Today we had a big group. D, Pat, Eva, John and Kevin in the double and few hundred other crafts enjoying Newport Harbor, even in the cool and cloudy weather. Hard pieces...2,4,6,8,8,6,4,2 rest 1'..... some ocean. 13.5 km

Alone, only l hour to paddle. 10 x 1' 100% rest 2' Lots of wierd wind gusts...ocean would have been fun.

alone today, but some wind on the sea. Made for some fun.

I want to take a second too, to say how proud I am to be associated with such great people that supply our skis and the agents around the world that sell them. The whole Molokai ski rental and race gave me and Patrick the opportunity to talk to (mostly email, but some in person) alot of the Fenn paddlers and agents from everywhere. What a group of modest, genuine people. It pains me and others to watch competitors agents and paddlers be told not to talk to Fenn guys and specifally the "Fenn" agents when Patrick was in Hawaii. All I can say is it pathetic to see a group of grown ups act like children. The race orgainzers and the other manufactuer agents could hardly fake being happy for Lewis Laughlin becasue he was paddling a Fenn.
In the world of big business and all about profit, turns out the companies and people that love and promote the sport for more than the money have prevailed again. Too bad the "other" guys don't get it.

Pat home after loading the trailer with skis from the race. Hes wooped..but not like the racers. I don't know how we can race and load 25 skis afterwards...humm going to have to figure it out for next year.
We paddled 3 x 2000m not too hard..lots of stories from Hawaii. congrats again to all finishers...

D and Eva...10 x 3' 90% effort, rest 1
Short and sweet.

4 x 4' rest 1, 4 x 40" 100%rest 1, 4 x 3' rest 1 and 4 x 30" 100% rest 1
Nice day..no swell, no wind, no surf.

Ok..all who requested we load your skis..done and ready to go. Patrick spent some time at the container..mostly talking I will bet.
Some weights and a run for me. So wishing I was in Hawaii, as I feel fine just now. Weather guru saying mild wind for Sunday..hope it changes to classic conditions..2 years in a row of flat would be a cruel joke.

Patricks in Hawaii, boo hoo. I paddled alone, 10 km steady with 1' ups every 5'. Then a 2 hour lesson. P off for a makapu run with 20 other paddlers getting ready for Molokai. Good luck Noah, Barry, Ian and Dawid...

Back on the water today, feeling better..but still a nagging cough. It is hard to motivate when Molo is out, and then nothing big till Surfski champs in Sept. So we have decided to go to the Round Bowen Island race in Vancouver. Its a race we have never done, so that's exciting. Pat and I did a lido lap time trial. We have been doing these for about 15 years. Its 3.85 km around an island in Newport Bay.
I used the Elite and he grabbed an old millennium. Tide was low and coming in and the wind was slight but from the side up and back. I managed one of my fastest times on a ski 19:22. last year I was close to breaking 19. I still compare these times to all my K1 times and the year after the Olympics my faster ever in a K1 was 17:32. Oh the good ole days..ha.

Pat and I back on the water together. 7 x 10' pieces with 2' rest in between. Each of us pulled for 2' on/off in the 10' averaging 13 km/hour. Nice one...but I am not well and this made my decision not to go to Hawaii. Its too much money and too long of a race to go and race at anything less than 100%.
This will be the first time in 6 years that neither one of us has raced it. Patrick goes to Hawaii on May 11th to sort out skis and help with some of the logistics for the international racers that are renting our skis.

11 km with Patrick in the Custom Kayaks Apex double..mostly flat, some wind chop on the ocean. This will be a good competitor to the Mako XT Double. Nicely built and very comfortable.

Not much training going on here, cough won't go away. Spent much of the time selling skis. Most of the Mako Elites are sold, we have a couple fiberglass and vacum bag left, but the response has been amazing. I am evaluating my health as I decide what to do about Molokai. Its not looking good. One long paddle this weekend to decide. If I can't get well, them I'm not spending the $3000 odd to go over and race.