NO RECORD!!!
I've know about this for a while now, but I've been sitting on it until everything with the Human Powered Vehicle Association (HPVA) and Guinness World Records became 'official'.
I do NOT own the HPVA human powered BOAT 24 hour distance record as previously thought, but I do own a new 24 hour pedal boat distance record ratified by Guinness. Let me explain:
Unknown to me or any of the HPVA officials I was working with during my 174 km HPB record attempt on June 2, 2007, there were full transcripts of a 250 km human powered boat record attempt by Carter Johnson sitting on the desk of the records chair person at the HPVA . Due to a lack of communications between various parties, this pre-existing 24 hour record attempt of 250 km was not known by me or anyone associated with my record attempt.
Carter Johnson a stock HUKI S1-X surfski on Lake Merced in San Francisco during his 24 hour, 147 mile kayaking distance record attempt
After my record attempt I started to look into my average watts of power that I produced during the 174 km record with the data from the SRM power meter. Rick Willoughby and I did some calculations and we figured that with a purpose-built, state of the art human powered boat, I 'would-have' been capable of going at least 250 km with the exact same power output that I exerted during the 24 hour record on June 2.
I had heard rumors of a kayaker by the name of Carter Johnson who paddled his kayak 250 km in 24 hours on a lake in Northern California last year. Now, according to the rules of 'human power', a kayak IS definitely a human powered boat. Human powered vehicles including boats aren't just pedal powered - they consist of anything that is powered by a human being - no use of the wind or stored energy is allowed. And this is really a beautiful thing, as it encourages innovation to maximize the minuscule bit of power than a human is capable of producing. If using paddles in a kayak, rowing a row boat, or simply kicking your feet through the water behind your surf board is a more efficient method of moving a boat forward over time than pedals and a propeller, then so be it! That's exactly what the whole 'human power' ideal is all about.
As far as I knew, Carters record was considered "unofficial" because he didn't go through the rigorous and restricting ratification process required by a governing body as I did. However, I knew that if it was possible for a paddled kayak to travel 250 km in 24 hours, that my paltry 174 km wasn't going to stick for very long. I realized that with a new boat, I would be very close to this 250 km unofficial kayak record and I was motivated to pursue that.
I looked Carter up, and contacted him with the intention of inviting him to Calgary for a 24 hour human powered race between the two of us next summer. We would call it the Pedal vs. Paddle showdown. The winner would claim the true title of 'human powered 24 hour distance champion on water' and potentially even a new 'Official' 24 hour HPVA distance record. We would end, once and for all, the debate over weather pedal is better than paddle. Basically, I thought my race idea would be a whole lot of fun for everyone involved, and a great challenge for both Carter and I.
Greg Kolodziejzyk on his human powered pedal boat WiTHiN on Glenmore Reservoir in Calgary during his 24 hour, 108 mile human powered boat distance record attempt
It would be an understatement to say that I was shocked when Carter told me that he was a member of the human powered vehicle association. And that he had registered his record attempt with the HPVA, AND had followed ALL of the rules of the HPVA with regard to record setting. He had his rectangular course measured by a surveyor, had official members of the HPVA act as observers and even submitted a full report to the HPVA records chair person subsequent to his attempt. "So why do you not own the official HPVA 24 hour human powered boat record?" I asked. He told me that after he had submitted his information package to the HPVA, he hadn't heard back from them. At the same time, Carter had applied to Guinness World Records for the most kayaking distance in 24 hours category, and had received ratification from them, so he just let the whole HPVA application drop.
I was kind of pissed. Not at Carter, but at this whole mis-communication mess with the HPVA. Why was Carter's record not ratified? Why was I not even aware that a record attempt over a YEAR OLD was being considered for ratification? That news alone may have changed my strategy regarding my own attempt at the record. I knew that my boat WiTHiN was not capable of 250 km, so I may not have attempted it.
