Mayhem in New York

The New York Mayor’s Cup had all the elements of an exciting event. Top international paddlers, including Hank McGregor, Oscar Chalupsky, Jaka Jazbec, Steve Woods and Bevan Manson. GPS tracking and online coverage by surfski.info. Good prize money, including $5,000 to the fastest paddler around Manhattan. Add to that 20 knot winds on what is normally a somewhat flat Hudson River and you had conditions made for surf skis. Unfortunately the event did not unfold as planned.

The start was held in North Cove, which has about a 25 meter wide entrance between pilings. Several waves of kayaks (and outrigger canoes) took off, with the group of international surf skis leaving last. Trouble started soon after the start as we paddled from the calm waters of the cove through the restricted entrance and immediately into a strong current and 3-4 ft wind chop. The top skis went out fine, but some in the middle and later portions of the pack collided, resulting in the capsize of a few skis. While this normally would not have been a big problem, there was a barge anchored just past the start jutting out into the river.

The capsized paddlers and boats (along with some still in their boats, but tied up with them) were immediately swept into the barge. This resulted in surf skis and paddlers getting pinned against the barge. There was a sudden risk of drowning. This was in plain view of all the race spectators, NY Harbor Patrol, and curious bystanders with video cameras rolling.

Meanwhile a lead pack of 7 skis formed as they punched through the oncoming waves. This included McGregor, Manson, Woods, Chalupsky, Jazbec, Sean Brennan and myself. The skis formed a line nose to tail, each trying to gain benefit by riding the stern wake of the boat ahead while letting them break some of the wind and waves. The pack occasionally diverged as someone would try moving right or left to gain favorable conditions. To the left was the center of the river, giving better current from the incoming tide. Going to the right provided more shelter from the headwind and waves. The occasional boat wake played as well, as racers would try to position themselves to take maximum advantage of the wakes as they came past.

After about 30 minutes, the pack started to string out. Hank and Jaka pulled a gap on the rest of us. Steve Woods sat third, with Oscar out to the left trying to find stronger current. Bevan and myself traded places 100 meters to the right of Oscar with Sean holding steady several boat lengths behind us. Then, just as we were about to go under the George Washington bridge, a safety boat came up to Steve Woods. I then saw Steve stop, turn around and start paddling back towards the start. I yelled out – “are you OK?”, thinking that only equipment failure or injury would have stopped him. He replied “The race is cancelled!” We were shocked – the conditions were far milder than top ski paddlers encounter on a regular basis in Hawaii, South Africa or Australia

There are a few things that make paddling in America and particularly in New York City different than anyplace else in the world. First the competitors Mayor’s cup varied greatly in ability levels. Even though the entry materials clearly spelled out that competitor must be competent in extreme water conditions, the fact is that many of the paddlers entered in the race were not nearly as skilled as those racing in the Molokai or other World Cup events.

There were over 150 entrants in the race. If it had been limited to only those with true extreme big water experience, this probably would have limited the field to less than 50. In order to promote the sport of kayak racing and put on a big event, the standards were somewhat looser than what you see in a major race in South Africa. They didn’t need to be as stringent. Usually the course is tame by World Cup standards and all competitors would have been fine paddling around Manhattan.

However this was a day with strong winds, currents and waves by mainland USA standards. Some of the other starting waves had similar capsizes just off the start. Some\racers were capsizing further along the course. Some competitors decided to drop out of the race. Bystanders on shore were seeing the capsizes and boats coming into shore. People were calling the police out of concern for the safety of the kayakers.

The other thing is that America is very conscious about liability. The Dusi canoe marathon in South Africa has had many deaths over the years, but that is not USA. A severe incident or drowning in New York would result in numerous lawsuits. That could be the end of kayak racing on the Hudson River. New York City, with millions of people has many regulations. There are numerous agencies that must approve an event on the water in downtown New York. Just ask Ray Fusco, the organizer about all the red tape he had to go through just to hold the race. Each agency that approved the event is potentially liable if there is a problem – careers could be on the line. It’s no surprise that the race was cancelled when things started to look bad for some of the paddlers.

The sad thing is that the international paddlers who traveled half way around the world did not get to finish the event. They could have continued with no problems whatsoever. However, the race organizers need to be concerned with the safety of everybody – not just the top racers.

Hindsight being 20/20, perhaps there could have been a way to divide the racers into 2 categories. Separate out those who have completed World Cup events in big water conditions. Notify the Coast Guard and Police departments that in the event of cancellation, the elite international paddlers can continue on with the race, while the remainder of the competitors are to be pulled from the water. Send one safety boat trailing the lead pack and devote the others to making sure all other paddlers are safe.

It still remains to be seen what will happen with the prize money. Will it be awarded on the standings when the race was cancelled? In that case, the front group would have been 1. Hank McGregor 2. Jaka Jazbec 3. Steve Woods 4. Oscar Chalupsky 5. Greg Barton 6. Bevan Manson 7. Sean Brennan

Or will it be divided up in some other way? Or will the prizes not be awarded at all since the race was not completed? We’ll see how this plays out over the next several days. I hope the race will be even bigger and better next year. In spite of the problems encountered this year, it’s a world class event held in a unique venue.