I'm excited about the orienteering the guys at Encompass-Adventure are putting on out at York River State Park tomorrow. The orienteering course opens at 10 AM but a few of us are looking to start the workout earlier with a paddle on the York River starting at 8 AM; I'm sure it will be on the chilly side, so I'll wear all the neoprene I can find. Mike and I are going to paddle a Wenonah Sundowner canoe, the same boat we're going to use in the race coming up in January (they only permit canoes of a certain "recreational" caliber in this race). From what I understand, the Sundowner is considered to be about the best boat for adventure racing (for races that don't allow kayaks, that is!) because of a few things:
- Little to no rocker (the boat doesn't have a pronounced curve in the bottom); keeps it straight and efficient
- Tumblehome (a pear shape to the boat when viewed as a cross-section from the front); there's lots to this but it provides for easier paddling access and, from what I'm told, helps with maneuverability
- It's made of royalex so it's relatively light weight and durable
- It's 17 feet long so it tracks really well and offers good room for 3 paddlers
- It's not kevlar or another "race specific" material and it's not designed as a special racing canoe, so it's considered legit by all the adventure races I know of. There are MANY faster canoes on the market, but none that a race organization will permit to compete in a general classification
We've been looking into buying a Sundowner to call our own but Wenonah doesn't make them anymore; for Saturday, and for the race in January, we're borrowing our friends' Sundowner instead -- from the Encompass guys. Shawn has warned us that if we damage his precious canoe during the race that he'll be obligated to press criminal charges . . .