OC6  Rig Run 08   (Danny Ching wins Molokai Solo)

Aloha Paddlers

We had a wonderful day at the races Saturday at the Rig Run hosted by Kanaia OCC.  As predicted it was hot, hot, hot.  But where else would you rather be on a hot Saturday?  Inner city?  No.  At least we have the ocean breeze, the water we can swim in, not to mention the scenery can be quite attractive.  The sand was hot enough to expose my burning tender feet. I kept dashing across the hot sand from tent to tent and pausing in their shade. How do you explain it to the owners of tent?  After a while you kind of sheepishly stand there, smile and say nothing.  Weirdo! 

The air was so clear you could look out across the ocean and clearly see the four rigs that we were supposed to turn on.  Usually it’s hazy and foggy.  It was so flat the wake from our canoes caused waves to break on shore.  Well not really. But Saturday was easy to steer and the steersmen loved it.  The Rig Run has a course designed to go straight out to sea, turn on the rigs and return back to the beach.  However the best part about it is the way Kanaia arranged the finish.  Instead of coming straight at you where no one can tell who is in the lead, the crews had to approach the beach about a quarter of a mile to the left of our area, turn on a buoy and race along the beach crossing our view and finishing in front of us.  It was awesome to watch the ending.  Looked like a regatta as crew after crew raced each other.  Naturally the cheering never stopped, because each crew had their camp screaming as if they were winning the whole race.  I didn’t matter what place you were finishing anyway, because all you wanted to do was beat that guy next you. 

Women.

Winning first overall in the women’s open division was NAC again for the second race in a row.   They are a tough bunch and are standing up to pressures from the second place Lanakila girls who led the race for a while, then fell back.  Coming in second was Lanakila who moved up from last week’s third place finish.  Their pregnant coach Jill Schooler Shore watched from the beach trying to keep composed.  An interesting bit of technology here in that I received a cell phone call while the women were racing.  It was from Josh Crayton calling from over 100 miles away.  He was calling from a training boat in Newport Beach.  Josh was receiving live action phone calls from the escort boat of our women’s race, which was still out of site. I in turn, on the beach reported it to the guys around me.  Meanwhile finishing third was Hanohano who finished second last week.  Looks like they will be getting some hard workouts from their coaches before the next race.  In the Bradley division, it was Oceanside 1^st, San Diego 2^nd, Imua, 3^rd. Women’s masters was won by Lanakila 1^st, Imua 2^nd, Marina 3^rd.  Senior masters was Oceanside 1^st, Dana 2^nd, Kupa’a 3^rd.  Golden masters was Oceanside 1^st, Oceanside 2^nd. In the coed masters divisions there was Kahakai 1^st, Team Ray 2^nd, Imua 3^rd.  Coed Open San Francisco 1^st, Vancouver 2^nd Imua 3^rd. 

Men

In the men’s race, Imua took off at the start and never looked back winning in a time of 1:36:34.  Team California Outrigger, who won last week finished second in a time of 1:37:32.  It could be that there was some shifting around of paddlers in crews, but that is just a guess. Finishing third was Dana.   Fourth was Marina who is starting to rise again.  Imua won the Bradley division.  Team Cal was 1^st in the Master.  Lanakila was 1^st in the Senior Masters.  Dana won the Golden Masters division and the 19/under. These are unofficial results taken right from the horse’s mouth.  But please wait for the official SCORA results, as there could be some mistakes, because horses are notoriously unpredictable when it comes to picking winners.  

My race.  We had another good race, actually winning our senior masters division, which has been a while.  We had a good start and ran fast, ran silent, with only a few crews ahead of us.  I aimed for the rig we were supposed to turn on and had a bull’s eye on it.  Only trouble was when I got real close most of the other crews started veering to the right of my target.  Then my crew started yelling at me.  “Hey Al we gotta turn on the buoy, not the rig.”  The buoy was located about 100 yards beyond the rig and to the right. “Dang.  Foiled again.”  We lost some ground correcting my mistake.  One of these days I gotta attend the steersman’s meeting.   Meanwhile my friend Derek Harrison was stroking his crew as they passed on our right.  Later on the beach, he said, “I saw you going for the rig and I tried to warn you.”  He demonstrated how he tried to warn me by whispering so I couldn’t hear.  On the way home we fought a long running battle against three crews and slowly gained back our original position.  Last week we were sprinting to the finish and dam if it didn’t happen again. We got into another fur ball fight to the finish. This is getting old.  Or maybe we’re getting old.   

Danny Ching wins Molokai Solo OC1.

Sunday 5-18-08, Danny Ching won the Molokai Solo OC1 race, sponsored by Epic Surfskies. Sunday’s race included 89 surfskies and about 30 OC1 canoes. Three weeks ago in the same Molokai channel crossing sponsored by Pa’a, he finished third overall out of 89 entries.   Danny said in this race he didn’t feel very good in the first half.  Actually he was felt sluggish, probably from the recent string of races he’s been entering. Celebrating his 25^th birthday last Wednesday, being young is one advantage as far recovery goes.  All week he rested well but became restless by Thursday and went for an easy 2 ½ hr paddle.  Saturday he did an hour and a half of standup paddling, which did not help his reserves.  During the race, at the two-hour mark he felt very hot and had to really push himself to get going.  Coach Johnny Puakea had planned a more restrained first two hours, and then the hard push would come after that.  But Danny said he felt Coach Johnny was almost too quiet and when it was time to go up, it was very difficult. But being in good shape he was able to take it to the limit on demand. The channel had wind and swells, but not as good as it is on a normal day.  The bumps were messy and the runs weren’t very long.  Heat was a big factor and so when coach Johnny threw him a bunch of ice wrapped in a t-shirt to set on his lap, he started to feel better.  The bumps became better in the second half.  As the race went on and he really began to feel and paddle better, picking off and passing several surf skiers in the second half.  Passing the wall at Portlock and entering the bay, his friends Karel Jr. and Jimmy Austin came cruising up and followed in a motorboat, yelling and teasing him with cold beers.  Shaking his head and smiling, he finished strong, but tired, completing his final goal of winning Molokai.  Congratulations Danny.

Growing pains

Looking forward to next season, we get the feeling that the PA'A sponsored race, with a year of preparation under their belt will be recognized as the number one race in the world for all OC1s.  The Epic race will be highlighted mainly for surfskies, as it should, but available to others who desire to race the Molokai channel solo. 
Separating into two races is probably best for everyone, as the sport of solo racing is continually growing.  Logistically it makes sense to segregate the use of escorts, lodges, hotels, car rentals and services.  However the undivided attention and recognition given toward the athletes from each sport will be the biggest winning factor.  

Mahalo  AL