American Lake Classic 2007

There is not a whole lot to report about this race, other than that

1. It was cool, lightly drizzling before and maybe a little during the race,
2. There were a lot of Junior paddlers out in force,
3. The club camera died just this morning, so I had to make do with a cell phone camera, and
   
4. I was lent a water resistant camera by one of the Gig Harbor Junior girls to take shots.

Well, ok, so perhaps one of the local major papers (the Seattle Post-Intelligencer) had a reporter and photographer come out. Those folks wrote a relatively nice article about the race, too.



Unfortunately, the author felt that my Cadence with the outriggers was goofy looking. Perhaps the light lime green color of the prototype floats clashed too much with the red and white colors of the boat. I don't know. Maybe I should have worn my cool hat so they would have had something else to criticize instead. Perhaps they simply were at a loss for words to describe a fast pedal boat.

Anyway, the water conditions were pretty flat throughout the race with a light northerly wind. The outriggers had been adjusted to be a little deeper in the water than they were at La Conner, so this tended to create a bit more drag. My fastest recorded speed was about 7 mph, whereas without the outriggers I can fairly easily hit 8 mph or more in a sprint.



Still, when all was said and done, my overall time was faster than it had been for two years.

The outriggers definitely were better than before, however, with respect to splashing the pedaler. Water seemed to stay attached to the floats at all speeds, falling back rather than flying into the air.

The post race feed of BBQ chicken sandwiches, potato salad, fruit and chips was quite tasty and really hit the spot.

Another excellent race by the Sound Rowers!

Now if only that Gig Harbor girl would send me copies of the photos I took...