Potato Race Gets a New Venue and Shorter Course

I always look forward to the Potato Race since it is the last race, albeit flat water race of the season that began with the Narrow River Race in April. So it is a long race season, but there is a significant break between the last ocean race and this race. Despite a new venue for the race, still on the Connecticut River but in Springfield, Massachusetts, the turnout was excellent with a wide variety of craft including surf skis, canoes, sea kayaks, outrigger,K1’s, tandem surf skis, C2’s, K2’s. It was brisk New England morning but being on the water proved warmer than the parking lot overlooking the river. The course was only 4.13 miles, short, and with three turns. I think most paddlers would have preferred a longer race since we were used to the old distance of eight miles.

Pricilla registering us.

Chris(2nd),Greg(3rd),Adrius(1st), Wesley(5th)

Wesley’s Garmin track.

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/399869680

Boats Lined up

Nevertheless there was plenty of excitement. I barely made it to the start line pointing in the right direction. Having a start line with a strong current can be problematic. I lined up too close to the starting boat and got pushed over the line so I made a huge circle to come behind the other starters with only about a minute to spare. The Mohican turns poorly so I made it to the start line headed in the right direction with only two seconds to spare. Whew!! Andrius was not so lucky. He was heading in the wrong direction when the gun went off. Not to worry, Andrius being the wonderfully fast paddler he is, caught the field in his K1 catching up to lead paddler Chris Chappell who bolted off the line to take a three boat length lead almost immediately in his Mohican. Greg Lesher, Tim Dwyer, and I were only about 15-30 seconds behind Chris for most of the race. Andrius rode Chris’s wash to recover from the push of a late start before passing Chris on one of the turns. There were only two starts, C1’s and then the rest of the field so we were often in a pack of C2’s.

Andrius(Winner)

Chris warming up

Pre Race,photo Mary Schlimmer

I told Tim before the race that we should be close to each and the differences would be on the turns. My Mohican is slow to turn while his V14 turns much better. Sure enough I was on Tim’s tail the whole time. I would lose one or two boat lengths on two of the three turns and would catch back up within 30 yards. On one turn however, a C2 caught my stern and pushed me across the river instead of up the river. I lost 5 boat lengths on this turn. Those C2’s are always super aggressive with few apologies. Nevertheless, I caught Tim again.

As we made the last turn, I could see Chris with a 20 second lead on Greg while I was mixing it up with the C2 group that Tim and I were in. With a half mile to go Greg made a big push to close the gap on Chris who did not realize Greg was so close until he saw the Epic logo slide next to him. With a few hard pulls Chris managed to maintain his lead to post a second place victory behind Andrius. Tim made a push also and got 3 lengths ahead of me before I closed within seconds of Tim. So the top 5 places were decided within 30 seconds of each other.

The tandem skis had something to talk about as Hugh and Peter took an early lead before figuring out that tandem skis turn slowly and bringing an inch 8 inch rudder to a flat water race is not optimum especially with leaves in the water. Hugh also can talk about how not to lock your keys in your car at a race. Most of us have done this as well, no fun. Joe and Eric caught these guys to finish first in the tandem boats.

Peter Kahn/Hugh Pritchard with Joe Shaw/Eric Mcnett.Photo Mary Schlimmer

Peter,Joe,Eric,Hugh

Tim, Bob,Greg,Wesley,Chris, Mary Beth

Now with the impeding New England winter fast approaching, my thoughts turn to the off season training and next year’s racing schedule. I reflect on my 2013 race season and think about how 2014 can be better in terms of off/on season training and of course the proper boat choice. My next goal along with at least one other paddler, Greg Lesher, will begin our indoor rowing training in preps for the February World Indoor Rowing Championships in Boston. I still will be paddling at least 2-3 times over the winter and will be looking forward the Snow Race in March 2014.