2011 Texas Surfski Championships

19 November 2011

Sat Nov 19, 2011. Start time approximately 1:00 PM. Exact start time and course to be determined ~48 hours before race start according to weather forecast.

NEW FOR THIS YEAR: If the wind is not nicely lined up, we will do a group paddle to a point where we are paddling basically straight downwind. The point of this is to better ensure that people don't get blown off course--which was an issue last year.

Most likely, we are talking about same as last year. Assuming a wind from the S to SE (the most common direction), a Bayshore park to Sylvan beach--this is the most likely option.

A wind from the N to NE would be Sylvan beach to Bayshore park. A wind from the E or SW would run along the Galveston beach. A wind from the NW would run from Bayshore park to the tip of the Texas City Dyke. A wind between SE and E would run from the tip of the Texas City Dyke to Bayshore park. A wind from due W would require postponement.

I will be using the NAM 12km forecast from Windguru, and making the course decision Thursday morning, ~48hrs before the race. If the wind direction is unfavorable, or the forecast wind is less than 10 MPH, we will postpone the race. (There are lots of flat water races year round.) If the forecast is improved for Sunday, we will make the course decision ~48 hours before the race and hold the race on Sunday at ~1:00 PM. If the forecast isn't good for Sunday, we will reschedule the race to another weekend according to the same procedure above.

Start time will vary according to weather. If 6:00 AM will get us better wind, the race will start at dawn. However, the most common SE wind generally picks up in the afternoon.

The race admin will post updates on the Paddle24seven forum.

2010 Results

# Name - Award - Time

1 Tommy Yonley - 1st Open - 1:26:58
2 Fernando Marcenaro - 1st Masters - 1:29:44
3 Jeremiah Jackson - 2nd Open - 1:39:11
4 Adam Neville - 3rd Open - 1:39:15
5 Richard Ameen - 2nd Masters - 1:43:00
6 Jonathan Yonley - 4th Open - 1:46:00
7 Sandy Yonley - 1st Women's - 1:46:39

Race Report

The weather was very nice for this time of year (air temp ~70 degrees and sunny with ~64 degree water temperature). The forecast was reasonably accurate, but the wind seemed like it came a bit more from the SE rather than the forecast SSE, so once again, we had to cut hard to the right, particularly before the point, but even after the point, we were still cutting some to the right.

The chop was generally only 1 or 2 ft. There were some rides to be had, but I suspect that the chop was generally moving only around 7 to 8 MPH, so it likely was more beneficial to the slower paddlers. Looking at the results, all of the boats which started the race, finished within 20 minutes of each other.

Course

The course for 2010 will start at point A and finish at point B.

2010-TexasSurfskiChampionship-Course

Point A, the start is at Bayshore Park (Park Rd. ,Texas City, TX 77539)

Point B, the finish is at Sylvan beach park (N. Bayshore Dr. , La Porte, TX 77571)

Classes

This race is for solo boats only. Most boats in the race will be surfskis (sit on top racing kayaks), but other types of boats (e.g. solo sea kayaks and OC1) are allowed if they are deemed safe for the given course conditions—there is no limit on hull shape—this is an “unlimited solo” race--but a human powered paddle (double or single blade) must be used for propulsion (no rowing, no pedal power).

Texas Surfski Champion T-shirt

Maybe next year! Let us know if you would like to have t-shirts for this event.