Well I completed the Blackburn challenge yesterday; a 19+ mile open ocean race around Cape Ann MA., in my newly completed Razor Billed Auk. There were a couple of nice looking striper (boats) including a Guillemot double as well a Nick racing his Auk. The conditions this year were bright, sunny and much more tame than last years 5’ swells.

Unfortunately, I had to lower my expectation because even though I was armed with a new fast boat, I spent most of my free time in June/July building rather than paddling so I had minimal training time. I was extremely pleased with the way the Auk handled. It was fast in the flat water river sections as well as the open water crossings. I was particularly please with how well it surfed down the swell in following seas. I was 20min faster than last year at the halfway mark but I faded seriously in the second half and spent 10 min helping to rescue a capsized surf ski racer who was having trouble getting back up after capsizing a mile off shore. The second half was very painful up wind slog.

I still need to do a little more work fitting out the Auk and carving a proper seat. Because I didn’t have time to carve a custom seat I used an old Happy Bottom Seat with an ironic name because two hours into the race I had a severe case of numb butt syndrome (NBS) and legs in dire need of circulation.

The combination of my flagging energy and numb limbs kept reminding me of the refrain in the Cold Play song “The Scientist”

“Nobody told me it would be easy…but nobody told me it would be this hard”

I completed the race in just over 4 hours; about the same time as last year in my Guillemot ES. Following the race a trip to the massage tent, a few beers and some complementary BBQ and all was right with the world. I am confident that with some more training time and proper fitting the Auk will be the perfect racing boat for me.

Below is a picture of #86 the RBA prior to the race

Regards,

Jack