Buffalo Bayou Regatta
March 12, 2011
by Christy Long
Buffalo Bayou Regatta
Trip Report
50-70 deg F
250 CFS
Alumacraft
15 miles
Finish Time 2:21:36
Recreational Canoe, Seniors
Kyle
Mynar was this year's overall
winner. Kyle paddled in his International Canoe Federation solo
kayak (ICF K-1) and finished the race at 1:41:33.
Wade Binion and
Tommy Yonley were the Corporate
Cup champs for their winning time of 2:14:08 in a recreational
class canoe. They also received the coveted round-trip United Airline tickets.
John Ohrt and I paddled his Alumacraft canoe in the Recreational
Canoe class. The day started out cool (50) and warmed to 70 degrees, by the
time we arrived at the take out, with very little wind. There was a release of
300 cfs (USGS 08073700 Buffalo Bayou at Piney
Point, TX) the day
before and the water level was 250 cfs when we were paddling.
|
| Mayhem at the start line. |
Four hundred and twenty-five (425) boats competed in six
categories, with start times at ten-minute intervals. Even with this carefully
thought-out planning there was mayhem at each start, which I think is the most
fun part of the race. After the first three miles most boaters are out of the
pack, have found their cadence, and are paddling steady toward the finish line.
About fifty-feet after we passed the start line, we were
pushed into a tree stump that was river right of center and came to a dead
stop, it made my teeth rattle we hit it so hard. After the initial shock we
started paddling again and kept a steady pace for the whole race, taking a
second or two about four times to sip water. John was very good at reading the
water and keeping us in the flow. He was able to cut off seconds from our time
by cutting across some bends rather than following the flow.
At the finish line my legs did not want to start moving
right away and I thank the finish line helpers that helped me out of the boat.
They are there to move the boats out of the way but they had to move me out of
the boat first. Funny, I could hardly walk, but I still wanted to dance to the
lively zydeco music playing at the finish line.
Attached is the list of racers and their times. Each
category was divided by men, women, mixed, and seniors. This gave each person
the chance to compete against others at their skill level.
John and Christy picking up their first place trophy. A bag
of coffee.
This event is dependent on volunteers and there were many
smiling faces making things run smoothly. Members of the Houston Canoe Club
participated in the event, as noted below. Please forgive any exclusion.
| Bob Arthur |
Start |
| Robert Naeger |
Start and HCC Booth
|
Ken Anderson
|
Sweep Boat, Safety
|
| Calvin Doody |
Sweep Boat, Safety |
|
Joe Coker |
Sweep Boat, Safety
|
Harmon Everett
|
Sweep Boat, Safety
|
John Clark
|
Sweep Boat, Safety |
| Dave Kitson |
Sweep Boat, Safety |
Milton
“Skip” Johnson
|
Racer |
John Ohrt
|
Racer |
Carl Gilson
|
Racer |
Christy Long
|
Racer |
Sophie Lopez
|
Timekeeper
|
Karen Gieger
|
Sandwich booth
|
John Berlinghoff
|
HCC booth
|
Honey Leveen
|
HCC booth |
Ken McDowell
|
HCC booth |
Tracy Caldwell
|
Cheer squad
|
Complete scoresheet, in a 1.5 megabyte pdf file: Here