2009 would be my 18th consecutive Blackburn; twelve of them had been oar-powered and this would be my sixth time around facing forwards, having paddled Touring Doubles with Tom Mailhot in 1998, 2006 (fog- shortened course) and 2008, Double Surfski with Pam Browning in 2003, and Touring Single in 1999. That was before widespread GPS use, and I’d managed to win in a Looksha 3 largely due to successful compass navigation on a day with blue sky up above, but thick fog shrouding the shoreline. Checking the results from that year, my time was 3:12 in a class of 37 boats (all touring kayaks were lumped together in a single division). Astonishingly, there were only four racing kayaks and eleven surfskis entered back then– how times have changed! This year there were 26 boats entered in the Fast Touring class, and a whopping 48 entries in High Performance Kayak– nearly all of them skis.

Photo by Doug Mogill

Another difference, of course, would be the speed of the Touring boats and the depth of the competition– more people are training much more seriously now, in designs which are both lighter and faster. I knew how fast Roger Gocking could be based on his incredible finish at Sakonnet River, 4th out of 23 in an Epic 18X touring boat, beating 18 skis in the process. Also pre-registered were James Doucette and Jonathan Katz, who I’d been sandwiched between in a close 1-2-3 finish at Essex River. And Maury Eldridge is, well, Maury Eldridge. I wasn’t familiar with some of the other paddlers but the large number of Epic 18s, Lookshas, Seda Gliders, and assorted Kayakpro, QCC and other fast designs all spelled high hull speed.

The forecast had been changing by the hour and at start time carried the threat of building southeast winds, which could mean big seas off the port bow on the long back shore stretch. Regardless, we started off in a calm river at high tide, with negligible fair current. My only strategy was to go with what felt comfortable and not get caught up in any head-to-head racing on the river, while hoping to at least maintain visual contact with Roger, who I figured would take the lead quickly. I noted that he wasn’t wearing a skirt, which I thought could lead to trouble if the seas indeed did kick up later on. Regardless, we came out of the Annisquam and smack into the fog with Roger in the lead but well within sight, which was a confidence builder. It remained that way around Halibut and Andrews Points as we overtook many of the sea kayaks and fixed seat pulling boats. Heading across Sandy Bay on the GPS line to the Straitsmouth Gap, we pulled basically even just as the freight train of leading skis came powering by.

The fog persisted to the halfway point, after which it lifted to haze, and once past Milk Island we could see all the way down the back shore. From there on we were pretty much side-by-side, although I could tell that Roger preferred to have a slight lead. The 18xs are difficult to steer with their minimalist rudder systems (the promised retrofit is still anxiously awaited), and even though the seas weren’t big I was struggling to maintain the best line, and inevitably veering to one side or the other like a drunken sailor. That’s how it went all the way to Eastern Point, still separated by no more than two boat lengths as Tim Dwyer and Alex McLain came by before the lighthouse. This provided some incentive as we tried to catch what swells there were in the lee of the breakwater. I rounded no more than 5 seconds behind Roger but then made what was likely a critical mistake, following Tim on the straight line to the finish while Roger and Alex veered off to the right. We were even for quite a while but then approaching Ten Pound Island I saw Roger start moving ahead, and quickly. Whether he was out of the foul current I was stuck in, or simply ramping it up more than I could is hard to know, but his lead lengthened dramatically in the last half mile, giving him the win by 48 seconds.

Regardless, I was pleased to finish second in just under 3:07 ten years after winning in 3:12. The Ipswich Ale tasted just as good, and the sun came out on cue for one of the best beach parties on the east coast! The threatened SE winds never materialized, and indeed the harbor went glass calm for the rest of the afternoon. It was a perfect day for a pretty fast Blackburn, and the incredibly tight finishes in many of the divisions are testament to the quality of the competition across the board. There’s nothing else like it– although hopefully the new Jamestown Counter-Revolution will add a fitting exclamation point at the end of the summer! ~ Dana