| Thunder Bay Canoe & Kayak Race Series |
| On this page you will see information and results from the recreational Canoe & Kayak Racing Series in Thunder Bay.For 2008, these races will be run on an informal, low key basis. Held on protected waters, the races will be suitable for both canoes and sea kayaks. First Race was held on Tuesday July 15th on the MacIntrye River with the Start/ Finish line adjacent to the Wildwaters Paddling Shop. |
| RESULTS Race #7: Tuesday September 2nd, McIntrye River 1st Place ____________________ Joe O'Blenis, 23:37 2nd Palce ___________________ Taras Lysek, 23:41 3rd Place ___________________ Chris Zillinski, 24:05 4th Place ___________________ Martin Henny, 24:32 5th Place ___________________ Kirsten Maki, 26:15 6th Place ___________________ Theresa Henny, 27:27 Timing done by Debbie Taylor. Race report to be posted later today. Race #6: Tuesday August 26th, McIntrye River 1st Place ____________ Jim & Riejjo, Marathon Canoe 2nd Place ___________ Joe O'Blenis, Greenlander Pro sea kayak 3rd Place ___________ Taras Lysek, Necky sea kayak 4th Place ___________ Lise Vougeouis, Necky sea kayak Short Course/ Photography ________ Chris "Ziggy" Zillininski Race # 6 was run on the river under clear sunny skies and warm temperatures. We had 9 people out but three of whom were out for a tour rather than the race, 2 of whom were kayaking for the first time. Diane took them out down to Lake Superior and back and they had a great time out on the water. Hopefully it is the first step in getting them hooked! For the race, the boys in the canoe again took control and hung on for the win despite some chaotic bumping and banging between them and myself throughout the first couple of laps. Going into the Memorial St. bridge turn however, I messed up going too wide and lost the ride I was getting from being on their stern riding wash. Over the remaining lap, they opened up some open water and got the win while i canie in just 6 seconds off my best time yet in the series. Taras was charging hard, chasing us both all the way, followed by Lise out for her first race. I'm amazed at how fast Taras is in that little 14 foot kayak of his...the guy could be a serious threat in a faster boat next year for sure. Uncontested, Lise took the Women's title for the night as Diane took out a couple friends for a leisurely paddle rather than race tonight. Chris (Ziggy), put in a good paddle and showed some speed, a sign of things to come perhaps? This being his first season of kayaking afterall! Chris also took some awesome photos and I'll try to get some online shortly. Race # 7 is coming up! Race #5: Tuesday August 12th, MacIntrye River Race Report will be posted later today! 1st Place ___________Jim Spence and Reijjo, Marathon Canoe _____ 32:51 2nd Place __________Joe O'Blenis, Sea Kayak ___________________ 34:56 3rd Place __________Taras Lysek, Sea Kayak ____________________ 38:40 Race #4: Tuesday August 12th, MacIntrye River The fourth race of the series, after a 1-week break, took place last night and again we had beautiful weather out on the water for our races. Attendance was down a bit with a few people away but we still had 6 kayaks on the water, 3 men's kayaks and 3 women's kayaks. There were 4 of us doing the 5.5 kilometer long course while 2 took in the 3 kilometer event. Just before the start of the race, with everyone lined up at the start line, I suggested that I'd call out everyone's name, one by one, as an introduction. I said that "When you hear your name, please stand up in your kayak". Well, for whatever reason, nobody seemed to thin k that it was a good idea and all I got were a few smiles and a couple of chuckles. Hmmmm....so much for the "Official Racer introductions"! Oh well...... For the long course, there was myself (Joe), Taras, Martin and Kristin. Diane and Theresa took on the short course and were both paddling strong. Taras and Martin had a good battle going for 2nd place in the long course with Taras out front late in the race by about half a minute until he continued on past the last turn at the railroad bridge, mistakenly going on to the Memorial St. bridge instead. Martin stayed on course though and got the 2nd place, followed by Taras and Kristin with Kristin taking third by 5 seconds to Taras who tacked on a few hundred extra meters to his race. I crusied in for first place tonight and did not have the marathon canoe racers out in front to chase down as they were away on an expedition of their own. In the 3 kilometer event, Diane came in a couple minutes ahead of Theresa although they both paddled very strongly tonight and were looking great out there. The 5th race is set for next week on Tuesday August 18th, 6;30 PM from the same location. I'm also