Battle of the Century
Posted on Sep 23, 2011
“Un… Duex… Trois….” Hundreds of motor-boats and thousands of spectators on land, all counting down the seconds in unison. It felt like the fate of the world rested on the outcome of this timeless battle. “Quatre… Cinq…Six.” Everything seemed remotely familiar. But nothing was clicking. Was this paddling? The sport that I’d committed my life to felt like a shadow of what I was witnessing. “Sept… Huit…Nuef.” He crosses the line and the crowd goes berserk. Possibly the most epic instant in outrigger canoe racing history went down somewhere between sept and nuef. And nobody outside of Pape’ete on August 6th, 2011 knows anything about it.
I was at the Super Aito. Lucky enough to have convinced my wife that it was in her best interests to spend the last day of our honeymoon on an 18’ motor boat. Not going through the picturesque lagoons of Tahiti’s outer islands, but through Pape’ete harbor and the surrounding area. Dwarfed by 200 other diesel spewing boats watching the 100 best Tahitian paddlers battling it out to become 2011’s Super Aito Champion.
The race started innocently enough with a time trial. Each paddler is traditionally released in one minute intervals. It’s a race against the clock and against the mind. You’re battling only with the ever-present specter of your competitors. After a one hour time trial Rete Ebb was 1st with a 13 second lead over his soon-to-be nemesis, two time 2nd place finisher, Yoann Cronsteadt. Nearly a third of the pack finished within three minutes of Rete’s winning time. Meaning that the race was open to nearly anyone going into day two.
At seven the next morning we were jockeying for position among the hundreds of security patrolled spectator boats to try and see the action up front. For most of the race it was only between two people. Rete and Yoann. The throng of spectator boats surrounding them was enough to throw off a surfable wake to everyone else behind them. But they were alone, as if in their own private ocean. Dead calm, so every stroke was taken as if it were their last. Yoann was able to pull away and finish with a 20 second lead over Rete. The minute between 2nd and 3rd felt like a short eternity in the scale of Tahitian racing. Usually the pack is so tight, the competition so intense, that open water between paddlers is a rarity. The next six finishers were all within 30 seconds of each other. After two hours the last place finisher was within 20 minutes of the leaders.
Going into the final race Rete had a seven second lead over Yoann. And they each had over a minute on their nearest competitor. Making it clear that this race was just about the two of them. The final leg started at noon, the hottest and windiest part of the day. The course starts with a brutal 90 minute leg straight upwind. Even with hundreds of spectator boats throwing off wake, it wasn’t enough to give a second of rest to any of the paddlers. Rete and Yoann sat about a hundred yards behind the leaders for most of the upwind portion. And then, as if on cue, they both pulled up to the leaders together in time for the turn at Point Venus.
The race proceeded straight downwind through very surfable conditions for half an hour and then into the lagoons near Pirae and into Pape’ete Harbor. Rete outsurfed Yoann and put a massive lead on the rest of the pack. Enough so that most spectators didn’t even bother to follow the pack as it went on its course five minutes past the finish line to circle around back. Nobody doubted that Rete was going to walk away as champion. And then something happened. In the final minutes of the race, when most paddlers begin to resign themselves to their fate, Yoann made an incredible comeback. As we sat moored on the finish line watching the pack come at us, we saw Rete looking as if he was running from something. And then Yoann emerged from the crowd of boats. With a look of determination I’ve never seen on a paddler, and closing huge gaps with every stroke. Rete, from an insurmountable lead looked as if he was about to get passed by Yoann, who only needed to come within seven seconds to win the race.
It was like no paddling event I’ve ever imagined. I felt like I was on the sidelines for the final seconds of the Superbowl. Witnessing the losing team throwing an impossible hail mary in slow motion into the fumbling hands of a running back in the end zone. Rete crossed the line ahead of Yoann. “Un.. deux…trios.” Everyone counted outloud. And then Yoann crossed right at Sept. Seven seconds. And the crowd literally exploded. For one instant, nothing else in the world mattered but the titanic battle we all felt a part of. After fighting each other for five hours and 23 minutes over two days and three races, they tied. Regardless of how the judges analyzed the split seconds, everyone knew it was a tie. The final call was in favor of Rete. But, neither of them gave an inch, and neither was able to walk away with it.
- Luke Evslin