Mild Conditions for the Tupper Lake 8-Miler
Forty-seven paddlers enjoyed cool and somewhat breezy conditions for the fourth running of the Tupper Lake 8-Mile canoe and kayak race last Saturday.
Unlike last year, with its mass start, there were two waves: the first consisted of 17 canoes and the second 19 kayaks. The addition of a new digital chip-scanning system that Matt Skeels of St Lawrence University has recently developed made it possible to time these two waves very accurately to Olympic standards of a hundredth of a second.
The start at the Simon Pond Tupper Lake Boat Launch was in somewhat choppy water but after the paddlers rounded the first buoy into the Raquette River the main challenge was to pick the best line up the river avoiding as much as possible suck water on the corners.
Last year’s second-placer, Jim Mallory from Henrietta in the Over 50 class and in an Olympic K1, eventually managed to take the lead from the rapidly improving Royal McDonnell from Paul Smith’s in an Epic V12 surf ski with John Hair in Epic V10 surf ski a few boat lengths behind. Jim’s final time was 1:05.35.56, which was more than a minute slower than last year, but in a new K1 with which he was still unfamiliar. Royal was less than a minute behind in 1:06.00.58, more than four minutes faster than his time last year. John Hair, who was also in the Under 50 Class, like Royal, crossed the finish line in 1:07.22.53.
The kayak classes were the most competitive with five boats in the two Unlimited and classes and the men’s over 50 Touring kayak class. James Phillips posted the fastest time in the latter class with a time of 1:20.42.64, but the over all fastest time among the touring kayaks was Eric Young’s 1:12.22.65 in the Under 50 class. Undoubtedly, 15 year-old Scott Visser from Potsdam turned in the most impressive performance among these groups with a time of 1:15.53.38. This is his first year as a solo racer! The genes are obviously in his favor as his mother, Eileen, posted the fastest time among the women kayakers in her home-built Guillemot kayak edging out Mary Kelly in a Kirton K1: 1:21.21.03 to 1:21.39.15.
Bruce Lee and Cathy Lipski in the Mixed C-2 Amateur Class posted the fastest time among the canoers, 1:15.06.43, edging out the Men Over 50 pair of Mark Winter and Randy Young by slightly more than a second in 1:15.07.86.
The third fastest time among the canoes went to the Saranac Lake quartet of Shane Ash, Megan Glennon, Joe Munn and Gregory Stewart in C-4 Stock canoe in 1:17.14.71. Not far behind in 1:20.17.72, was Morgan Hoven in a Placid Boatworks Shadow which he paddles with a double blade and went off with the kayak wave.
The C-2 Stock Mixed Over 50 and the C-2 Amateur Men Over 50 was also a tight race with Allen Kelly and Blanche Town getting away to win by two boat lengths from their chasers, locals Rodger Dempster and Chas Billingsley.
Peter Cain was first among the C-1 Amateurs in a time of 1:26.20.25 followed by Bill Robinson in 1:28.50.53 . The ever-green Glen Vanderwinckel, recently turned 80, was only a little more than six minutes behind the leader.
Doug Roode of Lake Placid was the easy winner of the C-1 Stock Men Over 50 class with a time of 1:33.50.93.
Following the main race there was a “Dash for Cash” sprint out to a canoe turn around point and a dash back to shore in stock canoes. It was a close finish but Bruce Lee and Bill Jemison, were able to prevail as the overall winners. Generously they donated their $40 winnings to the charity to which the Tupper Lake 8-Miler’s profits go.
Along with awards for the first three placers in each category there were prizes for award winners that were donated by local merchants, that included Adirondack Lakes and Trails, Coakley High Peaks Hardware, Curtis Lumber, Hannaford Supermarket, High Peaks Cyclery, Placid Boatworks, Raquette River Brewing, St Regis Canoe Outfitters, and The Wild Center. Shaheen’s IGA provided the hamburger patties for the post-race BBQ.
Tupper Lake 8-Miler is a New York Marathon Canoe Racing Association (NYMCRA) points race for canoes and kayaks. All profits from the race go to the Bill Shene Asthma & Respiratory Fund of the Champlain Valley Physicians Hospital.
