Gale force winds put an early end to the Yorkton Canoe and Kayak Club’s annual developmental regatta on Saturday, August 15 at York Lake.
The powerful winds caused havoc for the nearly 80 competitors (40 youth athletes, 40 dragon boat competitors) in the afternoon with one particular gust stamping the premature end to the regatta with a violent dragon boat flipping blow. “It was quite the ending to the day flipping the dragon boat,” offered YCKC coach Jessica Riley. “It’s a big boat and it’s very stable in the water so no one has actually seen one flip until now, but everyone was in life jackets so everyone was safe and although it’s never good to see a boat go over it was good for the kids to see it happen because the reality is that those things happen.
“You’re on the water, the wind picks up and you’re trying to get back to shore and suddenly you’re in the water and trying to stay afloat.”
Luckily the competitors in the water – 2014 dragon boat champion Team Kungfoolery – were rescued by a combination of quick reactions by the rescue boats as well as selflessness on the part of some of the competitions volunteers who dove into the water to help pull some people to shore. “Luckily we had our rescue boats out, motor boats out, and we were able to secure the boat and get everyone to shore quickly and safely,” mentioned Riley, adding that somehow all the equipment was also rescued from the depths of the lake. “We didn’t lose any equipment either which was amazing, but it was an odd way to end the day.
“We certainly weren’t expecting it, but the winds got too strong and we had to call it off.”
Prior to the intense winds YCKC paddlers registered a total of 12 medals. Ethan Caskey finished second in the U-15 Men’s K-1 500 while Glenn Falkowski placed third in the U-11 Men’s K-1 500.
Maren Caskey teamed up with Saskatoon paddler Abby Pohl for a third place finish in the U-11 K-2 500 while Stephan Roy and Dexter Candillo finished in first and third respectively in their U-11 Men’s K-1 500 race.
YCKC’s Marissa Hart was the only Yorkton athlete to pick up a medal in the triathlon event, taking home the silver medal in the Ladies U-12 Triathlon.
Other Yorkton results saw Bo Chiasson take home gold and Ashley Chillog take bronze in singles events while Marissa Hart won another silver medal, combining with Wascana’s Gia Venter in the K-2 Mix n’ Mash 200.
The YCKC foursome of Stephan Roy, Dexter Candillo, Nathan Washington and Glenn Falkowski took home the bronze medal in the U-11 K-4 200while Maren Caskey and Saskatoon partner Bryce Roulston also paddled their way to a bronze medal in the U-11 K-2 200.
Team Red Dragon won the 2015 Dragon Boat competition with a narrow victory over defending champion Kungfoolery.
In total there were 11 races that did not get finished due to the high winds, but despite that coach Riley feels the regatta was very successful. “We had eight Dragon Boat teams and that’s because we had the biggest attendance ever for our developmental regatta,” mentioned Riley, continuing, “We had around 40 athletes come and that has been our highest. We usually average 15-20 so that’s a huge number for us and meant that instead of four Dragon Boat teams we ended up with eight.
“When you’re running an event such as this not everything goes smoothly so there were some pros and cons, some things went better this year than last year and some things went better last year when compared to this year. But that helps us see things that we need to improve on for next year and it’s always a great experience.”
