You know, this Thunderbolt is a mixed blessing. I’ve been doing work-outs in it, and it’s really fast and light. I want to race in it, but I’m not sure I can do it. I feel like I should go out and paddle a 10 mile training paddle keeping my heart rate around 150-155 just to see what that feels like in the boat. I also feel like I need to spend some time in waves and boat wakes so I can get comfortable with them. But neither of those things is going to happen with the Small Swells race in 8 days, and Long Lake in 15 days. I should probably install bulkheads and get better at steering the boat too.
Logically, I should probably put the Thunderbolt aside and not touch it until after Long Lake, and just do my preparation work in the Looksha. But man, I just like going fast. It doesn’t matter that by going into the “Unlimited” class with all the big boys I’m going from being semi-competitive to also-ran status. I guess I’d rather come in dead last in 1:25 than in the top three in 1:35. There are faster people on the team who feel the opposite way, and are going to race in “Touring” because they think they can win. To each his own, you know?
Given that, and given that I kind of think of Small Swells as a preparation for Long Lake rather than a goal, I think what I’m going to do is take both boats to Small Swells, and paddle the Thunderbolt unless the “swells” aren’t “small”. That way I might have a bit more of a handle on whether I can handle it at Long Lake. Or not.