Hudson River Cup 2021: Calming Progress
With far less paddling and overall rough water practice this year, I decided to take my chances anyway to sign up for my second Hudson River Cup in its 5th annual race. The calm forecast did not disappoint, and the slightly overcast morning tempered the mild humidity. The one major challenge in this year’s race was that we had to paddle against the current in both directions, with about 1kt on our way towards the turnaround buoy south of the Statue and still about .75kt on the return. Jen Cox and Ed Acker gave another amazing presentation at our pre-race zoom meeting with wise advice, which unfortunately for me proved to be just out of my zone of proximal navigational development. The strategy on the way out lent itself to a Catch-22: the choice to stay out of the brunt of the current by taking a line close to land meant a risk of running over pilings whose locations even the most seasoned Hudson River paddlers cannot always predict. For the first 3-4 miles, I managed to keep Jen just behind me, and was hoping to stay close enough to her to follow her “home turf” advantage but in vain as I saw her surpass me and eventually appear as a dot on the horizon in the last 2 miles. As I later learned from her, I should’ve stayed even closer to the land but I had decided to keep well to her port after lightly scraping the top of one of the surprise pilings. Although I had been more worried about playing chicken with the ferries, the boat traffic was not nearly as frequent as it was in the pre-COVID era, just as the organizers predicted. On the return, I thought that I could angle my stern toward boat wakes so as to gain some speed but to no avail: instead, I rolled with the gentle punches of wavelets and worked on tediously towards the finish.
Only 4 surfskis were on the course this year, with a perfect split between men and women: Andreas Buehlmann placed first after Chung Ha while I finished ahead of Naomi Morton. As Andreas greeted me at the finish line, I didn’t recognize him at first as he was not on his paddleboard (he won for the men’s open SUP division at the Toms River Race). A multi-talented waterman, Andreas told me that he has a goal of using a different watercraft for every paddling race in which he competes this year. Naomi did a great job on her v10, and we congratulated each other for never feeling tippy. According to my supportive friends at the Hoboken Cove Community Boathouse, I made much progress this year although according to my raw stats, I averaged a snail’s pace of 4.9mph versus a 5.2mph rate last year. Yet with slow moving water and less training time on the water, I was amazed that I applied more power to my paddle than when I had the benefit of the current on the first half of the race last year.
The outriggers canoeists, however, dominated the race in numbers and in speed: Jeremy Grosvenor made a swooping overall win in single crafts after catching a wave past James Dunbar, who placed second, and Greg Lowry who placed third. The fastest women were also among the canoeists: my friends Serena Tsang, Stacy Wu, and Colleen Kunz. Congratulations to all the racers and to the organizers Oscar, Jen, Ed, Keith, and Jon for providing a well-accomplished event!
After running the Toms River Race two weeks ago, I was pleased to finally speak with many of the racers I had seen merely in a blur of check-ins, as well as to meet new competitors. At the finish line, I was amazed to have combatted Efrat Almog, a former Israeli combat officer, who drove her outrigger canoe from her current home in Florida to the race. I am so glad to have made a new friend in such a strong, independent lady among paddle racers. Further, thanks to meeting James Dunbar, I am ready to sign up for my next race: James is directing the NCA Monumental/Minimental on the last weekend of August in Washington, D.C.. The Minimental, which will be on Sunday the 29th is not merely for outrigger canoes but for surfskis, too: for a flat fee of just $30, one can enter both a long course (8 miles) and a short course (4.5 miles) on the Anacostia River, a shallow, flat water river like the Hackensack, and then enjoy a barbecue. Sign up no later than August 26 for the Minimental!
P.S. Darn Go Pro, I didn’t get any pics of the Statue!
