Thank you, Nick. It was great visiting with you before the race. Since this is a builders forum I should add that this past spring, I made some modifications to the Great Auk that made it much more comfortable to paddle for long stretches. First, I cut out the bow Keyhole section of the cockpit surround and made it about 5 inches wider so that it is much more oval in shape. This freed up my knees to get my legs working as part of the stroke. I also deepened the center portion of my seat which greatly increased stability. Even at the end as I was coming across the harbor I felt stabile, strong, and confident.

I too had some trouble shipping water through the nylon spray skirt. At first I thought I had picked it up while leaned over during the rescues. I stopped in the lee of Straightsmouth to bail out the cockpit. However, by the time I finished, I noticed that I had taken on a similar amount in the second half of the race. Obviously, most of the water was coming through, due to the low quality of the sprayskirt.