I'm reposting this email that was sent to Sand Eaters. I have no affiliation with this group, but thought some boat owners here might be interested (especially as there's cash compensation). Please contact Jeff Tanaka directly; his info is listed at the bottom.

My name is Jeff Tanaka. I paddle with Marina Del Rey Outrigger Canoe Club (www.marinaoutrigger.org), one of the many member clubs of the Southern California Outrigger Racing Association (www.socaloutrigger.org).

On the weekend of September 8th and 9th the 2007 Catalina Channel Crossing US Championships race will be held; we are looking for escort boats to accompany our canoes as we race from Newport Beach to Avalon and back (women’s and co-ed teams race to Avalon on Saturday, and the men race back to the mainland on
Sunday). This is an exciting event that culminates
our race season.

Escort boat drivers will be compensated $400-600 (depending on boat length) for both days. Boats should be no less than 18’ and be able to carry a minimum of six persons (one driver, one race
official/representative, one coach, and three relief paddlers). Motorized sailboats are welcomed.

The main duty of an escort boat is to provide a resting place for relief paddlers. Each canoe holds six paddlers. During the course of the race, relief paddlers are rotated into the canoes so that exhausted paddlers can take a break to re-hydrate, re-fuel and rest. The “changes” are done by dropping the relief
paddlers into the water. As the canoe approaches the relief paddlers, the exhausted paddlers jump out of the canoe. The relief paddlers then pull themselves into the canoe. Done correctly, the canoe doesn'’t stop moving. The escort boat then picks up the exhausted paddlers and the race goes on. As I said,
this is a very exciting event. A short, three and a half minute video of our last race in Oceanside can be seen at http://blip.tv/file/345816, with “changes” starting at 1:49, going through the end of the video.

For more information on this race, you can go to www.socaloutrigger.org/champs/

For more information on escort boat requirements, you
can go to http://socaloutrigger.org/pdfFiles/RaceDocumentsEscort%20Boats/EscortBoatSkippersInfo.pdf

If anyone is interested or if I can answer any
questions about this event, please don’t hesitate to
contact me.

Thank you,

Jeff Tanaka
hapajeff@yahoo.com
310.828.8053 work
310.980.4272 cell