Please join us at our fall General Meeting. The purpose of this meeting is to provide a brief recap of the season and to confirm our leadership team for next year. This will be an in-person meeting at the JSCA in the members' lounge, will be brief and to-the-point, and will be followed by a presentation by our own (Surf Ski Fleet Captain) Robert Gill. Robert will be talking about his experience earlier this year competing in the Yukon River Quest (details below).
If you are able to not able to join us in person, please the link to the Zoom meeting in your confirmation email. This will allow you to participate in the official business of the club, but at this time we do not have the technology support to run a live/web personation.
This notification is also the official call for nominations for the board. We are a working board - each member is a director of our not-for-profit society and in addition has specific responsibilities for helping to operate some aspect of the club.
If you are interested in volunteering for a board position, please submit your nomination by replying to this message as soon as possible - we will contact you to provide more information. The call for volunteers/nominations will close on Thursday November 2, 2023.
The Yukon River Quest
Our Surfski Captain, Robert Gill, competed in the Yukon River Quest, a 750 km ultra marathon kayak, canoe or SUP race from Whitehorse to Dawson City, July 4-7, 2023. Following the mighty Yukon River and crossing Lake Laberge along the way, the Yukon River Quest is called "The Race to the Midnight Sun" and for good reason; you start at 9am and don't stop until you arrive in Carmacks 350 km later. At best you will spend two nights paddling through the night and you might even make it a third. The river flows swift and sure, with a few rapids to contend with along the way.
This was Rob’s first time competing in this race - or any ultra marathon race for that matter - and he will share his experience preparing, training, racing and recovering from this experience.
About Robert
Robert has always been in, on, or around the water. Growing up in Australia, he was in the swim club, racing triathlons, surfing, surf lifesaving, or paddling. He first started paddling surf skis when he was 14 years old and found a love of paddling sports. At 17 he began training and racing K1 flatwater races - both sprint and marathon. In high school he found himself on a 100 km race down the Brisbane River and the seed for long-distance paddling was planted. Unfortunately, training competitively on kayaks came at the expense of academic success and ultimately he decided to focus on schooling and completed a Bachelor of Music (Music Therapy) degree. This began a 25 year hiatus from competitive paddling.
Fast forward to 2022 and a recreational canoe trip down the Yukon river brought awareness of the Yukon River Quest and the seed that was planted those many years ago burst into fruition. Upon returning to Vancouver he joined Club Locarno and began training in earnest for The Quest.
When Robert isn't on the water, he is either working at Vancouver Coastal Health as a Director for community programs or spending time at the Vancouver Colab building, building things out of wood.
