2013 Hawkesbury Classic times, sorted by ski type

I had a little time to kill, so decided to play with the results of the recent Hawkesbury Canoe Classic. It's about 102km of dead flat water, overnight paddle. Tidal almost the whole way. I thought a few folks might be interested in the results. A few notes:

- every point is a different athlete

- I used the boat they declared themselves to be paddling, but if someone changed ski types on race day, it's not reflected here

- this includes both "Brooklyn or Bust" waves and the competitive waves, which started 90 minutes apart from each other, meaning they paddled in somewhat different tide profiles

- it's mostly men, but there about four women in the data

- all age groups are combined

- several DNF's are omitted

- you obviously can't read too much into these results since it's likely that someone who paddles a Glide or V12, probably trains more than someone in an XT or V10S

You can add one more boat to that. Boat No 170 an Epic V8 Club that ran as a MREC in a time og 11:58:50. Quite respectable for a V8, looking at the other results.

Thanks Phil, There were a few others in SSki and Unrestricted that I added as well.

Great event as I was lucky enough to be there and watch and do support crew.

The Albatross skis which won the open ORS and 2nd in the 40's are made my DD3 and have has some great results over the past 3 years with new shapes going to be released next year. They are Aussie made.

One surprise ski was the ski which finished second in the open ORS - Ozflyte Ozpro. Ozflyte was brought out by DD3 late last year and have been producing this boat (and other ozflyte range).

The Ozpro is 5.8m long and is targeted towards the beginner/intermediate paddler, The ski which was raced on the weekend was by Kev Oconnor. He raced the hawkesbury 5 years ago with no training finishing in 17 or so hours. This year we advised that the Ozpro would be the ski for him. With 4 months training he was able to finish in a time of 10hr 10min - pretty awesome for a ski which is in the level of the XT and V8. His ski was 11.8kg dry.

Anyone wanting to know more about these skis goto ozflyte.com.au or dd3.com.au

Also on another note the BB1 or BB2 should really be left for those entrants who are paddling plastic skis and kayaks. Not the people who are competitive paddlers on ORS as we saw this year.

damien17 wrote: Great event as I was lucky enough to be there and watch and do support crew.

The Albatross skis which won the open ORS and 2nd in the 40's are made my DD3 and have has some great results over the past 3 years with new shapes going to be released next year. They are Aussie made.

One surprise ski was the ski which finished second in the open ORS - Ozflyte Ozpro. Ozflyte was brought out by DD3 late last year and have been producing this boat (and other ozflyte range).

The Ozpro is 5.8m long and is targeted towards the beginner/intermediate paddler, The ski which was raced on the weekend was by Kev Oconnor. He raced the hawkesbury 5 years ago with no training finishing in 17 or so hours. This year we advised that the Ozpro would be the ski for him. With 4 months training he was able to finish in a time of 10hr 10min - pretty awesome for a ski which is in the level of the XT and V8. His ski was 11.8kg dry.

Anyone wanting to know more about these skis goto ozflyte.com.au or dd3.com.au

Also on another note the BB1 or BB2 should really be left for those entrants who are paddling plastic skis and kayaks. Not the people who are competitive paddlers on ORS as we saw this year.

Well done DD, some solid results for you there mate.

Can also add #195 - Think - 9h:57m.
There was at least one SF there eg #384 - 10:52
If you reference boats from the photos of the events you can fill in many gaps. See www.abbeydigital.com.au/index131026HC3.htm
You can pick many of them up at the first major checkpoint photos - Cattai.
eg#402 is a Fenn Elite 12:04.
#395 V10L 12:16
#142 Carbon V12 11:11
#282 is WORS1 - 10:16 in a vault.
Compare photos with results at www.canoeclassic.asn.au/results/2013/dra...lts-as-at-5.30pm.pdf.
Great graph and info - thx.

Jeez J3ZZA. If you are willing to spend the time to match photos with race results, I guess I'm willing to spend the three minutes to update the plot.

Most of those points were already captured. The Think (Uno Max), V10L, V12, and Vault were already on the plot. The Swordfish was only declared as Fenn, so I originally marked it as "Fenn ?". The 12:04 Elite didn't identify his craft, so was originally deleted.

Damien, I was the second BB1 across the line in my Vault, so I guess you were referring to me and the Uno Max guy with your final comment. I went to an award ceremony dinner once, many years ago for a trophy. It was a long long night and not keen to go again. I am not concerned about setting records (which won't happen anyway). I enter BB1 out of courtesy to my land crew, to get them home earlier. It also means I get my post-race beer 90 minutes earlier. I look at the event as an individual time trial, with other people around. I had a goal of beating my old PB of 10:53, which I did with my 10:47, so I was happy. Doesn't matter to me if it was 1st place or 25th place. If I cared about an official podium finish or a trophy, I'd enter ORS1 competitive class.

Agreed with DD on this one. Way way too many people and good paddlers in the BB classes at the Hawkesbury. The Hawkesbury is a race and class racing is a lot of fun - but you need boats in your class! A few years ago I raced a Sladecraft Flash in the mrec class and there must have been 15 of us in Flashes on the line. Door to door racing all night and I still remember it with a smile. Not a time trial - wash riding, accelerations, intervals, head games, all great fun. Ronbo, you made a point of saying that you were second over the line in the BB1 class, so this stuff obviously matters to you. All we are saying is next year line up agaisnt the skis and pick a fair fight! Leave the BB class to first timers, 580s, etc. No offense meant here, just would be good to ensure the health of the Hawkesbury, which is an institution. Don't know if folks have noticed, but this is the last year of the Murray Marathon, and that is a shame.

