‘Wela ka hao,’ roughly translated from the Hawaiian, means: ‘Strike while the iron is hot.’ Hot it certainly was…humid too, on this oppressively muggy morning on the beach at Gulf Cove in Milford, CT for the ECORA/Hurricane OC-1 Championships and Surfski Race, put on by Blake Conant. The water appeared deceptively pancake flat as far as the eye could see. My wicking fibers had lost their wick; it was a bad hair day to put it mildly, and the scent of a storm was in the air-indeed the wind was starting to pick up. We all knew that the 8 mile distance would be anaerobic threshold time-short enough to be in the same general red zone as an extended interval, and long enough to hurt really, really badly. Translation here: Spirits were high, and we couldn’t wait to get on the water and mix it up!

The distinctly Hawaiian flavor imparted to the event began with the huge “Mahalo” from Blake, followed by a traditional Hawaiian dance performed by three dancers, to the lovely young woman who gifted the crowd with a Hawaiian blessing in a singsong chant. Billed mainly as an outrigger race, surfskis were, ‘Welcome in our family,” as the ever magnanimous Blake recounted at the awards ceremony at the restaurant later in the day. The ratio of skis to OC 1s and 2s was about 1:1 with several of the CT, MA, and RI usual suspects in attendance, along with Craig Impens and Lars Linde representing the Garden State Racing Team all the way from Joisey, and the ‘longest distance traveled with boats strapped to the roof’ award tied by Rod and Alex McLain from Maine, the Pine Tree State, and Dan ‘The Man’ Murn, from Fairport, NY, just outside of ‘Rochachacha’.

As the red starting flag dropped, the mass start of surfskis, OC-1s, 2s, and outriggers kicked the water into a maelstrom heading for the first buoy of the two lap, 4 mile, triangular course. Immediately, Ken Cooper leapt to the front, shadowed by Craig Impens, with Tim Dwyer rounding out the top three. The water, despite its initially flat appearance, started to develop some character, as the skies darkened and fetch picked up, assisted by powerboat wake. Mike ‘Me likey the jobblies.’ Tracy started his inexorable grind toward the leaders, and I wash hung like a pitbull on a postman on Wesley ‘Don’t bump my stern again, Mark!’ Echols. Somehow, with the assistance of a well placed bump or two, I was able to, in true unabashedly parasitic form, to piggyback onto OC1 racer Jeremy Grosvenor, who was to win his class. As the boat wakes started to make things interesting, we parted ways, while true drama was unfolding ahead.

Seems that the speedy Mr. Cooper, who as rumor would have it, was witnessed talking navigational smack with Joe “GPS’s? We don’ need no stinkin’ GPS’s.” Glickman prior to the race, turned early around the wrong buoy. After the corrective shouts of spectators finally reached his ears, Ken spun around, retracing his strokes in the opposite direction to make the turn around the missed buoy.

During the second lap around the course the boat traffic increased, and with it, the wobbly bits. There were some short rides to be had, if you were able to accelerate onto them with a few quick strokes. The skies had darkened, and rumbles of thunder had the science teacher in me considering the conductivity of a carbon boat being the tallest object on the water. At the first buoy, Ken came by me in hot pursuit of his first place position, a look of serious determination masking his usual expression of serious determination. Passing the second buoy, that wearer of all paddling hats, Mr. ‘I can fly, I can fly…an ama.’ Glickman, was simultaneously digging a hole in the ocean on a borrowed OC-1 and berating me in true OC (Oscar Chalupsky) fashion for dipping my hands. With his welcome coaching ringing in my ears, I watched the numbers on the GPS surge and started putting together some good work for the final two miles. Caught a couple of rides that brought me closer to the next group, sprinting for the finish to close a bit while all the while sighting back over my shoulder for the wolves at my door. Racer after racer came across the line to the welcoming cheers of spectators on the dock, rafting up next one another to bump fists and clack paddles in congratulations.

As racers loaded their boats, the first few drops of rain came down, and en route to the restaurant for dogs, burgers, and beer, the heavens opened wide. At the cool, dry confines of Citrus, single bladers mingled with double bladers, and in the immortal words of the poet e. e. cummings: ‘the world was paddlehappy.’ Thanks to Blake and friends for a fun event, and until next year ‘Mahalo nui loa.’ ~Mark

Surfski Times
1. 1:07:47 – Craig Impens – NJ – V-10
2. 1:09:24 – Tim Dwyer – RI – V-10L
3. 1:09:49 – Ken Cooper – MA – V-10
4. 1:11:43 – Mike Tracy – MA – V-10L
5. 1:12:10 – Mark Ceconi – CT – S1-R
6. 1:12:59 – Alex McLain – ME – S1-X – 1st Women’s
7. 1:13:02 – Wesley Echols – RI- S1-X+
8. 1:13:34 – Dan Murn – NY – V-10
9. 1:14:28 – Dave Grainger – CT – Fenn 6
10. 1:15:00 – Lars Linde – NJ – V-10
11. 1:15:11 – Ken Larsen – CT – V-10
12. 1:17:15 – Tom Kerr – CT – Twogood Mako