Heather and I train on Lake Whatcom about 80% of the time. It’s five minutes from our house and honestly: we just love paddling there. If Bellingham Bay is our front yard then Lake Whatcom is our living room. It’s sooo comfy and familiar.

So when the 13-mile Lake Whatcom Classic rolls around each spring, it’s a given that we’re going to be out there mixing it up with the locals and the rest of the NW paddling and rowing tribe.

The weather today was perfect for hard racing: cool in the low 50’s, low ceiling hanging below the hilltops and beautifully boxing in the long, narrow lake, no rain and no blaring sunshine. Perfect and fast.

Racing the Classic has been, for me, full of all kinds of mini adventures.

• I’ve drafted and been drafted by every class of boat in the race.
• I’ve clacked bow to stern and paddle blades and shaved enough carbon off my wing to make a sailboat mast.
• I’ve bonked hard and could barely make the finish line, with Heather in the bow pulling us along with all her might.
• After today, I can add that I’ve had the paddle knocked right out of my hand by a fellow racer right next to me.

And for the 2^nd time in our history of racing the Classic, Heather and I brought home double blue ribbons. I held off a pair of tandem skis piloted by Morris and Debbie Arthur in one and Shaun Sullivan and Larry Goolsby in the other, and Joost Zeegers in his Mako, to finish 1^st High Performance Kayak, (3^rd overall behind powerhouse uber-rowers Anne Browning and Nicole Sylvester in a 2X shell, and super-duper-uber-K1 racer Ian MacKenzie in his K1. (Ian, what the _____? You’re a fricking freek, man!)

Heather toughed out the miles basically alone, grabbing just a couple short drafts and finishing first female surfskier (HPK) in 1 hour 49 minutes and change.

Aside from being one of our very favorite races and in our living room at that, the Classic is a critical barometer to measure Ski to Sea readiness. By the looks of it, the locals have been hitting it hard this year and are going to be peaking just in time for the main event on May 31. Should be a fast, fast field this year, so if you’re racing in the S2S, be sure to bring your A-game! You’ll need it!

After the awards and frankfurter feast, we meandered over to the kayak symposium and boat sale, and were STOKED to score Hayden his next kayak: A Sterling Donalson Mini-Yak formerly owned by young Holly Groves. I’d built one of these same boats for my friend Stryker Scales in Lanikai, Hawaii, and have had my sights set on one for Hayden as he nears growing out of his first boat, the 4’10” stitch and glue I’d built and given him on the day he was born. We’re super excited to get him out in the Mini-Yak this summer, so a big Thanks to the Groves family for selling it to us! And congratulations, Hayden!

Be sure to check out the full results of the Lake Whatcom Classic!!!

And check out Michael Lampi’s photography of the Classic.

POSTED BY: Brandon

See you on the Water!

Heather, Brandon and Hayden