Best wishes for a wonderful and adventurous 2019.
HAPPY NEW YEAR! XOXO, Jean & Alex
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As if Francophiles don’t have enough to celebrate right now. Saturday, July 14, marked Bastille Day—and the inaugural Prix de Paddle, HHYC’s 2.5K Human–Powered Boat Race. “If you can paddle, pedal or row it, you can win it!” shouts the poster, in English (whew).
Sometime around 10:07 a.m. or so, 16 contenders gathered for the mandatory 9:30 Captains Meeting.
Rules: ALL kayakers must wear PFDs…
…while some may wear shorts to match the kayaks.
Le cours de tour: 2.5K from Horseshoe Harbor entrance to Green Can 3, round it counterclockwise, then head for Red Nun 4 and back to HHYC finish line. The club’s cannon marks the one-minute-to-start signal. BOOM!!
And they’re off! Single-kayak: Men. Single-kayak: Women. Multi-yaks. SUP. Other (i.e. rowboat).
Despite waves and steady headwind, the pack rounds Green Can 3… (click for full-size pics in gallery)
On to Red Nun 4!
Tick tock…the race committee (Cullen and Alex) waits at the finish line.
And the winner is…Dwight (single-kayak: Men)! So fast, we didn’t get a photo of him actually crossing the line. The blur immediately behind him was Jim, in his handcrafted yak. Surfski maven Nan led the women’s field, with Griet and Maria in her wake.
Cooling our engines at the finish. (Ha! Sailors don’t get to do this!)
Strict Rule, No Exceptions: Enjoy Champagne brunch on the deck while race times are tallied.
Prizes included HHYC caps and “$15,000 stickers” (search-and-rescue prevention boat ID stickers, courtesy of the Coast Guard). Tres fun! Looking forward to next year 🙂 🙂
TC Surfski Immersion 6/2/17: Oscar Chalupsky, coach and Nelo Surfski CEO, teaches us how to practice. Single-minded focus is key, reminding us of an all-time favorite book, The Inner Game of Tennis: The Classic Guide to the Mental Side of Peak Performance by Timothy Gallwey. Life-altering! Like Oscar’s paddling drills…
Click for how-to video series. First up: Moving your legs from one side to the other while teaching yourself to balance:
Next, the one- and two-handed catch, morphing into rotate-bury-and-pull:
“Penguin Man” teaches rotation:
“Penguin Man” at default position gets your legs into the equation:
The exit drill teaches you to simply lift your hand to return to “default” position:
Finally, Oscar puts it all together:
A gazillion thanks to Nick Murray, Chief Surfing Addict of TC Surfski for organizing the 5th Annual TC Surfski Immersion Weekend. And hats off to the generous Oscar Chalupsky and all the coaches and new friends Jean met in Traverse City, Michigan. More pics here…double click for fullsize slideshow:
Jean and Oscar practice toasting with Macedonian wine (Vranec)
Jim and Tish defy gravity
Oscar and Marcus tandem
Marcus the “paddle on the water” cop
Paul braces with his paddle on the water
Jean tests a new Nelo 550
Elena and Oscar look for surf
TC Surfski Immersion (Day 3): Surfskis are born to surf. But if wind and waves aren’t cooperating, just make your own! All you need is a waterski boat, half a dozen friends (i.e., ballast) and full-throated enthusiasm. We took turns surfing the boat wake, newbies “in tandem” with TC Surfski’s Chief Surfing Addict, Nick Murray, and Oscar Chalupsky. Click for video (Ok, the continuity’s terrible, but we’re in a hurry at 11.3 mph/ 9.8 knots.) BTW, Jean shows up behind Oscar at about :42. 🙂 🙂
More pix from the day are here. Click for slideshow:
Waterski boat
Can’t stop laughing! Glenn and Trevor
Rob (center), Jean and Oscar tandem in Vaikobi gear and ski
Rob and Sue chase the wake
Elena
Glenn and Joe serve as ballast
TC Immersion weekend (Day 2 cont’d): The first day they met, Oscar Chalupsky told Jean she was unladylike. Well! Of course he was right… She’d heard that surfskier adage, “When in doubt, feet out!” to help stabilize things, so she’d taken a rather “cowboy” approach to paddling in to shore. Oscar demonstrates why Elizabeth II would’ve beaten the “Duke” at surfski paddling. 🙂 🙂 Click for video:
TC Surfski Immersion (Day 2, 6/2): Why complicate your paddling technique drills with a boat? Crazy. In this post, we’ve moved to the park and beach to practice Oscar Chalupsky’s “shoulder drill” (above) and the ever-popular “couple fighting for paddle” (kidding!)…
Both emphasize short, powerful rotation. And a great relationship 🙂 🙂 Jim and Tish (above) and the other two dozen of us TC Surfski Immersion participants really got into it (up to our kneecaps!). Click for video:
For more technique minus the H2O, see previous posts here and here.
