SOUTHWEST ARM CHALLENGE HELD 22/6/2013 BY CRONULLA SUTHERLAND KAYAK CLUB INC. The morning of Saturday June 22 heralded the calm before the storm. Our volunteers commenced their day at 6.30am. With safety boats being launched and tents erected Swallow Rock Reserve became a hive of activity. As competitors began to arrive the parking soon became full of cars with the familiar ‘craft atop’ ready for a mornings action. The sky had a look about it which was later to prove that sometimes weather forecasts can be correct. Registration progressed without a hitch except for a light drizzle – soon all were assembled for the race briefing by our race director Max. Right on schedule - all were on the water heading upstream to the 500m mark preparing for our ‘running start’. The running start is conducted on our feature events – The Hacking Classic and the Southwest Arm (The Rock) race held each year by CSKC. Paddlers at these events have preferred the running start for open water events as it prevents the clogging up of lots of paddlers of different standards at the start line especially at Swallow Rock beach where sea room is restricted – it allows the fastest to get away more fairly and gives the slower boats more room to move and take advantage of the wash ride at the start. Long and short courses were dispatched without incident and soon – those unfamiliar with the course had the experience of navigating one of cleanest and scenic rivers in the Sydney Basin. Those who were familiar no doubt had their eyes firmly fixed ahead with one thing in mind which was probably not the scenery but how they can get closer to those in front of them. The weather did come as predicted but fortunately it was more a brief rain downpour which caused more discomfort to the safety boats than it did the paddlers. After 2 hours the leading paddlers crossed the line between the blue cans – the single and double ocean racers were the first home but full marks to the ‘Mal’ board paddler who completed the course on his knees. We do hope those that competed down our way will return again and take part in our club races held each Saturday at 1.00pm between April and September – see our website cronullasutherlandkayakclub.au for our race program and results. Many thanks to the volunteers who really made the day the success it was and also many thanks to Paddle NSW and the Harbour Racing Technical Committee for allowing CSKC to conduct the event. Peter Sigal
Posted on: Mon, 01 Jul 2013 05:59:01 +0000
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