The weather cooperated providing great conditions for last weekend's seventh annual International Howe Sound Outrigger Races.
Saturday featured several world-class men's and women's iron races along with the preliminary heats for the sixth annual Gibsons Challenge Race.
On Sunday, the challenge semifinals and finals took place, along with the Helly Hansen Survivor race and the women's and men's solo/tandem races.
"The whole weekend was wonderful. Everything fell into place - even the weather," said iron race coordinator Suzanne Daniell.
In the short course iron (14 km around Keats Island) Powell River was first in the open category, followed by Team Delta and Lotus (Burrard Inlet) in third.
In the women's long course iron (27 km), the False Creek Racing Canoe Club finished first for the third year in a row. Team Outrigger California was second, with Jericho in third.
Jericho finished first for the sixth time in the men's long course iron. False Creek was second, followed by California in third.
The B.C. Solo Outrigger Championships was outstanding with 110 paddlers on the water and 90 canoes and surfskis.
The men's champion was Stu Macalister from the Jericho Club, while the women's champion was Lori Velisek from False Creek, who won the event for the seventh time.
Fastest man on the water and winner of the surfski division was two-time Olympic gold medallist Greg Barton of the USA, while fellow countrywoman, Tracey Landboe won the women's division.
In the two-man outrigger event, Cheri Lepage from Gibsons in tandem with Jan Chavarie from Jericho, finished third in the women's master division, while Sonya Bergen from Gibsons in tandem with Marc Lavertu finished second in the mixed masters category.
New this year was the Helly Hansen Survivor Challenge and it certainly didn't disappoint.
"Team California was the favorite but Team Delta/Gibsons did not get intimidated," said Daniell. "The 'one-man canoe pull' was clearly won by Team California. For the Survivor Race, both teams went head-to-head on a race course set in front of the Gibsons government dock. The teams looked for clues on buoys, sending paddlers in and out of boats, filling and emptying canoes. It was a wet race for all."
This year's Gibsons Challenge Race was one of the most competitive.
In the final on Sunday, all four teams finished within nine seconds of each other.
First place was Spark Jivers (Roberts Creek Co-Housing Corp). Their $300 donation will go to the Sechelt Food Bank.
Second place was SuperValu Fury. Their $200 donation will go to the Canadian Cancer Society. The third place team, Team Prudential Sussex Realty, will donate their $100 prize to Camp Goodtimes.
The rookie of the year award was presented to the Spark Jivers while ScaReD Shipless: The Sequel (Sunshine Coast Regional District) won the team spirit award.
"There were loads of supporters on the dock, more than I can ever remember," said challenge race co-ordinator Eryn Parnell. "The races were all close and everyone had a great time. The SCRD team was quite impressive. They had great costumes and made up their own chants. The Elphi team also put in a great showing. In the semifinal, one of their paddles broke, but the team kept on going and finished the race with only five paddles. "It was a big deal for them to finish. They certainly showed a lot of team spirit and we also recognized them at the end for their efforts."
