I am not sure if there was ever a race so aptly named as this weekend's 17 km small boat race "Trial by Water" sponsored by Ocean River Paddling Sports of Victoria. The race is often a challenging race involving more strategy than one might imagine in such a short run. The race day can look calm and peaceful, however the tide tables and local knowledge will give clues to different strategies that make the race easy or frustrating. The women' race started at 9:30 and went off without a hitch. The men's race, however started at 11:00pm and was more interesting...

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September 12-13, 2009 marked the Southern California Outrigger Race Association hosting of the 50th Catalina Channel Crossing US Championships outrigger race. After a year of training 4+ times a week, two VI Va’a race crews joined over 1000 paddlers from the US and a handful from Canada participating in this race.

This was a special year, marking the 50th anniversary of the first race from Avalon on Catalina Island to the Newport Dunes along the Californian coastline, and was special to us for other reasons as well:

Two of our crew members trained for Catalina 2008, but were not able to join our race crews until Catalina 2009. It was the first time our coaches Brent Bagnall and Risa Greenwood travelled down with both a men’s and women’s crew. To celebrate the 20th anniversary since his first Catalina Crossing, for the first time ever, Brent would coach to the island and race back. Risa would do likewise for the return leg.

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The CORA National Iron Championships were held in Sidney, BC in August this year.  A video of the women's start and race finish follows.

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