All Categories - Comox Valley CANOE RACING CLUB

Fall Fitness Challenge

10/30/2019

Here is some motivation to see how much self-powered activity you can log between Nov 1 and December 20. Use the link to the google doc spreadsheet below to log paddles, bike rides, runs, gym workouts, squash games, erg time, or whatever activities you do - Allan had some creative activities so feel free to ask him if you run out of ideas.

Keep it to one entry per day, tallying time and distance in the event of multiple activities (see Oscar the Grouch as an example).

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1CoXvfEGtdlgyyveo6wuO6N8bwEq8wTLntE_7UypLLqY/edit?usp=sharing

We will tally at the end of the year and present a prize for the top male and female in the club in two categories - overall time and overall distance. This is supposed to be fun and a means to challenge yourself to get some miles in as the temperatures drop and the days shorten. Participate on any level and have fun!

If you log gym time it would obviously count as time, not mileage, unless there is a treadmill or erg component to the workout in which case you can log the distance on the machine's computer. Same goes for squash, pickleball, or even rock climbing. This is entirely on the honor system and will not be policed in any way. If you embellish your stats... well... you just have to live with yourself.

Sorry about all the dude photos ladies... I don't have any accessible shots of you.

Have fun!

Club Logo Stickers - 2 for $5 or 5 for $10

7/3/2019

I was asked for stickers, so here they are! Stick em on your water bottle, coffee cup, family dog, husband's car and/or random public property. There will be an envelope in the shed on Saturday morning with payment instructions. Get them while they last!

PS, for those interested, I will be working on full colour transfer decals for our personal canoes, but I need to set this up and arrange it. I'll post a message to find out who wants one when I have time. Might be a while yet but it is on the list.

2019 Brotche Reach Race - Victoria

5/8/2019

We sent two OC6's (one Vortex and one Malolo) for each of the Men's and Women's crews and represented our club incredibly well.

In the first heat of the day, the men took a #1-2 finish. In the Vortex was Dustin, Brian, Don, Chris, Kelsey, Allan and in the Malolo Rupert, Carl, Dean, Mike, Paul, Richard. It was a pretty epic back and fourth battle with the Vortex crew maintaining the lead for most of the race aside from an aggressive move move by Rupert at the Brotchie turn to put the Malolo in front for a bit. In the final stretch the the Vortex crew managed to hold off the charging Malolo for the win.

The ladies also had two boats in and achieved an impressive #2-3 finish. I don't have any details on this race, but if any of the ladies want to send me something, I'm sure the club would love to hear about it (Carl).

There were some hard fought battles in Sunday's small boat race too. Up front in the surfskis Carl, Ian Daykin and Gareth Tudor-Jones fought hard in a tight pack for the whole race. Carl lead an early charge for the finish, but Ian managed to sneak past him at the finish line.

Richard managed a win in the men's OC1 fighting hard with Ron Williams Jr. They also had a back and fourth battle throughout the race but Richard and managed to come out just ahead at the line in a final sprint. Rupert wasn't far off in 4th place.

Dustin and Cheryl took a commanding win in the Doubles.

OC6 Results: https://fgpaddle.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/2019-Brotchie-Race-RESULTS-OC6.pdf
Small Boat Results: https://fgpaddle.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/2019-Brotchie-Race-RESULTS-SMALL-BOATS.pdf

Escaping the Snow - Erg Training with Andrea Keenan

2/12/2019

Andrea Keenan of VI Paddling has three ergs that are available to us for training and technique help. The guys have been to this space twice now and have seen some impressive improvement already. If anyone in the club wants to book the space, feel free to contact Andrea directly: (250) 792-3320 comox@vipaddling.com

The cost is $15 each for 6 ppl sharing three ergs for an hour - or three ppl can pay $30 each to get a full hour on a machine.

These are coached sessions, and Andrea is a certified national level coach. I would highly recommend taking Andrea up on this - I really didn't expect this to be such a good tool for technique work.

Taaahhh-daaahhhh!!! - New Logo Unveiled

2/7/2019

As per our direction from the AGM, Susan, Jackie, Lela, Richard, Alan, Michele and Carl got to work on finalizing a club logo. In the end, we used pieces from everyone's efforts - the lettering from Leigh's effort, the wavy thing that came from the designer Carl used, the boat part from Carl's "Bob Ross" attempt (but no Bob Ross Background), and arrived at THIS:

Hopefully everyone likes it as much as we do! The next step is to get some club clothing organized. Allan will be organizing this with consultation from one of the ladies. Stay tuned!

