Arriving in the Cook Islands wasn’t a coincidence. Two extremely long- term friends are representing Hawaii in an international paddling competition. We (Ann and I, Redemption, shoutout to Hank Hinkley for building an awesome cross-Pacific ride in a classic East Coast yacht style, hull #1 in fact!) are having a great time and couldn’t resist the opportunity to head out to the Cook Islands when it turned out to be on Team(s) Hawaii’s schedule.
Starting into this, my knowledge of paddling (punchline: just about nil) is pretty much summarized in a question I asked this evening at a teams bbq about why they dip their canted paddles into the water in exactly the opposite direction from that which I would expect to give the greatest initial thrust. What ensued was a really educational discussion (ok, no, a discussion is two-sided and I was the recipient of information and only asking guided but hopefully intelligent-sounding questions) on paddle shapes for offshore work such as the Cook Islands competition, dragon boats (always still water!), and traditional rowing shells. Summary: offshore capable vessels, minimize the time you have negative productivity, flat water sprints go for power even at the expense of efficiency, shells it depends on how far you’re going). And even then, there are still strong contenders described as ‘old school’ in terms of shape and use of their paddles.
Also: we’ve been officially recognized as groupies by the local paper of record. Lower right (We’re Redemption).
As for what would draw us so far afield (Rarotonga is absolutely great and the locals are entirely welcoming but it was just a place neither Ann nor I had previously thought much about), Lynn’s and Joy’s teams are killing it. This is a really tough venue to just fly into, borrow a boat, and compete.
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