostly paddled on my own at my own pace. There is a fine balance between drafting and saving energy while maintaining versus losing speed. Ideally, you want to get behind someone who is slightly faster, or at least travelling at the same pace. Slightly slower works as well, provided you can take advantage of the energy savings and capitalise later in the race from your extra reserves. It seems that I had missed the opportunity for the former and thus drifted in and out of the drafts of other potential paddlers.
First Turn
As we approached the first turn, the dolphin pilings at Maple Beach near Admiralty Point, I decided to make a push to be ahead of my surrounding racers. I hoped to make a clean step-back turn to gain a minor advantage and so positioned myself to the inside of the turn, quickening my cadence to be in front leading into the turn for the true right of way.
Racer Down: Did I Do That?
As we entered the corner, I was one of at least three riders bunched up. I took the corner aggressively with a quick step-back turn from my inside position and, in the process, heard what sounded like a board knock, though I did not feel anything. In my periphery, I saw and heard a rider come off of their board. Without feeling contact, I was (fairly) confident I had not collided with them. Despite my uncertainty as to the cause of their capsize, my lack of contact meant I did not feel compelled to stop to find out. I was confident the rider would remount, and in the case that they could not, there were other racers still coming. I changed my focus to chasing the riders ahead en route to Hamber Island.
With our new orientation, there was a light tailwind coaxing us on. The SUP racers ahead had taken a more direct line from Cod Rock toward Boulder Island. Whereas I, along with another SUPer, were further east on a straighter trajectory toward Hamber Island. This line, to me, took more advantage of the wind and current. Though the risk was that we would be pushed too far northeast and then have to battle back to get around the west side of Hamber Island. But for the time, I was happy to ride my current route, as were others.
On To Hamber Island
The Hamber Island Lighthouse was the turn-off for the 7-kilometre course. The 12 and 18-kilometre course continued on along the outside (west) of Hamber Island. It was here that I was caught by a few outrigger canoes and qajaqers (see image below). As we reached the north end of Hamber Island, I stayed close to the rocks while maintaining my eye on the SUPs to my left deeper into the channel. Could I push to catch on to their draft train?
North Vancouver, British Columbia – September 14, 2024: Whey-Ah-Wichen Whipper 2024. Source: https://www.thewhipper.ca/media.html
Get On Board
Just past Hamber Island, two riders caught up to me. Shoot! Had I been caught by the next cohort of 12-kilometre racers, I thought? Last year, post-race, riders from the 12-kilometre race had teased me about how close to my tail they were leading up to Jug Island. We joked about how demoralizing it is to be passed by another race cohort. Feeling minorly dejected, my spirits were moderately lifted when I realized that one of the racers was the rider who had capsized at the Maple Beach dolphin turn. The moderation stemmed from the fact that I had been caught by a capsized rider. I also recognized the other rider from a recent appearance at a Jericho Wavechaser.
They were friendly and offered me to join their draft. They seemed to be working together to gain position. I was slightly reluctant at first, as something seemed suspicious, but in the end, I joined forces.
Draft Dodgers
My wariness was warranted. As we paddled, I made small talk, apologizing for any role I may have had in the young rider’s downfall. He was not perturbed nor resentful and more or less exonerated me. Cautiously curious about which race they were competing in, I queried. As my suspicions had signalled, the second rider was in the 12-kilometer race.
Blurred Lines: Ethics and Class
Our draft train was technically illegal, as the race rules stipulated that you could only draft in the same course and class. However, they did not seem phased by our mixed categories. I could not quite tell if that was wanton disregard or ignorance of rule. Without going into a tirade regarding the ethics of sports, suffice to say that I justified my participation in the infraction in two ways. First, if I had not asked which race they were each in, I would not have known (both the adages of ignorance is bliss and ignorance is not an excuse come to mind). Second, if I did not take advantage of the draft train, my competitor was (if you can’t beat them, join them). Both are weak arguments, I know, but that about sums up my thought process at the time, at least upon reflection. One other weak line of defence that comes to mind now, in hindsight, is that our actions had little effect on the overall race results. Though perhaps we may have been caught from behind. In any case, like I said, these were all weak excuses/arguments.