putting together a race training session within the next week as well where we will work on forward stroke, making fast buoy turns, reading the water, riding wash etc. This will be a no cost training session and is open to any paddlers looking to hone their skills for Race Night. Don't forget, the 20 kilometer Grand Kam Race is coming up soon, August 30th! Long Course: Joe O'Blenis ______________________ 34:31 Martin Henny _____________________ 39:35 Kirstin ___________________________ 42:36 Taras Lysak ______________________ 42:41 Short Course: Diane Hogan ______________________ 22:22 Theresa Henny ____________________ 24:27 Race #3: Monday July 28th, MacIntrye River The third race of the new Thunder Bay Canoe & Kayak Race Series went off great and we increased our numbers for the third straight week, having 9 boats and 10 paddlers out racing. 9 solo kayaks and 1 C2 (tandem) Marathon Racing Canoe. We used the same course again as last week, 3 km on the short course, 5.4 kilometers on the long course. It's a tight technical course with plenty of 180 degree buoy turns around bridge piers to keep it interesting as well as to provide lots of action for the thousands of spectators lining the banks near the start/ finish line ;) When the gun went off (OK, the starter/ timer said "GO"), I got the jump on the Jim & Reijjo in the racing canoe, beat them around the first turn and started working upriver. As they pulled closer, I eased up a bit, giving them the lead and slipping in to ride their wash again (drafting). At the next bridge turns, we each chose different lines and again I cam out ahead. The lead was short lasted however as they again closed the gap and moved to the front. I responded by coming across and getting in on their stern, riding wash once again as we headed downriver back towards the next turn at the railroad bridge. Just behind us, a great battle was unfolding with Taras Chris, Iska and Martin all battling each other and staying close as they worked for position. In the short course, John was ahead of Diane into the first turn but then, Diane "HBW", turned on the jets a bit and eased past on the upriver section to the Balmoral Bridge, assuming, what she thought, was the lead for the short course. However, Chris, "Ziggy", Zolinski, had opted out of racing the long course and was instead doing the short course. He was ahead by a bit and managed to hold the lead throughout the race in taking the short course championship for the night. Diane came in second (First in women's short course) followed by John a short ways back. Interesting in that all three in the short course were all paddling kayaks from Boreal Designs, a Canadian (employee owned) kayak manufacturer from right next door in Quebec! Back in the long course, the boys in the canoe narrowly beat me out of the next turn and were then able to open up a couple of boat lengths on me shortly afterwards that I was never able to recover from. They must have turned it up a notch after toying with the "sea kayaker" chasing to keep up with them. A short ways back, things were hotly contested as Taras "Surf Guru" Lesyk, fought hard to fend off a hard charging Chris Hudema. Very close behind, Iska and Martin had a tight battle going on as well and both paddled hard all the way to the finish. In the end, the team of Jim and Reijjo got a solid win as I came in 1 minute back. Taras held off the attacks from Chris Hudema and got third, keeping Chris to a 4th place finish. Iska got a strong 5th (the only woman on the long course) and Martin, in his first race, came in right behind with a superb effort. Special thanks tonight goes out to Theresa Henny who volunteered to run a stop watch tonight and keep track of our times. All I remember is that everytime I passed the Start/ Finish Line, she was hollering out words of encouragement. I suspect she was doing this for everyone out there tonight and again, I say THANK YOU for showing up and for helping out! The Race Series will take a week off next week as Diane and I will be away for a 10 day kayak trip on Lake Superior. The race series will resume on Tuesday August 12th and, as usual, we will start at 6:30 PM from the Wildwaters location. Also, don't forget that the Grand Kam Canoe and Kayak Marathon, 20 km, is set for August 30th at Old Fort. This race series is the perfect training for those doing the longer race next month! Long Course: 1st Jim Spence and Reijjo (Still don't have his last name) Marathon C2 Canoe 32:50 2nd Joe O'Blenis, Nigel Dennis Greenlander Pro kayak 33:50 3rd Taras "Surf God" Leysk, Necky Manitou 14 38:47 4th Chris Hudema, Current Designs Storm kayak 39:33 5th Iska Paradis, home built stitch and glue kayak 39:57 6th Martin Henny, Wilderness Systems Tsunami 