31 paddlers in 30 boats braved heavy rain and at times strong wind, to race in the what may be the final Brown’s Race for the 2007-08 summer, with the presentation barbecue following it.
Andrew Buckley showed that he has almost fully recovered from injury to take line honours in the long handicap race, with a big gap back to second and third over the line – Imojen Pearce and Matt Dalziel respectively. Dave Lander finished a fast 4th with Tim Parker and Phil Watkins crossing the line together for a dead heat for 5th.
Only 1 minute and 50 seconds separated 2nd place from 30th place in the line honours finish, perhaps the closest and most exciting handicap finish this year. The handicappers thanked the paddlers for sticking to the plan.
On “Corrected Time” results, Matt Dalziel was a convincing winner with Ben Maynard second, but 20 seconds slower than his last long race. Brett Stewart continued his improvement with a fast 3rd place.
In the Women’s, Carol Hurst again showed she was too quick for the rest, beating Imojen Pearce home by 10 seconds. In other classes, Dion Frampton showed he can make the change from a Multisport Kayak to a Surf Ski to beat Rob Furmston and Sean Mennitz, while Mark Dunbabin was too quick in the Veteran’s Multisport class, finishing almost a minute ahead of Andy Maver, with David Lander another 15 seconds back.
In the Juniors it was a tight race with Andrew Koolhof and Alex Lewis neck and neck all the way to the line, but Alex crossed first, 0.20 seconds ahead of Andrew.
The race was followed by the series prize presentations and BBQ (see separate news story).
STOP PRESS – DUE TO DAYLIGHT SAVINGS FINISHING LATER THAN USUAL, THERE WILL BE ONE LAST BROWN’S RACE FOR THIS SUMMER – TUESDAY 1ST APRIL (NO IT’S NOT A JOKE). ANOTHER LONG RACE HANDICAP.
