Hi Paddlers,

I loaned my Outer Island (a Jay Babina design) to a pal who was racing in a Tri last weekend, below is his e-mail to me this morning. I am so pumped about his paddling leg and how he did. Please notice he is passing surf skis!!! I am here to say boys & girls the OI is AWESOME in rough waters!
Clayton Plunkett

Clayton,

The Outer Island sea kayak did what it was suppose to do: Go fast and track like a TRAIN. It was fantastic!
We had a quartering wind of 15mph (gusts to 25 or I think close to 30) from the NW in a course that went south for 100 meters, then West for 1 mile, turn around and
East for 1 mile, then the 100 m north to the beach. Most paddlers had a difficult time with weathervaning.....even with a rudder,
but the strip kayak worked nicely..... I transferred a bit of my weight to one side to lean into the wind (my wing blade was DOING
JUST THAT!!! Winging!), and the boat carved diagonally right through chop, waves and the wind to keep a steady (well, relative) line.
I had the fastest time in the 2 mile paddle by nearly 3 minutes - faster than a Mako Finn, and 3 Epic skis..... I was very happy with the performance.
On several instances, my paddle would catch a gust of wind on the windward side during recovery and nearly capsized with the resulting toss, but was able
to bring the hull back each time during the going out section. Coming back it handled much better and i was able to ride the chop and waves (not too big as the wind did not have
enough distance on the water to kick up so much height in a swell) in the easterly direction.
I finished the run (5km) in 15th place with a 20:45 min time, then the bike was about 34 minutes for 12 miles.....passing 6 riders, and the best leg for me was the
paddle - after I got over leg cramps! - passing 7 other competitors - one an Epic.... The Finn and another Epic started just behind me, and I never saw them again.

My paddle was under 30 min, but not sure of the split exactly as it included a beach run (note: I carried the kayak and did not drag it! :-) ).
Results: 2nd overall, and finished in what they call "masters" division, 1st place. 59 seconds off of 1st place overall. Great day in the Gulf of Mexico!

Thanks, perfect choice of boat for the conditions in the ocean.

Doug