A Paddler’s Perspective – by Wesley Echols
This race is a favorite for many paddlers and rowers. It is a short, protected course with expert organization thanks to the race organizers made up of: Donna and Dave Lind, Rich Klajnscek, Bill Kuklinski, Chris Chappell, and others from the Cape Ann Rowing Club, as well as many other volunteers who made the event possible. For the first time, online registration was made available, and the Essex web page was updated into an attractive, user friendly site.

Despite the record turnout, the race went off without a hitch. Staging of boat classes ran smoothly, the additional warm up area away from the staging area helped keep the congestion down in the narrow confines of the starting line.

The unlimited class made up of predominantly surfskis, with several mohicans, and a thunderbolt. This field was a very competitive class ranging from the flatwater specialists from Boston to the local area surfski paddlers from Massachusetts, Maine, Vermont, and Rhode Island. I was excited to try my new Stellar SES that I picked up two days prior to the race. This would be an excellent test of its flat water speed and its handling characteristics in the chop at race pace.

Most of us got a good start with the exception Mike McDonough. Mike was drifting over the start line so he circled back quickly to try to get in a good position but then the gun went off. Seconds prior to the gun going off, Tim Dwyer, my training partner, told me to point my boat to the left so we would be positioned for the bend in the river, one hundred yards beyond the start. This directional navigation by Tim would become one of the running themes of the day. A complimentary theme was which line to take over the sometimes shallow, winding course especially since the wind was blowing 15 knots gusting to 20 on our beam virtually the entire race.

Eric McNett, last years winner, immediately took a line hugging the shore, lessening the effects of the incoming tide and trying to mitigate the chop. Meanwhile Tim and I were out of the gate equally as fast went to the other side of the river after the first turn. We could see Eric widening the gap by four or five boat lengths in his V12 within the first mile. Ted Van Dusen in his Mohican was only a few boat lengths behind Eric at this point. Tim (V12) and I paddling in very close proximity to each other while maintaining a very good pace with our heart rates at a high but steady rate. Eric continued to hug the shore while Tim and I overtook Ted as he took a more moderate line at one of the bends in the river. Tim continued to give me directional help, “bear left, get over, your coming too far right” as our paddles sometimes clanked each other’s boats in the earlier going.

With the river opening up to the island we could see Eric on the far side. I thought at this point maybe he made a mistake hugging the shore. As we approached some swirlies just prior going under the metal walk way, Eric joined us. Rounding the island, Eric took the line again closest to shore with me in the middle and Tim on my right by a few yards. Once around the island Tim and I surged ahead of Eric. With the wind blowing from right to left, I kept my bow pointed up and kept a good line trying not to get blown across the river. Boats were scattered everywhere depending on which line you took. At a point we actually got about 100 yards of downwind which was a welcome relief from the beam chop. At one point I had my 4 inch rudder pressed down consistently for about half a mile trying to maintain my course while keeping speed.

With two miles to go as I looked at my gps, both Tim and I were feeling pretty good maintaining our heart rates almost identical to our training sessions. We did not know where anyone else was in relationship to us. On the last bend in the river before the finish, I looked back and saw Graeme quickly approaching, so I told Tim we had to pick it up to the finish. We crossed the finish line together making for a nice ride home for us. Graeme finished about 30 seconds back, with Eric, Jay Appleton, and Mike McDonough rounding out the top six. On the way home I teased Tim about giving me directional commands throughout the course similarly to the Counter Revolution Race last summer. We both laughed! My new Stellar SES was performed great with excellent speed and handling characteristics.

While we had good race, there were quite a few DNF’s and slow times due to capsizes and paddlers helping out others get back into their boats due to the unrelenting beam conditions. Thanks to those who helped out their fellow paddlers.


Special Note: Bill Kuklinski, Essex River Race Director, was one of the last to come off the water paddling his brand new Huki S1X Special. Bill had spent an additional hour on the course, ensuring all the paddlers who had got in trouble were either rescued or back in their boats and on their way to safety. He was even seen paddling the course backwards to ensure everyone was safely off the course. Thanks Bill for making this a safe, fun and extremely well run event. Look forward to seeing you and your support team next year!!

The next race is the Sakonnet River Race hosted by myself and Betsy my wife. I hope to see a few more kayaks this year, so if you are an experienced kayaker please join us.

~Wesley