Paddling

We joked the other day at work that there's now a fitness requirement for the Client Services team. Our new GM is a nationally ranked Dragon Boat racer and now, along with her partner, racing outrigger canoes. My boyfriend has been pulled into the sport, and - while not necessarily more enthusiastic about it than our other coworkers - is very, very excited about it. They train three days a week in the SF Bay (and outside the gate) with the SFOCC.

Some basics:
- It's paddling, not rowing. Rowers go backwards, paddlers go forward.
- The outrigger is the thing on the side
- Unlike most kayaks and other small watercraft, outriggers are ocean-going (waves aren't a bad thing)
- It's a fairly popular sport these days - as evidenced in these photos.

These photos are from a Santa Barbara race two weekends ago. It's one of the largest California events. My boyfriend's team won by 1 minute 13 seconds (a huge lead in a 36 minute race), and was then disqualified for ridiculous reasons. Southern California teams train for a year and then race the second year; Northern California teams race their first year. The team was disqualified for having one person that had competed the year prior. Read it another way: 5 members of the team had LESS experience than the other competitors. I think they're less frustrated now, but needless to say, it's going to be a good season.