Not wanting to be a freeloader, I offered to pull for some sections as we made our way towards Jug Island. Doing so served to diminish the disgrace stemming from my draft decree dodge. This made my illicit complicit explicit. We powered on toward Jug Island, rotating the workload in an attempt to make ground and catch the group of riders ahead of us.
Jug Island Split
As we reached Jug Island, our duo-den rider departed dividing our trio to a duo. He encouraged us to push on working together to see if we could catch the next set of riders. There was still a big gap, but it felt like we could be within striking distance. The question was, could we catch them without suffering the consequences of the increased energy output. I was not sure, but I wanted to try and find out.
Pushing the tempo, I surveyed the surrounding sea state in search of any speedy water. It looked like the waters ahead (that were in hindsight between Tupper Rock and Black Shoal) might provide an advantage with the flooding current.
Draft Switches
We pushed on trading lead positions a few times. However, each time I was in the rear, it felt like we were slowing down. That is not a knock on my paddle partners’ performance. I assume they had the same perception. It is easy to underestimate the efficiency of being the drafter versus the draftee. It almost always feels like you could go faster if you were in the lead. That is, until you pull out of the slipstream and realize you have more wind and waves to contend with, and things are not as easy as they seemed.
However, at the time, my ego and hubris took hold, and I intentionally tried to take more of the lead. My paddle partner smartly did not protest. It felt like we made progress on the group ahead, closing the gap slightly as we progressed past Raccoon Island.
The Turn at Twin
Next in sight was the Twin Islands. The other side of the islands marked the midway point of the course, a realization that came both as a relief (yes, we are almost halfway) and a dejection (ugh, we are not even halfway).
Midway along the east side of the islands, at the isthmus, I spied a couple of campers who looked to be doing a midday dip. I found myself wondering what they were thinking about the trail of paddlers that had streamed through their morning sanctuary before snapping back into the race. Just ahead, at the north end of the Twin Islands, I could see that one of the SUPers that we had been chasing had stopped for a water break. He was kneeling on his board for a moment of reprieve. The sight left me reflecting back to last year’s race when another racer I had been tailing surprised me by stopping for a full sit down rest to refuel and hydrate. Personally, I would worry too much about lost time from being stationary. My preference is to consume food and fluids while moving. But considering that last year’s rest rider eventually came back to pass me at the end of the race, maybe there is something to the full stop refuel?
Fording the Fjord
Whatever the case, this years resting rider did not stop long enough for us to catch him. By the time we had reached his rest stop, he had moved on. I rounded the north end of the island and then set sight on the floating buoy on the east side of the fjord. Crossing the arm, I thought back to the Board the Fjord race earlier in the year, which covers the same crossing, albeit in reverse. During that race, I was able to take advantage of some distant wake waves while making the crossing. However, this race, the conditions were not in our favour. Instead, we were left with a minor headwind and some light cross chop to contend with. At this point, I had separated from my draft companion, and for a moment, it seemed we were ready to race on our own.
The Southern Slog
However, our course converged at the turn point, and we were together again. We began our way south down səl̓ilw̓ət.
Fast Pass
The next landmark was Lone Rock Point and the associated lighthouse with the course calling for us to carve our crafts through the connecting channel. Approaching the point I could hear paddle strokes from behind. Before I could get a sense of who was approaching, a rider made a fast wide pass. The rider had choked down on their shaft and was paddling at a quick cadence. In hindsight, the fast-paced pass was an attempt to prevent us from catching their draft. And their move proved to be successful. The quick pace at a distance created enough separation that closing the gap seemed too costly. After a half-hearted effort to speed up, I settled on letting him surf away.
Capsize Capitalise
Shortly thereafter, at the constriction between Lone Rock Point and the lighthouse, I caught back up. Though, this was only through a calamity of convergence. As I approached the channel, a wave of small rollers built up that boosted me toward the opening. However, the shallower waters and mixing currents unsettled the leading rider, forcing him to capsize. As I passed by, I asked if he was okay, which he was. I continued on.
I SUP Explore 
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