out close to 200ft of rope we are all set and idling forward anticipating the final flag to drop. Down goes the final flag, it’s full throttle to the breakwater.
As the driver, my number one goal is to keep my skier up, so I’m constantly varying my speed depending on the water ahead. Leaving the breakwater, skies were the clearest I have seen, the island was already in sight something that rarely ever happens. As we headed towards the Island for the 2014 Catalina Ski Race the water was perfect, almost no wind and a very small amount of chop.
As we approached the island, about 3-4 miles out, the water really started getting rough with about 2-3 feet of chop and cross wakes from the large 43ft boats. Comparing it to the main basin in Havasu with 30mph winds on a holiday weekend would be accurate. We had 3 large boats surrounding us as we headed in to the turn at Catalina, making it extremely tight.
The ocean looked completely different for the return to Long Beach. It was a nonstop washing machine; chop had increased to about 3-4 feet. Our boat was taking a pounding from the chop, at which point I started to feel awfully sore. I could only imagine how our skier was feeling by this time. Thoughts about how much more of a beating our boat could handle started running through my head. Luckily our boat and equipment was performing flawlessly.
Coming up on the breakwater, I spotted our worst nightmare, The Catalina Flyer, heading directly at us. This ship puts out a nasty wake; I could only hope our exhausted skier would make it over the massive waves. Thankfully we hit the wakes perfectly and our skier held strong. The Queen Mary was finally in sight, I felt a sense of relief and excitement knowing we had just finished one of the longest, roughest ski races in the world... Brad Stern
Skier: Brian Stern
Driver: Brad Stern
Obser: Cameron Bookey