I immediately sensed an injustice. I told Carter that I would do my best at getting to the bottom of this and see that he receive his just recognition from the HPVA, as in my opinion, if he did follow all of the rules, he deserved to be recognized for his amazing accomplishment. To Carter's credit as a pretty admirable person, he insisted that I not pursue this, and that he was happy with sharing the lime-light, as he did have his Guinness recognition for kayaking distance. That didn't sit well with me. It is about the ideal of the human powered pursuit. What justice would be served if my distance record of 174 km was seen by the world as the most distance that a human being can cover in 24 hours on water when indeed it is something more like 250 km !!!!!!! A huge difference, and a difference that NEEDED to be rectified.
So, I contacted Al Krause, the current president of the HPVA who was not aware of Carters record attempt. Al eventually traced the problem down, and Carter ended up with his due recognition as the HPVA record holder for 24 hour HPB distance. I'm not blaming the HPVA for any of this, as I think it was just simply a case of mis-communication between many individuals (including myself). Since everyone at the HPVA is a volunteer, I am very grateful that they are all so freely giving of their time. Without the awesome work of people like Al Krause, Rob Hitchcock and many others, there would be no organized process at all for athletes to participate within. No stars to shoot for, no rules to follow, and no recognition our accompishments.
So I kind of screwed myself out of a record. But that's fine because I figured out how to salvage it - by contacting Guinness World Records and asking about the 24 hour PEDAL boat record. They said it was currently at 175 km and held by an Italian 4 man team. I told Guinness that my 174 km record (only 1 km less than that from a team of 4!) was a solo attempt, and as such, should be considered as a new category. They agreed and after reviewing all of my data and observers reports, awarded me with the record.
So where does this leave us? Well, I really want to challenge Carters kayaking record, and I would be a very lucky guy to have the opportunity to race a guy of Carters calibre for the honor of being the true human powered boat world record holder. Carter said he would think about it.
What are YOUR thoughts? To respond so that everyone can have the opportunity to read your input and respond to it, please submit your comments to the 'comments' link on this post.
Best regards,
Greg Kolodziejzyk
I've know about this for a while now, but I've been sitting on it until everything with the Human Powered Vehicle Association (HPVA) and Guinness World Records became 'official'.
I do NOT own the HPVA human powered BOAT 24 hour distance record as previously thought, but I do own a new 24 hour pedal boat distance record ratified by Guinness. Let me explain:
Unknown to me or any of the HPVA officials I was working with during my 174 km HPB record attempt on June 2, 2007, there were full transcripts of a 250 km human powered boat record attempt by Carter Johnson sitting on the desk of the records chair person at the HPVA . Due to a lack of communications between various parties, this pre-existing 24 hour record attempt of 250 km was not known by me or anyone associated with my record attempt.
Carter Johnson a stock HUKI S1-X surfski on Lake Merced in San Francisco during his 24 hour, 147 mile kayaking distance record attemptAfter my record attempt I started to look into my average watts of power that I produced during the 174 km record with the data from the SRM power meter. Rick Willoughby and I did some calculations and we figured that with a purpose-built, state of the art human powered boat, I 'would-have' been capable of going at least 250 km with the exact same power output that I exerted during the 24 hour record on June 2.
I had heard rumors of a kayaker by the name of Carter Johnson who paddled his kayak 250 km in 24 hours on a lake in Northern California last year. Now, according to the rules of 'human power', a kayak IS definitely a human powered boat. Human powered vehicles including boats aren't just pedal powered - they consist of anything that is powered by a human being - no use of the wind or stored energy is allowed. And this is really a beautiful thing, as it encourages innovation to maximize the minuscule bit of power than a human is capable of producing. If using paddles in a kayak, rowing a row boat, or simply kicking your feet through the water behind your surf board is a more efficient method of moving a boat forward over time than pedals and a propeller, then so be it! That's exactly what the whole 'human power' ideal is all about.
