surfski novice

If you are interested in being part of a dragon boat team and competiting in the Battle of the Bayou as part of Pasco Paddlepalooza 2014, there will be a Intro to Dragon Boating held at Gil Dawgs in Port Richey from 6-7:30 pm with music on the deck and team Dawg social afterwards.  Come get your paddle on!  Call Walter for details at 727-842-1070.

The Tarpon Canoe Club organizes a great OC-6 team race every year called the Tarpon Relays.  Teams from all over the Tampa Bay Area will be competing this Saturday March 15th at the Anclotte River Park.  This event is an endurance event with three 8 mile races.  The first race of the day is usually from Anclotte River Park to Anclotte Key State Park and back.  The second race of the day is from Anclotte River Park to Alternate 19 and back.  Finally the day finishes with one last from Anclotte River Park back out to Anclotte Key State Park and back.  The waters between Anclotte River Park and Anclotte Key State Park are beautiful.  There is a string of small dredge islands leading out to the much larger Anclotte Key approximately 2.5 miles offshore.  In between you will see dolphins, sharks, and sea turtles.  See you all there!

The West Coast Championships was one of the best race event of the year.  Ideal weather and ideal location made for 2 days of intense paddling.  Saturday OC-6 500m sprints.  Saturday the beach was packed with hundreds of participants from clubs as far away as Miami and Atlanta.  Kai Aniani really over performed winning every event.  Sunday not as many participants but those who competed were very highly skilled paddlers.  We raced an ideal 8 mile course for SUP, OC-1 and Surfski from Sand Key straight out thru Clearwater Pass out to Marker #1 and back twice.  This course turned out to be one of the best course choices I have paddled in Florida.  The pass had its challenges on a great incoming current and side current as edge of the Sand Key jetty.  It was an ideal race under ideal condition, a real change from the last few years.  I stayed for both days and I'll be back next year.