Very cool to see, but hardly surprising. The OI is my hands-down favorite precisely because I like fast boats and rough water.

: Hi Paddlers,

: I loaned my Outer Island (a Jay Babina design) to a pal who was
: racing in a Tri last weekend, below is his e-mail to me this
: morning. I am so pumped about his paddling leg and how he did.
: Please notice he is passing surf skis!!! I am here to say boys
: & girls the OI is AWESOME in rough waters!
: Clayton Plunkett

: Clayton,

: The Outer Island sea kayak did what it was suppose to do: Go fast
: and track like a TRAIN. It was fantastic!
: We had a quartering wind of 15mph (gusts to 25 or I think close to
: 30) from the NW in a course that went south for 100 meters, then
: West for 1 mile, turn around and
: East for 1 mile, then the 100 m north to the beach. Most paddlers
: had a difficult time with weathervaning.....even with a rudder,
: but the strip kayak worked nicely..... I transferred a bit of my
: weight to one side to lean into the wind (my wing blade was
: DOING
: JUST THAT!!! Winging!), and the boat carved diagonally right
: through chop, waves and the wind to keep a steady (well,
: relative) line.
: I had the fastest time in the 2 mile paddle by nearly 3 minutes -
: faster than a Mako Finn, and 3 Epic skis..... I was very happy
: with the performance.
: On several instances, my paddle would catch a gust of wind on the
: windward side during recovery and nearly capsized with the
: resulting toss, but was able
: to bring the hull back each time during the going out section.
: Coming back it handled much better and i was able to ride the
: chop and waves (not too big as the wind did not have
: enough distance on the water to kick up so much height in a swell)
: in the easterly direction.
: I finished the run (5km) in 15th place with a 20:45 min time, then
: the bike was about 34 minutes for 12 miles.....passing 6 riders,
: and the best leg for me was the
: paddle - after I got over leg cramps! - passing 7 other competitors
: - one an Epic.... The Finn and another Epic started just behind
: me, and I never saw them again.

: My paddle was under 30 min, but not sure of the split exactly as it
: included a beach run (note: I carried the kayak and did not drag
: it! :-) ).
: Results: 2nd overall, and finished in what they call
: "masters" division, 1st place. 59 seconds off of 1st
: place overall. Great day in the Gulf of Mexico!

: Thanks, perfect choice of boat for the conditions in the ocean.

: Doug