The Brass Monkey Kayak Race Series started around 30 years ago. The race is held over approximately 12km of the braided Waimak river from the pylons to the State Highway 1 bridge. It has been used for many years by people as a way to learn how to kayak for more important events such as the Speight's Coast to Coast. I started my multisport career at this event 4 years ago coming 2nd in the junior field with an average time of around 57 minutes. The series has become very competitive over the years with many fast paddlers competing against each other down the river.
The morning dawned overcast with a little bit of rain and a high river which resulted in pretty much perfect conditions for racing. Due to the amount of people racing, kayakers start in groups of 3 departing down the river every 30 seconds. I was lucky enough to start pretty much at the back of the field with my dad and Adam Milne which would mean we would have lots of people in front of us to focus on and chase down. Right from the start Adam taught me lesson on what it takes to win this series by sprinting away from me, seemingly effortlessly. With in a few k's of starting he was out of sight down the river. My main focus became staying in front of my dad and catching as many people as possible, with a side goal of getting in the top 20. The high river created a few fun features with some relatively big wave chains for this section of the river and some trees to dart around.
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In the end I beat my dad to the line by about 1 min 20 sec, great race but Im just not fast enough yet! I did a time of 43.42 which resulted in 15th open men and 21st overall, not a bad result considering im still a junior (just) but shows I have a lot of work to do to get good placings at races such as this. Adam taught the field a lesson with a master display of kayaking skill and speed setting a new fastest time of 36.43 and beating the nearest paddler by around a minute.
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| Only time I was in front of Adam during the race |
The morning dawned overcast with a little bit of rain and a high river which resulted in pretty much perfect conditions for racing. Due to the amount of people racing, kayakers start in groups of 3 departing down the river every 30 seconds. I was lucky enough to start pretty much at the back of the field with my dad and Adam Milne which would mean we would have lots of people in front of us to focus on and chase down. Right from the start Adam taught me lesson on what it takes to win this series by sprinting away from me, seemingly effortlessly. With in a few k's of starting he was out of sight down the river. My main focus became staying in front of my dad and catching as many people as possible, with a side goal of getting in the top 20. The high river created a few fun features with some relatively big wave chains for this section of the river and some trees to dart around.
In the end I beat my dad to the line by about 1 min 20 sec, great race but Im just not fast enough yet! I did a time of 43.42 which resulted in 15th open men and 21st overall, not a bad result considering im still a junior (just) but shows I have a lot of work to do to get good placings at races such as this. Adam taught the field a lesson with a master display of kayaking skill and speed setting a new fastest time of 36.43 and beating the nearest paddler by around a minute.
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