David Hackshaw, paddling a surfski, recently won the Canoe/Kayak Federation Maritime Ortoire River Race for the third time.
Hackshaw's time of one hour, 27 minutes 31 seconds, made him the undisputed champion of the event. He also won the inaugural 21km Ortoire River Race in 2010 and again in 2011. Victory this year gave him the Maritime trophy and two tickets to Grenada, courtesy Caribbean Airlines.
The Trinidad Kayak Club (TKC) has been organising this event since 2010, and paddlers from as young as 11 years pit their youth, strength and enthusiasm against the experience of the over 50 year old masters. The event combines a 21km long course race and a 7km short course race, after which a fun paddling activity for the Mayaro community and members of the public, is staged.
Some 27 competitors started the race in surfskis and kayaks from the bridge at Point Radix Road in Mayaro and paddled the 3 1/2 km to the turnaround point at the cremation site and back to the bridge. The long course competitors paddled the distance twice and John Horsfall completed the course behind Hackshaw in a time of 1 hour 32 minutes 30 seconds to take second while Michel Boccara was third.
The short course was won for the second consecutive year by 16-year-old Sherlon Pierre of Salybia, in a personal best time of 46 minutes 15 seconds. Pierre received the Maritime trophy and two tickets to Tobago. Satyam Maharaj was second and Matthew Robinson, third.
The Masters category for 50 years and over was won by Hugh Harris while Glenn Wilkes, who will soon be celebrating his 70th birthday, was second. The female category was won by 17-year-old Kerchelle Hinkson of Bishop Anstey High School.
This year, many more youths from the Ortoire community participated in the fun events which were open to the public. Several informal sprint races were organised and everyone enjoyed their paddling experience. One of TTCKF's goals is to bring kayaking to communities, initially targeting primary schools in Point Fortin and Mayaro.