Unlike last year, with its mass start, there were two waves: the first consisted of 17 canoes and the second 19 kayaks. The addition of a new digital chip-scanning system that Matt Skeels of St Lawrence University has recently developed made it possible to time these two waves very accurately to Olympic standards of a hundredth of a second.
The start at the Simon Pond Tupper Lake Boat Launch was in somewhat choppy water but after the paddlers rounded the first buoy into the Raquette River the main challenge was to pick the best line up the river avoiding as much as possible suck water on the corners.
Last year’s second-placer, Jim Mallory from Henrietta in the Over 50 class and in an Olympic K1, eventually managed to take the lead from the rapidly improving Royal McDonnell from Paul Smith’s in an Epic V12 surf ski with John Hair in Epic V10 surf ski a few boat lengths behind. Jim’s final time was 1:05.35.56, which was more than a minute slower than last year, but in a new K1 with which he was still unfamiliar. Royal was less than a minute behind in 1:06.00.58, more than four minutes faster than his time last year. John Hair, who was also in the Under 50 Class, like Royal, crossed the finish line in 1:07.22.53.
The kayak classes were the most competitive with five boats in the two Unlimited and classes and the men’s over 50 Touring kayak class. James Phillips posted the fastest time in the latter class with a time of 1:20.42.64, but the over all fastest time among the touring kayaks was Eric Young’s 1:12.22.65 in the Under 50 class. Undoubtedly, 15 year-old Scott Visser from Potsdam turned in the most impressive performance among these groups with a time of 1:15.53.38. This is his first year as a solo racer! The genes are obviously in his favor as his mother, Eileen, posted the fastest time among the women kayakers in her home-built Guillemot kayak edging out Mary Kelly in a Kirton K1: 1:21.21.03 to 1:21.39.15.
Bruce Lee and Cathy Lipski in the Mixed C-2 Amateur Class posted the fastest time among the canoers, 1:15.06.43, edging out the Men Over 50 pair of Mark Winter and Randy Young by slightly more than a second in 1:15.07.86.
The third fastest time among the canoes went to the Saranac Lake quartet of Shane Ash, Megan Glennon, Joe Munn and Gregory Stewart in C-4 Stock canoe in 1:17.14.71. Not far behind in 1:20.17.72, was Morgan Hoven in a Placid Boatworks Shadow which he paddles with a double blade and went off with the kayak wave.
The C-2 Stock Mixed Over 50 and the C-2 Amateur Men Over 50 was also a tight race with Allen Kelly and Blanche Town getting away to win by two boat lengths from their chasers, locals Rodger Dempster and Chas Billingsley.
Peter Cain was first among the C-1 Amateurs in a time of 1:26.20.25 followed by Bill Robinson in 1:28.50.53 . The ever-green Glen Vanderwinckel, recently turned 80, was only a little more than six minutes behind the leader.
Doug Roode of Lake Placid was the easy winner of the C-1 Stock Men Over 50 class with a time of 1:33.50.93.
Following the main race there was a “Dash for Cash” sprint out to a canoe turn around point and a dash back to shore in stock canoes. It was a close finish but Bruce Lee and Bill Jemison, were able to prevail as the overall winners. Generously they donated their $40 winnings to the charity to which the Tupper Lake 8-Miler’s profits go.
Along with awards for the first three placers in each category there were prizes for award winners that were donated by local merchants, that included Adirondack Lakes and Trails, Coakley High Peaks Hardware, Curtis Lumber, Hannaford Supermarket, High Peaks Cyclery, Placid Boatworks, Raquette River Brewing, St Regis Canoe Outfitters, and The Wild Center. Shaheen’s IGA provided the hamburger patties for the post-race BBQ.
Tupper Lake 8-Miler is a New York Marathon Canoe Racing Association (NYMCRA) points race for canoes and kayaks. All profits from the race go to the Bill Shene Asthma & Respiratory Fund of the Champlain Valley Physicians Hospital.
Comments
Post a Comment