EPTWhat is a pirogue? It is basically a Cajun canoe. The only difference I can think of is that a pirogue always has a flat bottom while a canoe doesn’t. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pirogue
![[image loading]](http://www.bertaut.com/wood_pirogue_boat.jpg)
The pictures of Wikipedia only show African variants.
Who has pirogue races? Basically, the town that I live in has a big bayou in the middle. So that makes pirogue races really convenient. The participants just have to walk across the road from our school, and the starting line is literally right there.
![[image loading]](http://i.imgur.com/W9TL4.jpg)
The arrow pointing up is the direction our school in is; it is just to show that the bayou is a straight line after the intersection.
Also, the pirogue is a sort of symbol for the Cajun heritage. It used to be part of everyday life for the Cajun culture. And then motorized boats came along lol
Battle Report:
The school’s requirement for the pirogue race is to have a partner of the opposite sex and in the same grade to ride in the pirogue with. I don’t know the reason…maybe to prevent two tryhards guys from winning easily. Well my bestfriend and I are friends with another pair of female bestfriends. So we figured it’d be best to pair up accordingly and have a friendly rivalry; we wouldn’t care about the overall race result.
So fast-forward to the actual race day. Before it was our class’s turn, my brother (who is some type of racing pirogue “pro”) was explaining what side of the bayou we’d have to hug because the wind was blowing a certain direction and a bunch of other tips and stuff to increase our speed.
Now fast-forward to our turn to race (divisions were set up by grade; all freshmen raced, then all sophomores race, ect.), and the set up was pretty hectic. There were a crap load of people and no one really knew what they were doing. When it was time for everyone to get in the pirogue and go in the bayou to wait for the signal to start, it just became a clusterfuck of pirogues. It was really windy that day, so no one could successfully navigate their pirogue to stay still in the water, and for about 5 minutes, it was a big pirogue bumper car game.
Finally, it was time to start the race, and our rivals were basically on top of us to the left. We couldn’t really separate effectively due to the wind. We were all trying desperately to get away from each other. Both of our pirogues were getting very off balance due to all of the pushing and attempts to paddle away. After our futile attempts to separate, my pirogue got enough water in it to make us sink. In the spirit of competition, we totally blamed them for sinking us.
Well, we walked (we were in like 4-5 feet of water at the time of the sink) to land. That took like four minutes because the bayou is so muddy that it is almost like stepping in quicksand. Well I never stepped in quicksand, so maybe the comparison is completely wrong. I was completely out of breath when we got out, and after taking a few seconds to recollect my thoughts, my partner was already in the pirogue again. I was against it because I thought we were in last place, but I overestimated the modern Cajun’s ability to operate a pirogue. There were still people at the starting line doing 360s and shit; they had no idea of what they were doing.
So we get in, and I tell my partner, “We need to sink Thomas and Sara.” So we disembark yet again. Piroguing is actually pretty easy when there aren’t dozens of pirogues bumping into you. We follow all of my brother’s instructions and I even did a bonjwa-level piroguing technique. The trick is to lean forward when you’re about to put the paddle in the water, and when you’re pulling the paddle back, you lean back as well. I don’t know why it works (I forgot my brother’s explanation), but it did.
We’re going full speed, and we quickly realize that Sara and Thomas aren’t even that far from us. (I later find that the wind or something pushed them near land and they got stuck on a docked houseboat lol) This reinvigorates my partner and I to paddle like we never paddled before. It was the most intense shit ever. We finally catch up to Sara and Thomas, but a little too late. Right when we were neck to neck, they passed the finish line a little before us. They cut in front of us and we were all ready to dock.
Suddenly, my partner throws her paddle in the water. I say holy shit, grab the paddle, and quickly realizing she is crawling to the front of the pirogue to sink them. Now you need to understand that my partner is really skinny and doesn’t seem particularly strong…keyword: seem. She summoned all of her strength and just pushed down on the back end of the rival pirogue. Instantly, their pirogue filled with water and they sank into a slow and horrible death (of their pride). Even though they won, to sink someone and have them comeback to sink you is ultimate humiliation. If you like visuals, it is like the Battle of Helm’s Deep and she is the little saboteur orc runs to detonate the bombs...but she is much prettier and doesn't look like an orc at all.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fvcNid87ONA#t=6m47s
6:45 to 7:40
6:45 to 7:40
So after that epic saboteur technique, my partner and I dock, high five, and laugh as our rivals are screaming "I hate you" and trying to walk through all of the mud to get to land.
Pictures!
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My partner and I emerging after we sunk:
+ Show Spoiler +![[image loading]](http://i.imgur.com/zB72Z.jpg)
A small example of the pirogue clusterfuck:
+ Show Spoiler +![[image loading]](http://i.imgur.com/vaDnu.jpg)
GG:
+ Show Spoiler +![[image loading]](http://i.imgur.com/RwkeA.jpg)
It's like nascar, but not fatal:
+ Show Spoiler +![[image loading]](http://i.imgur.com/QtVIY.jpg)
The small amount of people that make it past the starting area:
+ Show Spoiler +![[image loading]](http://i.imgur.com/VXREk.jpg)
(I'll update if I find more pictures)
+ Show Spoiler +
A small example of the pirogue clusterfuck:
+ Show Spoiler +
GG:
+ Show Spoiler +
It's like nascar, but not fatal:
+ Show Spoiler +
The small amount of people that make it past the starting area:
+ Show Spoiler +
(I'll update if I find more pictures)