160 kayak 40:39 Short Course: 1st Chris "Ziggy" Zilinski, Boreal Design Pakesso kayak 24:00 2nd Diane "HBW" Hogan, Boreal Design Alvik "Big Red" kayak 26:38 3rd John Palmer, Boreal Design Ookpik kayak 28:10 Race #2: Tuesday July 22nd, 2008 Tonights race, the 2nd in the series, saw an increase from 4 paddlers the week before to 8 this week in 7 boats, 6 kayaks and one tandem Marathon Canoe. We had a 5.4 kilometer "Long course" and a 3 kilometer "Short Course for tonight. The course itself was challenging with a series of 4 180 degree turns in the short course and 7 in the long course, making for some added excitemnt as boats jostled for position, particularly in the sprint to the first buoy turn just 150 meters into the race! Debi and Diane duked it out to the finish, swapping the lead several times right up unti lthe finish when Debi tweaked out the win with a 1 second win over Diane in the short course event. Rumour has it that Diane would have the win tonight other than the fact she stopped a bit early before crossing in the line, excited to see our dog Darby excitedly waiting for her to come back on shore. Diane it seems needs to work on that killer instinct in going for the finishing sprint! ;) In the long course, Jim and Reijjo in the Marathon racing canoe were looking good from the start and were the favorities to get the win. I (Joe), battled it out with them from the start and the lead changed several times throughout the race. I had them off the line but then they pulled ahead before the first big turn. I came out of the turn with a slight lead and then settled in, happy to let then take the front as I slipped in and rode wash on them back up the river. I took the lead on the next turn, a 180 degree turn around the bridge piers on the bridge along Balmoral St. The lead changed a couple more times but on the last downriver section, they put a few boat lengths on me after I lost some speed while fumbling with my hydration system prior to the second last turn. In the end, they beat me out by 9 seconds in a sprint after we bumped bumps on the final turn. Coming in with a solid 3rd place finish was Taras, following up his 2nd place finish the previous week. Scary thing is Taras was paddling well despite being in just a 14 foot sea kayak. The guy could be scary once we get him into a faster boat for the race series. Coming in with a strong 4th place was Iska (never got her last name), paddling a stitch and glue wooden kayak and paddling strong start to finish. Rounding out the long course field was John Palmer, paddling a Boreal Designs Ookpik. John paddled very strongly but like Taras, his limiting factor was a kayak with a little less hull speed. Next weeks Race, the 3rd of the series, will be held on Monday night at 6:30 PM, again launching from the MacIntrye River adjacent to Wildwaters Paddling Shop. Dave Clements of Wildwaters was our timer for tonight and we owe him a big thanks for helping out. Hopefully next week we can get Dave out there racing as well. In the coming weeks I will be putting together a "Race Training night". Not a "Race" but a night where will will paddle as a group and work on racing techniques such as stroke, reading the water, buoy turns, riding wash (Drafting) and so on. This will be a free clinic for those interested in getting into some recreational canoe or kayak racing here in Thunder Bay. GREAT training for those doing the 20 Km Grand Kam Canoe and Kayak Race on August 30th by the way! Long Course: 1st Jim Spence and Reijjo (don't know his last name?) in __ 33:31 2nd Joe O'Blenis in __________________________________ 33:40 3rd Taris Lysak in __________________________________ 39:42 4th Jiska (Last name?) ______________________________ 40:17 5th John Palmer ____________________________________ Time? Short Course: 1st Debi Taylor ______________________________________ 28:01 2nd Diane "Honey Bunnie" Hogan ______________________28:02 Race 1: Tuesday July 15th, 2008 Men's Open: 1st Place, Joe O'Blenis in 36:39 2nd Place, Taras Lysak in 39:20 3rd Place, Jason Bruce in 45:11 Women's Open: 1st Place, Diane Hogan (Time not available). |
| Saturday August 30th: The Grand Kam Canoe & Kayak Race Check-in at 8:30 AM to 9:30 AM. Race starts at 10:00 AM More information can be found at www.childrenscentre.ca The Grand Kam race went well Saturday and a ton of money was raised for the local Children's Centre. A huge congrats to all of the orgnaizers and volunteers. Next year let's try and make it into an even bigger success and increase the monies raised as well as the number of paddlers. |
| Race # 7, Tuesday september 2nd: 6;30 PM on the McIntrye River at Forests and Vickers. Open to all canoes and kayaks. Come on out and lets have a great night on the river! |