‘THE BEAST’ accepts the ‘Sydney Harbour Challenge’
(23/1/10) - by Len Hedges

Lane Cove River Kayakers Len Hedges and Steve Padget teamed up in ‘THE BEAST’ at the Sydney Harbour Challenge held at Balmoral. ‘THE BEAST’, a red decked ‘Force Field’ Double Spec Ski, is well recognised by many paddlers and was a regular performer in the Marathon Series. Len had recently installed deeper seats to gain more stability in rougher water and was keen to try her out in the first of the much anticipated ‘Harbour Series’ races. The Balmoral race was organised by the Balmoral Blast team who did a fantastic job.

      ‘THE BEAST’ heading back into Balmoral

The race was scheduled to start at 7.30 but had to be delayed thanks to parking meters not accepting money before 8am!! The organisers showed much wisdom in delaying the start to allow us all to feed the meters so that we wouldn’t have any nasty surprises waiting for us on our windscreens at the end of the race.

At the start, ‘THE BEAST’ was sizing up the competition - 2 other double skis and 4 double sea kayaks when she spied the Odgers/Haines team in a bright Red 7 double that looked fast just standing still. Three of the four double sea kayaks were fellow Lane Cover River Kayakers so priority no.1 was established: ‘beat your fellow club mates’.

The race started with the usual mad dash and clash of paddles but the fleet soon sorted themselves out according to boat speed. The wind was a howling south westerly which actually generated catchable runners heading out of Middle Harbour which was an unexpected bonus for a race set inside the Harbour. The leg going south across the entrance to Middle Harbour was a little challenging with both wind and waves hitting skis exactly side on. ‘THE BEAST’ took this section in its stride, no doubt aided by the deeper seats giving more stability.

     Team Dodd & Wilson crossing the finish line.

The shear enjoyment of the early leg out of Middle Harbour travelling with the wind was equally counter balanced by the painful slog back into the wind for the finish leg into Balmoral. ‘THE BEAST’ was moderately chuffed with her performance, being the 2nd fastest double home but was still some 8 minutes behind the uncatchable Odgers/Haines team. ‘Après’ paddling of sausage sizzle and cold drink was a fantastic way to end a thoroughly enjoyable race. ‘THE BEAST’ would love to see some more doubles in future events.