Connor Taras | Florida, USA | Sportscene - The Pines Resort, located in the small town of Indian Harbor Beach, Florida, USA, becomes the home of hundreds of competitive paddlers each spring. The majority of them are Canadian, with members of their national team as well as upcoming paddlers who are training with their Canadian clubs and regional teams.  Some years, these athletes stay for up to five consecutive months of training.

However, there is also a large contingent of paddlers from all over the world at “The Pines”. On any given day between November and April, you will find aspiring National Champions, World Cup medalists, World Champions, Olympians and Olympic medalists from places like Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Ireland, Hungary, Germany, New Zealand, Portugal, Great Britain, and Korea, just to name a few. These international athletes can be found paddling on the canal waterways that connect to The Pines. It’s a place like no other at the Pines Resort. “A bubble”, as some like to describe it, is a perfect combination of isolation, calm paddling conditions, proximity to water, and cheap accommodation.   These are only a few of the things that make this a good spot to train. The weather is the same every morning when you wake up (sunny and hot), and you see the same people walking across the field to practice every morning. You give a nod of the head as you pass by your friends on the canal, or you complain about the wash you’re going to get by the scores of kayakers and canoers facing you during your workout. 

There are also a few unique training opportunities here. The chance to see and paddle next to your Olympic idol everyday, and also the great relationships you make with people from all around the world. A lot of those relationships start at the annual Yak for a Stack race. Angus Mortimer, a member of the 2008 Canadian Olympic K-4 and national team member, is one of the event organizers. I asked him the reason behind why he organizes the Yak for a Stack race, along with the event’s founders Ian Mortimer (his brother and former National Team member) and Ryan Cuthbert (two time Olympian from Canada). "We do Yak for a Stack because it has become a great tradition” Angus explains. “In the beginning it started off as a very small event, a simple way for people to meet on a Saturday afternoon. Now it is a very well established event."

It even is beginning to have its own history and legends. Each year, athletes look forward to working hard on a costume and showing it off and meeting people from other countries and clubs.

This year, the 10th annual Yak for a Stack race was held, or YakX as it was deemed on the t-shirt that all participants receive. The day starts with a parade in which everyone shows off his or her homemade costumes. Notable costumes of the past include life sized giraffes, a very realistic spaceship and moon landing, Pacman, and a made-from-scratch Viking ship, and that’s just to name a tiny number of the amazing costumes that have been featured at “the Yak”.  You might think that every costume idea has been used up by now, but every year there are brand new creative ideas that make everyone at the event laugh and smile with surprise and wonder!

After the parade of costumes, the actual race happens.  The race takes place in two-person sit-on-top kayaks. Everyone is divided into teams of four, and you race from one dock to the other around a buoy, pass off to your team on another dock and they race back. Usually the race takes just over one minute and teams are made up of a combination of skill levels, ages, and nationalities.  More often than not, a junior paddler will have the opportunity to race in a boat with an Olympian or National Team member.  After the races are over, there is a big BBQ where awards are given out to the top teams and the best costumes.

Anne Nielsen, from the Danish National Team said, "It was really fun, I liked the fact that so many from the same sport actually came together to do something different than just training. This event sure is some of the experiences I will remember when I'm gonna look back on our training camp 2013!"

Emilie Fournel, 2x Olympian, Canadian National Team, "I thought yak 10 was a success and a true show of what kayaking is all about! Fun times, hard racing, sunshine and a great opportunity to meet and hang out with paddlers from all ages and different countries. Plus I got to wear a ridiculous outfit, can't ask for much more!

Anders Gustafson, 4x Olympian, World Champion, from the Swedish National Team said, "The Yak is a fun day and that you get to team up and paddle with people you never meet before from other countries is great.”

Martin Befring, from Norway ," Its a really great opportunity to get to know people you don't usually get to know because you get teamed up randomly. Its also a really fun way to do something else than training."