The records in all categories of the Balboa Yacht Club Regatta were smashed in this year’s version of the race, which took place on February 15. Winning the overall race and the under-21 male division was Chava (shown above), captained by Gustavo Murillo, who made it from the Balboa Yacht Club to the end of the Amador Causeway and back in 52 minutes and 32 seconds. The closest competitor in the category, Perception, finished one minute and 47 seconds behind.

Chava’s closest competitor was the open category’s Sudden Impact, captained by Jay Gibson, which paddled the course in 53:01, handily beating the police boat, Expreso Comando, which came in at 58:33, and 17 other boats paddled by athletes aged 21 and over.

In the under-21 female division, Catalina may not have been the best decorated boat but its crew, led by Nimia Gómez, was beautifully coordinated in its strokes and paddled way ahead of the category’s six boat field with a time of 1:01:31, as against second-place finisher Rio Teta (1:05:04).

In the category with the fewest entrants, the under-21 mixed, James Ferrara led Gibtion through the course in 1:00:07, more than four minutes ahead of second place finisher Bocas and two other boats.

The Balboa Yacht Club Regatta is the second-youngest and second-shortest of cayuco racing’s four events, the more than 50-year-old Ocean-to-Ocean Regatta being the oldest and the seven-kilometer Hotel Melia Regatta having just started this year. The shortest course is at Gamboa, where the cayucos will again do their sprints in the Chagres River in front of the Gamboa Rainforest Resort.

The next event in the cayuco season takes place on March 6 on the Atlantic side, in Gatun Lake beginning and ending at the Hotel Melia. Spectators at that event will have the opportunity to see the luxurious Hotel Melia Panama Canal, which was once the US Army’s School of the Americas and in its present incarnation is a five-star resort with Panama’s coolest swimming pool.

This year's Balboa Yacht Club Regatta may have also broken the attendance records.

And they're off!

And off again, as the sport of cayuco racing has grown to the extent that all boats don't fit at the starting line at one time.

After the start, some folks lingered to chat on the boardwalk above the starting line, but in general the crowd rather quickly retreated to the shade.

It was nearly an hour between the start and when the boats started coming back, which left time for a reporter to interview Sue Stabler, one of cayuco racing's main organizers. Little by little, the sport of cayuco racing is getting more press attention.

Then the boats came back into view.

Note the coordination of efforts by the crew of Catalina, the boat on the right...

...which made these four young women the winners of the under-21 female category.

Just crossing the finish line was enough for some to celebrate.

This crew appears exhausted after a second-place finish in the under-21 male division...

... as does this team, which finished third.


For more complete results of the 2004 Balboa Yacht Club Regatta, and more information about cayuco racing in general, click onto the cayuco racing button at the top of this page.

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