TC Surfski Immersion, (Day 2 cont’d): Now that we’ve determined that our forward stroke needs fixing, what better place to do that than the garage? Jean gives the new Ivan Lawler erg a try (click for video):
Oscar Chalupsky offers a tune-up. First on the erg, then on water:
In by your toes, out by your knees… in by your toes, out by your knees… Lock it in 🙂 🙂
TC Surfski Immersion, Day 1 (6/2): Just when you thought your forward stroke was solid… Oscar Chalupsky, 12x Molokai Champion and CEO of Nelo Surfski takes the ultra-light composite stage at Hilltop Lodge’s living room. Click video for tips on catch, power, and take-out. (Just add water):
More photos from TC Surfski weekend are here. Click for slideshow:
Coaches L to R: Nick Murray, Rob Hartman, Erik Borgnes, Oscar Chalupsky, Greg Greene
Paul, Marcus, and their surfski fleet
Paul couldn’t decide which of his skis to bring, so he brought them all!
Grand Traverse Bay, seen from Hilltop Lodge
A study of water, fog, clouds: Grand Traverse Bay
Um, did we mention we have a surfski? “Surfskis” are featherweight sit-on-top racing yaks designed to scream downwind on ocean swells…provided you can paddle a balance beam. To get the basic idea, click for video:
Therein lies the challenge. So last weekend, Jean joined 22+ other paddlers in Traverse City, Michigan—way north, the 45th parallel—for the 5th Annual TC Surfski Immersion Weekend. Three glorious days (newbies welcome!) with the illustrious Oscar Chalupsky, 12x Molokai Champion and CEO of Nelo Surfskis (yep, same waterman in the video, above).
The surfski is officially in our lives. But we promise never to use the word “stoked!” Even if we’re flying along at double-digits. Stay tuned for a series of rather technical posts from 1 Girl Geek @ 10+ Knots. 🙂 🙂
April showers bring May flowers and hundreds of racers (Jean included) to the Run of the Charles, Boston’s premier paddling race and signature event of the Charles River Watershed Association (CRWA). Wanna win? Bring your “wing” — and a pair of geek engineers (Alex and bro, Curt, mechanical and aerospace, respectively) to explain:
Enough with the orbital mechanics! Gimme that paddle, the race is starting!
Six miles, 1:10:28 and one downpour later Jean crossed the finish line and sprinted for the food truck. She placed first in the Sea Kayak K1 (Women) and won the raffle! A lovely rainjacket from Charles River Apparel. (Hmmm, coulda used that earlier…) More photos from our day below 🙂 🙂
A beautiful April morning in Artesani Park
How many engineers does it take to affix a race number?
World’s best wingmen, Alex and Curt
Name of the band and probably the whole endeavor
Scorekeepers at work
We started in April and ended in “November”–brrrr!
2 Geeks @ 3 Knots 