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Rochester Open Water Challenge 2009
The 2nd annual Rochester Open Water Challenge was held on July 27, 2009 at the Irondequoit Bay Marine Park in Rochester, NY. Nicknamed the "Crapshoot" because of the unpredictable weather, the first year's event saw flat seas, but ears perked up on the morning of this year's race as a nice breeze blew in from the NW. First light showed a stirred up lake with a lot of sheep in the field (whitecaps). Nothing impossible, but now we had a real "Open Water Challenge".
Racers from California, Florida, Ontario, Ohio, New Jersey, South Carolina, Pennsylvania and all over New York began checking in. We had a broad collection of boats - surf skis, OC-1, OC-4, K-2's and a bunch of sea kayaks. A few folks saw the conditions and turned for home. Others switched from the long course on the lake to the short course on the Bay. All were encouraged to take on only what they were capable of handling.
The first year of the event saw favorite Greg Barton win the race with Joe Glickman paddling strong into 2nd place and Jason Quagliatta in 3rd. With Barton and Glickman not returning due to scheduling conflicts, the favorites became the young gun, Reid Hyle out of Deland, Florida and Quagliatta of Rochester, Hyle's National Team K-2 partner.
With the lake churned up, the start was moved to the channel of the Irondequoit Bay outlet (inlet for you coastal folks). This gave the eighteen long-course boats a clean start and a straight sprint for a redesignated Hot Spot 300M ahead at the end of the pier. Hyle, paddling the new Epic V12, blasted off the line with Quagliatta and Jim Mallory (Rochester - BayCreek Racing Team) in hot pursuit. At the Hot Spot, Hyle had 3 second on Quagliatta and several more on Mallory. The pier, being solid from the ground up, gave shelter from the wind and waves of the lake, but once the boats turned west at the corner, the racers felt the full force of the elements and many came to a virtual stop. Paddling up-course, the racers hammered against the wind, now blowing about 15mph, but the waves were quartering on the starboard and other than jostling the boats around, they did not present too much of a problem. Intermingled boat wakes added to the challenge, creating a few 3-4 ft waves.
The course led up-wind about 4.5 miles into the lee of another pier, this one extending far enough off shore to provide some protection within a quarter mile downwind. Hyle made the turn at about 32 minutes into the race. Quagliatta with Mallory on his tail turned 4 minutes later. Dan Murn (Rochester - BayCreek Racing Team) and John Radel (Charleston - Epic Kayaks) and Peter Rudnick (California) followed about 7 minutes behind Hyle. The rest of the field was pretty strung out. Safety kayakers and the committee boat had their hands full keeping paddlers in their boats and on the course.
Now, after the turn, the waves were quartering on the port stern. Most paddlers reported more difficulty with this run than with the up-wind leg. Even local racers reported difficulty holding the line on the way back, most getting pushed too far shoreward into the hollow of the lake embayment. Others whose sterns were probably too loose took a line too far out to sea. Hyle had none of this and was on a perfect line when he approached the finish, taking advantage of a downwind surf through the gates. Hyle's time - 1:03:59. At this point, there was not another racer visible to the naked eye.
It was 8 minutes before the next racer was spotted, but who was it? It was a white Epic surf ski and not Quagliatta's blue Van Dusen Mohican, so the bets shifted to Mallory. Jim had gotten pushed too far into shore and was now paralleling the breakers to line up for the finish gates. 20 yards from the finish, an exhausted Mallory capsized and then walked, pushed and swam the V10L over the line. Time - 1:13:38.
Two other racers were now coming in. One was Will Smith (no not the actor) from Pennsylvania paddling a Fenn XT and the other was Dan Murn in his V10 Sport. Smith edged Murn by 2 seconds, but unfortunately he had missed the turn buoy, mistaking a sailboat regatta marker for it and had to be DQ'd. So Murn took a well deserved 3rd place with a time of 1:16:06. Quagliatta's Mohican then came surfing thru the gates at 1:17:06. Next two more boats barrelled thru the gates with Radel edging Rudnick, both finishing at 1:17:32. Jeff Whelan, one of two Canadians to join the race, finished at 1:19:01 in his OC1. The OC4, powered by the local team of Butts, Stutzman, Henning and Berl finished at 1:22:29.
The last boat finished at 2:03:01, a full hour after Hyle. Three boats pulled out of the race and one other did not start.
The short race was on tap next. Given the lake conditions, the short race had been move to the bay, starting at the north end and heading south around a pillar of the Bay Bridge and back. Total distance about 3 miles. Sixteen racers lined up, including 4 who had also competed in the long race. At the gun, Nicole Mallory leapt out in front and never looked back. Radel, having paddled the long race in an Epic 18X and now in a V12 chased her for awhile. Leszek and Smith (also from the long race) followed in pursuit. A battle between Paul Dorscheid and Paul Tomblin both of the BayCreek Racing Team continued the full length of the course. A couple of local emerging guns, 12 year old Tom Murn and 10 year old Aaron Berghash both had problems and pulled out.
Mallory (Nicole) breezed to the finish in 28:23. Ed Leszek (Ohio) finished 2nd at 30:36 and Will Smith (PA) redeemed himself, finishing at 30:46. Dorscheid and Tomblin battled to the finish with Dorscheid edging Tomblin by a nose.
The race organizer, BayCreek Paddling Center, extends its thanks to all of the sponsors, contributors and volunteers that facilitated the race. And of course we wish to thank all of the racers who participated, some traveling long distances to attend. This year, the Rochester Open Water Challenge was an official Tune-Up race for the NY Mayor's Cup. Given the conditions of this years race, the racers and the Mayor's Cup organizers can use these results to gage readiness for the often challenging waters of the Mayor's Cup.
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