\nYes, there were two Tiger Sharks spotted at the spot where all the women’s crew were allowed to make their first change. Because of that, the organisers shifted the buoy to another spot. Thank goodness I didn’t know about this until AFTER the race. Haha. But no worries, no one got hurt or eaten by the sharks – everyone was still jumping in and out of the outrigger canoes to make changes!
\nThe start of a long-distance (42km) outrigger canoe race is a phenomenal sight – it’s like the olden days of going to war. At the blare of the horn, about 100 OC6s power past the start line (men’s, women’s and mixed crews all head out together), as if ready to go to battle. When the support boats join up with their canoes after the first leg of the race, it’s an even more impressive sight. Support boats (usually small yachts or speedboats) and outrigger canoes dot the entire waterway. It’s amazing how no accidents happen when support boats, canoes, and paddlers are in the water all at the same time!
\nAnyway, so I had a whole three days’ worth of paddling – the 16km (no change) race around Hamilton Island, 500m and 1000m sprints, and 42km change race. Amazing, amazing, amazing.
\nWhile my team didn’t collect any silverware – we weren’t expecting to anyway – we were happy to finish the race without huli-ing<\/i> (flipping over) and happy that we didn’t miss any of our sea changes. We also did it in a time that was better than what we expected of ourselves. It was a fantastic three days of paddling and hopefully we’ll be back again!
\n
![\"IMG_5344\"](\"http:\/\/farm4.static.flickr.com\/3059\/2633884028_3e9e81b5f6.jpg\")
<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"