As far as I knew, Carters record was considered "unofficial" because he didn't go through the rigorous and restricting ratification process required by a governing body as I did. However, I knew that if it was possible for a paddled kayak to travel 250 km in 24 hours, that my paltry 174 km wasn't going to stick for very long. I realized that with a new boat, I would be very close to this 250 km unofficial kayak record and I was motivated to pursue that.
I looked Carter up, and contacted him with the intention of inviting him to Calgary for a 24 hour human powered race between the two of us next summer. We would call it the Pedal vs. Paddle showdown. The winner would claim the true title of 'human powered 24 hour distance champion on water' and potentially even a new 'Official' 24 hour HPVA distance record. We would end, once and for all, the debate over weather pedal is better than paddle. Basically, I thought my race idea would be a whole lot of fun for everyone involved, and a great challenge for both Carter and I.
Greg Kolodziejzyk on his human powered pedal boat WiTHiN on Glenmore Reservoir in Calgary during his 24 hour, 108 mile human powered boat distance record attemptIt would be an understatement to say that I was shocked when Carter told me that he was a member of the human powered vehicle association. And that he had registered his record attempt with the HPVA, AND had followed ALL of the rules of the HPVA with regard to record setting. He had his rectangular course measured by a surveyor, had official members of the HPVA act as observers and even submitted a full report to the HPVA records chair person subsequent to his attempt. "So why do you not own the official HPVA 24 hour human powered boat record?" I asked. He told me that after he had submitted his information package to the HPVA, he hadn't heard back from them. At the same time, Carter had applied to Guinness World Records for the most kayaking distance in 24 hours category, and had received ratification from them, so he just let the whole HPVA application drop.
I was kind of pissed. Not at Carter, but at this whole mis-communication mess with the HPVA. Why was Carter's record not ratified? Why was I not even aware that a record attempt over a YEAR OLD was being considered for ratification? That news alone may have changed my strategy regarding my own attempt at the record. I knew that my boat WiTHiN was not capable of 250 km, so I may not have attempted it.
I immediately sensed an injustice. I told Carter that I would do my best at getting to the bottom of this and see that he receive his just recognition from the HPVA, as in my opinion, if he did follow all of the rules, he deserved to be recognized for his amazing accomplishment. To Carter's credit as a pretty admirable person, he insisted that I not pursue this, and that he was happy with sharing the lime-light, as he did have his Guinness recognition for kayaking distance. That didn't sit well with me. It is about the ideal of the human powered pursuit. What justice would be served if my distance record of 174 km was seen by the world as the most distance that a human being can cover in 24 hours on water when indeed it is something more like 250 km !!!!!!! A huge difference, and a difference that NEEDED to be rectified.
So, I contacted Al Krause, the current president of the HPVA who was not aware of Carters record attempt. Al eventually traced the problem down, and Carter ended up with his due recognition as the HPVA record holder for 24 hour HPB distance. I'm not blaming the HPVA for any of this, as I think it was just simply a case of mis-communication between many individuals (including myself). Since everyone at the HPVA is a volunteer, I am very grateful that they are all so freely giving of their time. Without the awesome work of people like Al Krause, Rob Hitchcock and many others, there would be no organized process at all for athletes to participate within. No stars to shoot for, no rules to follow, and no recognition our accompishments.
So I kind of screwed myself out of a record. But that's fine because I figured out how to salvage it - by contacting Guinness World Records and asking about the 24 hour PEDAL boat record. They said it was currently at 175 km and held by an Italian 4 man team. I told Guinness that my 174 km record (only 1 km less than that from a team of 4!) was a solo attempt, and as such, should be considered as a new category. They agreed and after reviewing all of my data and observers reports, awarded me with the record.
So where does this leave us? Well, I really want to challenge Carters kayaking record, and I would be a very lucky guy to have the opportunity to race a guy of Carters calibre for the honor of being the true human powered boat world record holder. Carter said he would think about it.
What are YOUR thoughts? To respond so that everyone can have the opportunity to read your input and respond to it, please submit your comments to the 'comments' link on this post.
Best regards,
Greg Kolodziejzyk
Labels: 24hourHPBrecord
