In Panama, there is an annual event that almost everyone knows about: the Ocean to Ocean Cayuco Race. For those who are not familiar with the sport, cayucos are long, narrow, four person canoes made of wood or fiberglass. The Cayuco Race is a forty-three mile competition that goes from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific, all through the Panama Canal. It is a three-day event, in which cayuco teams battle for recognition and a chance to place for a trophy. Although the race lasts only three days, it is an event for which you train for months, dedicating long hours of practice to obtain not only to win but also to obtain a huge sense of achievement upon finishing. Cayuco is considered a strenuous sport, because not all who start manage to reach the finish line. For those who are members of a team, the race will either make or break your friendships. To be able to finish the Race with the same, or better, relationship with your crewmembers, is a true accomplishment.

     The first Ocean to Ocean Cayuco Race took place in 1954. The Boy Scouts of America, then living in the U.S. controlled Canal Zone, organized the event. For the first race only seven boats participated--all of them boys--and all had crews of four, with the exception of one boat, which had just three. As the years have gone by, the rules of the race have been changing. The shape and style of the boats have been improving, making them go faster and reaching new goals and records.

     The Race starts at Cristobal in Colon, at the Atlantic entrance to the Canal. Here all the cayuco boats are placed in buoy number four ready to start. Although all three days have a difficult parts, I consider the start one the hardest because the waves and the wind are your biggest enemies in it. Since Cristobal is part of the Atlantic Ocean, the wind, currents and all the boats that pass around there make huge waves that are challenging to handle. This stretch goes from the Cristobal Yacht Club to the Gatun Locks and it covers seven miles of the race.

     During the second day, the race starts at the Gatun Locks and goes all the way to Gamboa, here the participants paddle in the Gatun artificial lake. The Gatun Lake forms the majority of the canal. The lake covers twenty-two miles of the race and it is the longest part, which requires a lot of endurance and resistance. At the beginning of the lake we confront the Banana Channel, as is called for its form. This is the stretch of the lake that requires racers to cross several miles of open lake. It is here when you need to have a lot of balance and teamwork to manage the waves and get to the end, and this is usually where the race is won or lost.

     The last day of the race the competitors paddle the Culebra Cut. The Culebra Cut covers thirteen miles. In this race, paddlers hurry to get to the finish line because the line up on the locks depends on who passes the finish line first. With sweat on their faces and exhausted because of the lack of air flow inside the cut--which makes it harder to breathe--paddlers arrive at the entrance of the Pedro Miguel’s locks. Only the first ten boats to cross the finish line get into the first line of the locks. In the end the locks are filled with all seventy boats in seven different rows, this will be the line up for the next two legs of the race. Competitors have to pass through the Miraflores and Pedro Miguel Locks, perhaps this is the most unique aspect of the race. After passing through both locks the race comes to an end with a fifteen-minute sprint where paddlers hurry to get to Diablo Island. At the ramp one can easily feel the emotion and happiness of all the paddlers that finish the race and of their families and friends who are gathered to share the experience.

     The last Ocean to Ocean took place on the 2, 3, 4 of April, 2004. After long hours of paddling, the race came to an end. Although everyone who finishes is a winner, trophies are just awarded only to the four first positions in each category. In the open class the winners were: Sudden Impact with a time of 5:15:32, Snafu, Urracá and NIC. In the Trophy Coed Category the winners were: Gib”Tion” with a time of 5:49:25, Jungle Crews, Defiance, Bocas. In the Women’s Category the winners were: Rio Teta with a time of 6:00:44, Catalina, Sea Weed and Short Cut. In the Men’s the winners were: Chava with a time of 5:09:06, Fas 2 Ras, Perception and Aptus.

     Every cayuco that passes through the locks during the race feels proud of the achievement. During the cayuco season, paddlers receive great support from hundreds of sponsors from throughout Panama, from parents, and from CREBA, the organization that keeps this tradition going. Cayuco, as in any other sport, involves a lot of discipline and technique. It is not only about paddling and practicing every day, it is also about commitment and willingness. Participants have to run, exercise, go to the gym, and when the time comes to paint your boat, the crew works together to sand it. As for myself, I have grown up with this cayuco fever, and after three years I have accomplished my dream: getting first place in my category. I still have the desire to try and be better than the year before. Cayuco is like a big family in which everyone is welcomed to enter. After the season is over, you will always see people hanging together, having BBQ, dinners or in the famous “Cerro Azul” cayuco party. Nobody knows what cayuco is really about until you experience it. Everyone who has participated in the Cayuco Race before will agree that cayuco is more than a sport: it is an addiction.


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