One ski compeditor in BorB, not mentioned or listed in the graph, was the Fenn triple. Thats right triple. made up of a Fenn Elite Double gtafted onto a Elite Single. Both older double footwell boats and not the most comfortable. With a time of 9:16:54 they would seem out of place in BorB but as there was no category for them, this was the most logical place for them to enter.
They found the biggest advantage of a triple made up of two uncomfortable boats is that when one of the crew was unable to continue paddling, due to seat pain 20 Km from the finish, the other two were able to bring the boat home. It would have been interesting to see what time they could have done with three sets of paddles all the way.

PhilSE2 wrote: One ski compeditor in BorB, not mentioned or listed in the graph, was the Fenn triple. Thats right triple. made up of a Fenn Elite Double gtafted onto a Elite Single.

The mighty "Frankenski" - did alright in the recent Myall Classic, despite leaking and bringing home several gallons of Myall River across the finish line!

Nice chart.

DD - Big thanks to you for putting me onto the Ozflyte ski and coaching me to maixmise the value of my scarce training time. Also for making sure I used the right paddle.

10h10m - if you plot that on the chart the Ozflyte is ahead of the V12s, V10s and Elite, behind the Albatross, Max and Glide.

A lot of credit has to go to the being on the right ski. I only started paddling a ski in July and picked up the Ozflyte in September.

2 mates (one more and one less experienced) and I tested the Ozflyte against some high end skis from big name brands and the Ozflyte was faster for all 3 of us. Plus a novice like me didn't spend too much time in the water.

Expect to see at least one of these Ozflyte skis in the Murray this year.

I know that this is off topic, But..

It would be good to see these Aussie made ski's over here in the West of the country. At the moment we can read about them but I have never seen one here in WA.

It would also be wonderful to see one of our big name paddlers on an Aussie ski. It seems that all of our top names paddle imported skis. I know that this is probably difficult to achieve as sponsorship will be much harder to afford for our small manufacturers compared to the bigger names in the industry.

Keep up the good work. I would like to be paddling a great Australian made ski soon.

I was on the Think Uno Max in BorB class.
As for entering a competitive class I disagree. My thinking was that my 10 yr old step son was going to help out with land crewing. He was pretty excited about being included and couldn't wait to help out.
I thought this was a great idea and at that age he is impressionable. With the camaraderie of all involved in the Classic this may have rubbed off and one day he may be inspired to compete in it.
Don't we want to encourage this type of thinking in possible future paddlers.
It was going to be a late night for all involved in our group but the earlier I could of finished the better.
Unfortunately a couple of days out from the event he had to pull out of land crewing but I am sure he will be the first to put his hand up to land crew for his mother and I when we enter in the double next year.
Well done to everyone that entered, hope you paddled as well as you thought you would and well done to you too Rondo, it was nice to paddle with you for a part of it.

Metro wrote: Way way too many people and good paddlers in the BB classes at the Hawkesbury. The Hawkesbury is a race and class racing is a lot of fun - but you need boats in your class!

Actually first and foremost the Hawkesbury is a major charity event. For many paddlers in the BB classes it's about undertaking a personal challenge to raise money for Leukaemia research, not just about racing others. The issue of landcrew hours is very real too.

Congrats to all those that did race of course and achieved the results they were after.

SlowPoke wrote: I know that this is off topic, But..

It would be good to see these Aussie made ski's over here in the West of the country. At the moment we can read about them but I have never seen one here in WA.
Keep up the good work. I would like to be paddling a great Australian made ski soon.

Slowpoke I was in touch with DD3 earlier this year. They kept telling me they would have a dealer over here soon. Gave up asking!

Metro just letting you know this is not the last year for the Murray Marathon, it is however the last traditional Murray Marathon as next year the dates will change. They have been quite secretive giving out details, you should paddle the iconic race this year in its orginal format.

DD3 will be sending some skis for next years Doctor race. They will be available for demo / sale after the event. Producing and transporting Aussie made skis is extremely expensive - Sending 3 skis for demo to WA is a +$10k exercise - once the boats have been used once they are no longer brand new and loose value.
Hopefully you get a chance to demo these awesome Australian made skis when you get the chance.

Since when did the Hawkesbury Classic become a race??? As Fat Paddler said, it is a charity event to raise money for Leukaemia research and set some personal goals. Myself... two DNFs in the last two years. Last year pulled a neck muscle, this year started with a really severe chest infection. Was not Robinson Crusoe, a few others had the same problem and DNF.

Only was going to go as far as Sackville anyway otherwise I might have contracted pneumonia. Reason why I attempted the first 32kms? My youngest daughter recently finished chemo and is now in remission... that's why I, and many others compete. To raise funds for research to help those who are suffering. Also to have a little fun and set yourself a challenge.

BTW, paddling a Fenn Blue Fin in this event against an incoming tide at the start was hard work. Next time my V10!

Hi guys. The Hawkesbury has been a race since 1977: www.canoeclassic.asn.au/about/race-history.htm

Great effort to all who strive to finish the HCC and who raise needed funds to support the Arrow BMT Foundation - a very worthy cause.

But yeah, she's a race and I hope to see more people move up from the B2B class into the competitive categories. That sort of progression helps ensure the future and growth of these events.

Clarkies01, thanks, I did see that the Murray Marathon will continue but in a different format after this year. That is a shame (I seem to be the one person who likes the current format!) and I am concerned that the Marathon is headed down the proverbial slippery slope. Hopefully I am wrong. Will try to get our there this year.

I think that any paddler who has been in business for themselves would realise the challenges that a small and newish boat manufacturer such as yourself would facing.
WA might as well be a separate country to the East with the costs that would be associated with entering our market.

However it is my heart rather than my head that makes me want to see an Aussie ski available to me and up there taking on all comers.

Best wishes and hope to see your ski's doing well in the Doctor.