I'm not particularly competitive with regards to my kayaking. Sure, I like to show off the few moves I do have, but I never really considered what it would be like to actually compete in an event against other kayakers. So yesterday I decided to enter my very first Maryland Chute-Out, which is held on the Potomac the last Thursday of every month during paddling season.
The afternoon started off well enough, I showed up at Angler's around 4:30 and registered, then went over to the Maryland Chute to check out the level. It had been dropping all day and looked like it was around 3.3 when I got there, which isn't a bad level. I was getting some nice rides in, with spins, blunts, cartwheels, and backstabs. It was a good warmup.
The only problem is that by the time the competition actually started around 6:30 the level had dropped even further and it was actually getting difficult (at least for me) to do many moves and stay in the hole. So the competition was 2 30-second rides. My paddling is usually very relaxed, very "zen", and I like take the time to set up moves and do them smoothly. There is a lot of internal focus on getting the moves right, since I'm still just learning most of them anyway. However, given the low water level and the time pressure of the competition, I actually found it hard to
concentrate on giving my best moves, so I did what I could. I got a couple spins, blunts, and backstabs, but found it difficult to set up for any cartwheels. I also didn't get that much variety in; that 30 seconds just goes by so fast.
I wound up placing 3rd out of 6 competitors in my class, missing 2nd place by one point. If only I had one more spin, that would have clinched second place. First place went to Jim Hubshman of PotomacPaddlers.com, and it was well-deserved especially since he managed to do it with hand paddles. I think he got some extra style points for that.
So then I got the chance to sit on the rocks and help with judging the "A" class, which consisted mostly of the pro paddlers. This is when I actually got to learn about how the scoring system works. It makes sense that when you know how the scoring works you can adjust the moves you do to increase your score. There were a couple of pros who were doing endless spins, because each 180 counts as a point. If I knew that when I started, perhaps I could have concentrated on getting a bunch of easy moves in before going for the harder stuff where I might flush out.
Now I know. We'll see what happens next month.
