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The Great Potato Race 2009 |
Click to View Leslie Chappell's 83 Photos
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The Great Potato Race on the Connecticut River NO it is not surfskiracing at it’s best, no 2-3 foot waves, no 10-20 mph winds, just a beautiful day to be on the water in any craft. Today just happened to be the last race of the season, a flat water race in Hadley, Massachusetts. It was an 8 mile event with mostly C1, C2’s, some K’1s, K2’s, a few surfskis, a few sea kayaks, and even an OC1. I have been looking forward to this since the Major’s Cup to give the Uno a true test in a flatwater race. The only person looking more forward to the race was my paddling and Surfskiracing.com partner Chris Chappell. While I spend most of my days on the ocean paddling, Chris spends most of his time on flatwater since the Sudbury River and the Charles River are minutes away from his house. The Charles River paddlers know that Chris has been coming on strong in the last month, while the Surfski racers know Chris had been mixing it up at the local races and at the weekly training races. Chris despite completing only his first year of racing, finished 7th in the NE Surfski points series this year. So it was no surprise that Chris finished first today in the K1/racing division. What was surprising was Chris decided not to turn on the warp speed drive until the last two miles where he put two minutes on me and one on Dave. Prior to this, Chris, Dave and myself where always within 3-8 boat lengths apart except at the start where I caught a ride on a K2 for a quarter mile before I got dropped. That stunt was short lived since Dave caught me at mile 2 and rode my wash for a mile when we traded places until Dave dropped me coming around the island. Chris, who always starts slow, was about 30 yards back until mile five where he passed me and set his sights on Dave. By mile six Chris in his glowing coast guard orange Mohican caught Dave in his ultra sleek Nelo Vanquish Vantage and I am sure Chris was thinking “Just like on the Erg, Smooth and Strong, Smooth and Strong with each stroke. While I made up 5 boat lengths to get within 3 of Chris and Dave at mile 6, the last two miles Chris powered home, while Dave headed for the suck water along the shore and out of the current. A great effort by Dave who was under the weather today, and no surprise to me, Chris finished up the season with his first win of the season!!!!! Next race: World Indoor Rowing Championships in Boston, Massachusetts Will Chris surprise us again, I don’t think so!!!!
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