Burnaby Canoe and Kayak Club: October 2007

Fall in Vancouver Oct 28

Now that's what we are always talking about. Steady rain, light breeze and small chop. Fall is here! After a week of sunshine we are back to the "normal" weather. So a bunch of us BCKC athletes went for an extended surfski paddle on Sunday. What else would you do on a day like this? Jeff, John, Katja, Ben, Daryl, Darrell and Chris (our newest BCKC member) were joined by local paddlers Rod, Corky & Sean for a 1.5hr paddle out of Deep Cove. A strong current pushed us out towards Second Narrows Bridge and we had to hug the shore coming back in to avoid it.

CKBC Award Night Oct 27th

CKBC held it's 3rs Annual Fall & Award Banquet this year in beautiful Harrison Hot Springs. As every year Burnaby athletes and parents participated in large numbers: Kiran, Satnam, Kamal, Rebecca, Hugh, Connor, Debbie, Ron, Emily, Katja, Jeff & John. This year the Sprint Canoe and Kayak devicison of CKBC welcomed it's newest members from Whitewater BC and Martahon Canoeing BC. Guest speakers were John Edwards (CKC Domestic Programs Director) and Dave Freeze (Mental Trainer) and we managed to fill nearly 9hrs of conference with good presentations and discussions. In the evening we were rewarded with an excellent buffet during which the 2007 awards were presented. The following BCKC Athletes received awards: Kiran Basra (Team BC Kayak & High Performance Group A), Rebecca Alley (Female Migdet Athlete of the Year & High Performance Group A) , Emily Philipps (Team BC Canoe & High Performance Group B), Connor Wollbaum (Team BC Canoe & Junior Development Group), Ben Fast (Master Men B of the Year), John George (Master Men A of the Year) & Katja Rademacher (Master Woman A of the Year) - see pictures below including Coach Lynn missing Ben since he didn't attend.

Besides rcognizing althletes, CKBC also thanked the many volunteers and administrators. Here is a list of all the BCKC parents & atheletes that were awarded or honorably mentioned: Dave Nosella (Silver Award for officiating), Debbie Wollbaum (picture left) & Vicki Nosella (shared Bronze Award for officiating), Ron Wollbaum (above the norm efforts in officiating), Lynn Dagenais (Regional Coach Vancouver), Kamal Basra (Treasurer CKBC) and Jeff Raymond (Athlete Rep CKBC).

Gig Harbor Long distance regatta Oct 20

Coach Lynn took her performance athletes all the ways down south past Seattle to attend Gig Habor's long distance regatta. The Gig Harbor Canoe and Kayak Racing Team held a 10 km race on Oct. 20th. There was also a 5 km race for the younger paddlers. Burnaby was
well represented at the event, with all of its junior paddlers going:
Rebecca, Kiran, Kristin, Emily, Conor and Jim. The race had a mass
start, with about 150 or more paddlers, then the first 90 degree turn
was about 100 metres away. Several people went swimming but all the
Burnaby paddlers managed to stay up! After that, the race settled into
a nice pace. Everyone was able to spread out and complete their 10 km
uneventfully. Only in Gig Harbor would you race 10 km on a 1000m course
with 4 turns. One of the "bouys" was a fishing boat anchored in the
harbor! After the race, the athletes dried off and warmed up and went
to enjoy their free salmon burgers at the Donkey Chum Festival, and
receive their awards. Kiran placed second in her age category, and
Rebecca was third. Kristin placed first overall for girls, and Emily
and Conor came first in each of their age categories for canoers. Good
job everyone!

US Surfski Champs Sept 29/30

Paddling is not just flatwater racing! And if you ever want to try another paddling discipline surfski is fun and the US Surfski Champs are probably the best place to race. You get to start next to the best paddlers in the world like Lewis Laughlin from Tahiti, Oscar Chalupsky from South Africa, Greg Barton from the US and Barry Lewin from South Africa. There were many more people from all over the world (http://www.surfski.info/content/view/524/147/). So for us this is not about winning this is about watching really great surfski paddlers show us how it could be done. Saturday featured a long (17miles) and a short course (6miles). The long course goes underneath the bridge and into the open ocean - really need ocean experience her to finish. Jeff did it though and finsihed strong in the middle of the pack. The short course goes out into the bay near Alcatraz - the more mellow water for "everyone". Katja competed in the short course. The great thing about that race was that Katja raced neck on neck with 2 other women for almost the whole race and we all finished seconds apart. Sunday featured a Doubles race (8miles) and a relay. Katja and Jeff competed in the doubles race starting right in between those top 4 paddlers mentioned above - that alone was worth the trip!!!!!!!

The finish line in San Francisco, Crissy Field

Mass start of over 100 paddlers

Katja and Eva racing against the cruise liners and each other

People finishing up the long course. Beside winds, waves and currents, the freighters are a real threat out there on the race course (you cross the shipping lane twice!!)

LEWIS Laughlin winning the long course. And look at his big smile - he is such a great and humble person.

Jeff coming in from his race - still looking around for freighters

Jeff crossing the finish line

The start of the doubles race - Katja and Jeff riding the wash of Oscar and Greg on our left and Barry and Lewis on our right for the first 30 sec.

Bantam/Masters Champs

Ridge Canoe & Kayak Club held their annual Bantam & Master Championship on Whonnock Lake on a chilly but almost dry weekend in Sept (22/23). As usual BCKC was represented by a whole bunch of paddlers. Athletes Tess, Eric, Taylor, Queena, Jones and Alex were competing in the Bantam and younger races while Heide, Vicki, Joanna, Katja, Jeff B., Jeff R., Daryl, Darrell, Ben, John, Trevor, Dave, Micky and Dan raced in masters A&B races. As a support team we had Lynn, Kiran, Rebecca, Connor and Jim - mostly keeping the chairs and blankets warm.

BCKC Masters War Canoe with cox Jim