Saturday’s Wabash Race was another low-drama, beautiful day event, with an excellent turnout and everyone upping their game. But that doesn’t mean it didn’t have its interesting moments. Like at the start, when everyone was pointed downstream and I was pointed upstream (I always get confused on which direction to go from this starting point!) Sometimes you have to go against the crowd, but at the start of the race is probably not the best time. Shades of Wrong Way Corrigan (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Douglas_Corrigan). But on the plus side, Julie Birge waited until I turned around, then called go as I was in motion coming to the line. So I got a running start and made a good first impression by leading the pack. But that didn’t last (just long enough for a good photo!), and soon we had some fast paddlers taking over the lead. With higher water levels, there was a division in the pack over whether to stay right or risk going to the left around the first island (going left would usually mean shallow water, but not this time). Judging by how various people came out, it looked like it was pretty much a draw. Other than that it was fun watching the line taken by most of the people ahead me, while Guy and Sonja often experimented with a different line. Sometimes it worked out, sometimes not so well. There were a few shallower areas and some places where choosing the right line could give you a good boost in the current, but overall it was pretty benign.
There were several new boats in the mix this year. Bill Kanost strayed from the way of the single blade, moving into the enlightened path of the kayak with his new Falcon. He and Ted (in his downriver kayak) dueled all the way to the end, where Ted managed a sprint to edge out Bill by half a boat length. Brent Ernsberger, meanwhile, was in the new-to-him Nelo Razor which he just purchased from the Kanosts. Having been outgunned by Deb previously, Brent was bent on changing that finish order, which he managed to pull off this time in the new Razor. Maybe Kanost’s shouldn’t have sold it… Lori Schaffer had been encouraged by Deb Kanost to go for the same Nelo 540 that Deb was using to great effect, so she picked one up without even testing it. Deb spoke truth, and Lori loved the boat, bringing it to Wabash for its inaugural race.
Fastest time of the day went to Pieter Visser, who put in a smoking time of 1:07:43 for this 10 mile race, almost 5 minutes ahead of the competition. It would be interesting to see if that’s a new record. At the other end of the field, we had Roger and Gary both competing in the over-80 class. While they didn’t set any speed records, they did pretty darn well for that age bracket! Not many folks over 80 are still able to race canoes and kayaks. Gary, incidentally, was paddling a very classic Wabash Valley racing canoe. Lots of good competition, as you can see by the times below. Following the race a number of us went to Christo’s for some fine post-race vittles. Many thanks to Roger and Julie for putting on a fine race.
Steve
Photos by Julie Birge
Editor Note: Fastest time for the “Classic Course” for the last 5 years was in 2019 for Steve Horney in K-1 Open, 55:00.
results by class
OC1
Steven Horney 1st 1:21:55
K1 Open
Pieter Visser 1st 1:07:43
Ted Beatty 2nd 1:12:16
Bill Kanost 3rd 1:12:18
Kyle Wills 4th 1:14:20
Brent Ernsberger 5th 1:16:42
K1 Sea Kayak Woman
Deb Kanost 1st 1:18:01
Lori Schaffer 2nd 1:23:25
k1 Sea Kayak Man
Larry Swift 1st 1:15:00
Matt Conrad 2nd 1:16:50
Roger Crisp 3rd 1:32:43
C2 Mixed
Guy Gilman / Sonja Gilman 1st 1:19:32
C1 Man
Terry Howard 1st 1:28:22
Skeet Craig 2nd 1:28:29
Gary Hill 3rd 1:50:10
overall finishing order
Pieter Visser 1:07:43
Ted Beatty 1:12:16
Bill Kanost 1:12:18
Kyle Wills 1:14:20
Larry Swift 1:15:00
Brent Ernsberger 1:16:42
Matt Conrad 1:16:50
Deb Kanost 1:18:01
Guy Gilman / Sonja Gilman 1:19:32
Steven Horney 1:21:55
Lori Schaffer 1:23:25
Terry Howard 1:28:22
Skeet Craig 1:28:29
Roger Crisp 1:32:43
Gary Hill 1:50:10