2018 Canadian Outrigger Champs - Gibsons BC

8/27/2018

The Gibsons Paddle Club hosted the 2018 Canadian Outrigger Champs on August 18 and 19. Our club sent a men's crew and a ladies crew. Rupert, Don and Carl stayed on Sunday to race the small boat event.

Gibsons is an Idyllic setting for a weekend event like this. A quaint small town set in a picturesque West Coast setting, there is great food, nice shops, and lots explore. Although planning logistics for this event was a challenge, once we got there we quickly realized it was very worthwhile. The Gibsons crew put on a great event and the conditions and race course were perfect!

We had some wind both days, so each event presented some really fun conditions. The start of the OC6 race was a hard push into the wind to a turn a few kilometers up the coast, then a long downwind run to the bottom of Keats Island, then back to Gibsons for a 20-22km loop. Our crews really enjoyed our new Malolo in these conditions. It was fast, fun and a joy to paddle.

The wind dropped a bit by Sunday's small boat race, but gave enough of a bump for some fun runs and a course that presented some really varied conditions. The course was 10K, which gave us a shorter push into the wind, then a turn downwind, around a small island at the 5k mark, then back.

OC6 Results:
Comox and Friends (Ladies): 2nd overall and 2nd open/unlimited category.
Comox Men's: 6th overall, 4th open unlimited

Small Boat Results:
Don Irvine: 1st men's 60+
Rupert Wong: 3rd men's 50+
Carl Tessmann: 1st OC1

https://www.facebook.com/gibsonspaddleclub
http://www.gibsonspaddleclub.ca/

Relive 'National OC6 Champs, Gibsons'

Relive 'Nationals - Small Boat race'

2018 Victoria Island Iron

6/15/2018

Last weekend's Island Iron in Victoria was an incredible weekend of racing in challenging conditions. The initial excitement for the weekend was the fact that our women's and men's masters crews got to paddle our new Malolo, and from the grins on their faces after the race, the boat did not disappoint. Our rookie men's open crew did well in their first race and by the hoots and hollers after the event, they are hooked on OC6 racing.

Saturday's OC6 races were challenging for all three of our crews. Very high winds created a race that tested the most experienced crews and each of our teams showed both their fitness and skill finishing on the podium in each of their categories.

The wind died down a bit for Sunday's small boat races. Rupert/Ron and Paul/Dustin showed off their strength in OC2's and Carl represented the club in his surfski. Conditions were relatively tame overall, but a strong tide rip presented challenges for paddlers at the half way turn and caused some to go for an expected swim.

It was an exceptional race weekend for all involved and thanks to Ocean River Paddling Club for hosting a first class event. See the photos above for race results.

Thanks to Rupert Wong, here's a look at the OC6 course.

Relive 'Island Iron OC6'

Our new Puakea Designs Malolo Unlimited OC6

6/15/2018

Isn't she a beauty?? After years of drooling, talking, dreaming, scheming and planning, we finally have our first Unlimited OC6 and we couldn't be happier! Thanks to Hana Hou Paddlesports (Don and Zoe), we brought home our club's new flagship, just in time for the Island Iron race in Victoria last weekend. Both the men's masters and women's open crews got to paddle the new boat and they couldn't stop grinning afterwards.

As crews get more competitive, this super light boat will bring our club to a new level in paddling and enable us to compete with the best of the best, both locally and abroad. The two workhorse Mirage canoes in our compound will continue to be the go-to boats for practices and general training, but we have this secret weapon tucked away and ready for racing. Stay tuned, things are starting to get exciting at the Comox Valley Canoe Racing Club!

Spring at the Comox Valley Canoe Racing Club!

6/5/2018

Looks like it has been a while since we have updated this site! Well despite our silence, there are a lot of very exciting happenings in our club. As the weather warms up, the club is in full swing with both OC6 and small boat training and racing. With a season full of race goals, you will see boats coming and going from the compound nearly every day of the week training for events in both the OC6 boats and various small boats.

Our membership is growing fast with both competitive and recreational paddlers joining our ranks. It is great to see so many new faces at our regular practices and a full roster headed for this coming weekend's Island Iron race in Victoria. After a few races already in the bag this year, our ladies team is looking incredibly strong with some impressive finishes; and our men's team is showing some real potential with several eager new paddlers.

Beyond racing, our club is hosting this year's Island Changes race at Sproat lake. Stay tuned for details about this exciting event on August 25, 2018.

If this Spring is any indication of what is to come, stay tuned for an exciting season!!

Switchblade Relay

5/18/2015

Comox Valley
Defending Champions