Rapid Transit wins all phases of Ocean-to-Ocean race

by Eric Jackson

This year's Palm Sunday ritual took place at the Scottish Rite Temple in Balboa, in its jam-packed dining room, to be precise. There was the awarding of patches and trophies, with crews several shades darker than a couple of days before radiating pride and fitness. There were the heartfelt thanks to parents, coaches and even a queen. This was the awards ceremony for the Ocean-to-Ocean Cayuco Race, a tradition that now dates back 48 years.

The regatta's coordinator, Pablo Prieto, put it into perspective with a voice rendered hoarse by a grueling weekend. Calling the race "unique on our planet," he reminded those assembled that cayuco season is "more than just promoting values" like teamwork and discipline. In its modern incarnation the cayuco races are a collaboration between the Club de Remos de Balboa and the Abou Saad Shrine, and a major part of the sport is a fundraiser for the latter. The Shriners send kids from Panama and neighboring countries to specialized hospitals for burn rehabilitation and orthopedic surgery that's unavailable where they live. "These children are transported for free, to receive free medical treatment" in part thanks to the people who paid $5 for the awards dinner, we were all reminded.

This year's race saw small fields in the juvenile categories and a larger open class. Thanks to an unusually strong headwind, times were so slow in Gatun Lake that almost half of the open class boats didn't finish that leg. Thus, no records for overall time were broken this year.

However, en route to winning the juvenile male category and the race among all boats, Rapid Transit (Christopher Huerbsch, Robert Huerbsch, Ruben Prieto and Zachary Starling, who posted an overall time of 5:23:48) won all five legs of the race — Friday's battle with wakes and currents from Cristobal to the Gatun Locks, Saturday's Gatun to Gamboa lake ordeal, and Sunday's three shorter stages toward the finish line in Diablo. The Rapid crew set a record for the Buoy 89 to Buoy 93 race through Gamboa (0:10:07), as did the Jungle Crews (Brian Huerbsch, Katie Huerbsch, Pedro Icaza and Juan Carlos Tirado, who finished that leg in 0:10:57 en route to victory in the juvenile mixed class (in 5:50:55 overall).

This year's other winning boats were Command Performance in the juvenile female category (Alejandra Jaramillo, Christina Crump, Jennifer Boyd and Laura Baker, who finished in 6:17:55); and High Anxiety (Carl Winkler, Denise Winkler, Wendel Sasso and Reyna Royo-Sucre, 5:39:39) in the open class.

This year three boats, the Red-Ed, Ultimate Most and Great Expectations, were paddled by crews that came down from the states for the event. The canal division of the National Police and workers at the Gatun Locks also had crews in the competition.

In the past year the Club de Remos received its legal status in Panama and a half-dozen new boats have been built or are under construction. Along with a successful second cayuco season after the canal's final reversion, it seems that the weekend-before-Easter tradition is in a good position to survive for years to come. Cayuco racing has not, however, yet attracted crews from the public schools or coastal and river communities where kids practically grow up in cayucos or piraguas, nor has Panama used the event to promote tourism as well as it might.

Boats that finished and their overall times

Juvenile Male
Rapid Transit (5:23:48)
Sudden Impact (5:34:52)
Carioca (5:42:54)
Dear Dick (5:58:32)
Mister John (6:56:21)

Juvenile Female
Command Performance (6:17:55)
Short Cut (6:49:21)
Front Runner (7:17:38)
Bad Company (9:08:08)

Juvenile Mixed
Jungle Crews (5:50:55)
Scenic Route (6:09:41)
Almost (6:19:24)
Dauntless (7:59:34)

Open
High Anxiety (5:39:39)
NIC (5:46:21)
Expreso Comando (6:15:47)
Great Expectations (6:20:44)
Defiance (6:30:26)
Rio Boqueron (6:44:01)
Red-Ed (6:46:43)
Beeline (7:00:41)
El Tuco (7:05:44)
Ultimate Most (7:08:56)
Tequila Sunrise (8:22:57)