Larry B at the US Surf Ski Champs

It was me and Larry B. Larry B and me.
Gusty 30 MPH winds combined with sub 40 degree temps seemed to have scared away all but the hard core this mid-April Wednesday Nighter. Reivers? Paul? Where is our posse? Jeff H, Eric W and Joost represented the ‘A Team’ surfski posse. And Larry G and Sean paddled the lone tandem surfski. Amongst the outrigger crowd, Veronica & Edoh, Brian & Bianca, and David & Susan were there in tandems.  Eric G, Allen (recently moved here from Hawaii – and paddling in shorts? Brrr!), Bob M, and Dan C were in OC1′s. A handful of others in various crafts rounded out the crowd. In all, about 2 dozen surfskiers and canoers lined up on the start line. But, for me, there were only two – me and Larry B.
At 6PM the slower crafts raced ahead. A few minutes later, the second wave, our wave, started the loop. The final heat of the tandem surfski and Joost probably started a minute after us. The ‘A Teamers’ pulled ahead quickly and Larry and I fell in synch side by side. As we pulled up along Eric G and Allen on their OC1’s, Larry went left, I went right. Eric took the opportunity to grab a draft. I fell back in alongside Eric. My teeth were frozen as I grimaced, or was it grinned at the lunacy of night, and threw down as hard as I could into the wind to see my GPS top out at about 5.2 mph.
We got some relief as we turned around the first buoy which is in a wind protected corner of the course. But, as we continued along the shore, we approached a series of docks. With Larry leading, Eric behind him and me to the right, I was pretty sure Larry wouldn’t leave room for me to squeeze through. “I better drop back” I hollered to Eric over the wind, who yelled back, “I won’t squeeze you out!” So, I squeezed in between Eric and the docks, then, as Eric fell back, I fell in behind Larry.
The next trick, after the docks, is crossing the lake. On this day, with the south winds screaming down the lake, you have to deal with sloppy beam seas and gusting wind. I knew this was my chance to make some time. Larry and I made the turn around the pylon to cross the lake and I immediately made a move to get ahead. I gained a little ground, then, a surfskier I was passing on my left took a swim. I looked over my shoulder to see if he was ok. I watched him climb back on his boat while I kept paddling. When I saw he was OK, I realized I was passing the pylon-turn where I was supposed to turn back on the lake. Larry was on my right. He was turning. I wasn’t. It wasn’t pretty, but, we made the turn.
Apparently, not everyone did… Larry G and Sean had made a slow, wide turn in their tandem. Joost, somehow overlooked the huge, white piece of carbon they were paddling and at the same time made a sharp turn in the little race car he was paddling and landed right on Larry’s lap!
Anyway, back to our race… any lead I hoped to gain crossing the lake was gone as Larry picked up the first wave and surfed on ahead.
I decided to do what I could to match his pace, and wait for the final stretch, when we would once again have beam seas, to try to pass.
The downwind mile passed quickly and only seconds separated us as we reached the final test, the second set of beam seas… and, we each had a plan.
Larry turned into the wind, thinking he would go upwind and then surf back down to the final pylon turn. I just headed straight to the pylon paddling as hard as I could while bouncing around in the wind and waves.
True to the spirit of the race, we arrived at the pylon at the exact same moment. I went wide, Larry went narrow. Our bows cleared the pylon with timing that would have made a couple synchronized swimmers proud. We had 100 yards to sprint into the headwind and across the finish. I must have had the grimace / grin going again – because my teeth began to freeze. Larry’s boat inched ahead. I pulled my paddle through the water with all I had. My shoulders! My lats! My teeth! His bow crossed first, mine about a second later. We caught our breath, grinned and congratulated each other.
After a quick shake-down paddle,  I went to check on Hayden and ‘Booba’ who were reading books in the van. Larry appeared at the van, my ski propped on his shoulder. Smiling he loaded my boat on my van and said, “Be nice to me next week!”
Don’t count on it, Larry! I am having way to much fun!