Well done and a big congratulations to all* who raced in the OC state titles on Saturday March 26.
With >20kt southerly winds, the conditions were one of the windiest yet making the racing even more exciting!
Well done and a big congratulations to all* who raced in the OC state titles on Saturday March 26.
With >20kt southerly winds, the conditions were one of the windiest yet making the racing even more exciting!
Novice Crews Set the Stage
For the first time in PD history we fielded not 1 but 2 amazing novice crews (mixed and women). Even though the race course was held in relatively ‘sheltered’ waters of Gunnamatta Bay, the 20kt winds barrelling down the channel presented the novices their toughest race to date.
But in true PD form, they all rose to the occasion and performed so well. You would never have guessed that these guys only started paddling just over 7 weeks ago with many racing for the first time as well, including Meising steering her first race. A big congratulations to the novice mixed crew placing 2nd in their category – yay!
With such a brilliant standard set by our novice crews, the mixed short course crew took to the stage and put on another fantastic performance taking out 3rd place. Top work!
The winds were relentless and looked set to kick on by the time the long course races came around. This saw the race course changed and shortened by the organisers for safety reasons. Two loops for women and mixed and three loops for the guys. The upside to this was it made for some spectacular race viewing from the top of Bass & Flinders Pt.
The long course mixed and men’s crews each did outstanding and gutsy races with the mixed crew proving just how well they could recover from adversity, push on and finish strongly and the men’s crew exemplifying the ‘never say die’ attitude as they powered their way up the field all the way to the finish 4th. Awesome work!
PD Women Go for Gold… and Bronze
At the start of this season, it was a goal of many PD chicks to see both PD women’s crews nail the State titles and finish together on the podium. We’re very proud to say THEY DID IT! YEAHHHH! AND THEY DID IT IN STYLE!!
The A crew claimed sweet victory after battling it out in a tough race with the Northern Beaches crew that had been providing such fantastic competition over the last two seasons. The Women’s B crew then came flying home to take bronze. It was an amazing race for all and still a bit surreal for many.
What is very real though is that there was plenty of teamwork, unity and heart shown by all PD paddlers in all the races which makes the PDs so special and as a club, able to achieve so much.
Well done and congratulations again to all involved.
Many Thanks
Many thanks to Rachel for her tireless efforts in coordinating not only the State Titles for but all the races over the season. Also to Kerry for seeing our canoes arrive safely and for those extra early starts and late finishes that go along with that. And finally to everyone for pitching in around the rigging and logistics. It’s a pleasure to be part of such fantastic teamwork!
*The PD team:
Novice Women: Meising, Amanda D, Chris, Amy, Corrine, Liz
Novice Mixed: Paul W, Rachel G, Bailey, Fiona, Janine, Ian
SC Mixed: Charlotte P, Paul W, Peter, Kath, Mandy R, Ash
LC Women’s A: Linda, Charmian, Lisa, Annett, Mandy S, Michelle
LC Women’s B: Kerry, Rachel M, Jo, Nicola, Di, Laurette
LC Mixed: Geoff, Gen, Eloise, Matt J, Meising, Graeme
LC Men: Billy, Gav, Matt S, Alasdair, Christian, Stuart
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