This was the second year of the JCR. Last years race was moved to the Seekonk River in Providence due to the forecasted hurricane that never materialized. This year’s race was quite different with a stunningly clear, sunny New England day. The race starts at Mackerel Cove in Jamestown, RI and ends 15 miles on the other side of the Island at Fort Getty. Dan Gorriaran, race director, and elite open water rower, has expertly organized this event with help from the many volunteers. So the race with over 65 boats went off without a hitch. There were 14 surfskis and almost as many sea kayaks and outriggers. The majority of the boats were rowing shells from all over the Northeast.
Among the surfski racers were Simon Ross who made the trek up from Connecticut with his wife and two kids. While a newcomer to us here in New England, Simon is not new to surfskis being from South Africa and now living in Clinton, CT. Tim Dwyer, who lives in Jamestown and paddling on his home turf, was still amped up after his finish at the U.S. Surfski Championships last week. Mike Tracy, a three time finisher of the U.S. Championships himself, was there as well. Another newcomer to the racing scene is Bouke Noordzij from Concord, Mass who somehow manages to get out the door despite having four kids!!! Also Bill Starz, primarily a flat water paddler, showed up in a very old Mako Mil to do his first surfski race. Got to get that guy a new ski!! Even more impressive was that Bill is back to training after coming back from having several pulmonary embolisms. So it was great to see Bill on the water, in a ski, and paddling well! It was also good to see Bob Capellini who has done almost every surfski race this year including the Major’s Cup. Tom Kerr, another Surfski Championship finisher and Mayor’s Cup finisher, interrupted his vacation on the Cape to race.
Shotgun Start – Mackerel Cove
The race was a shotgun start with the rowing shells on the left hand side and the surfskis on the right hand side. Simon, Tim and I were together for the first mile as Tim and I took the closest line just a few feet off the rocks as we do so often in our training paddles on this course. Simon took a wider turn but caught us with a few yards. Tim and Simon dropped me at this point as I was trying to throttle back at this race knowing I often go out too fast. Tim and Simon continued for another mile neck and neck through the rocks off House on the Rocks. Simon dropped Tim while I watched Tim hold a 30 second lead on me head for the Newport Bridge. At mile 4, Kirk Olsen, caught up to me as he has done often this season. I thought great, I have someone to share the pace so we can reel Tim in. Kirk and I paddled side by side for about a mile until I said, if he wants to lead I will let him, so I hopped on his wash for the next several miles. I lost him momentarily while I grabbed a Gel and he lost me for a minute as he backed up for weeds.
Simon (1st Place) and Tim (2nd Place) battling for the lead early in the race
With 2 miles to go before we made the turn around the North side of Jamestown, Mike Tracy in classic Mike Tracy style, “slow start-fast finish”, catches Kirk and I. So the three of us are together until we pull Tim back to us just before the North Point. Tim is not looking too good at this junction in the race. He asked repeatedly does someone want to pull because Kirk is immediately on his wash as I am on Kirks. We don’t respond so Tim pulls for another half mile though the pace is dropping and so was our heart rates. Mike Tracy had enough of this so he breaks the group up by going wide. Tim and I take a different line hugging the shore. Kirk goes with Mike. Tim and I paddle together for a very short time until Tim finds another gear and drops me, increasing his lead as the race progresses. Mike and I are fairly close though on different lines as we approach the Jamestown Bridge. At this point Kirk is well off the pace and Mike leaves me with about 2 miles to go to the finish.
Mike Tracy – 3rd Place
I tell myself to keep the pace up but I can’t close the gap on Mike as he is closing the gap on Tim. Tim finishes in 2nd place behind Simon by less than 2 minutes while Mike finishes within 30 seconds of Tim. I was a little over a minute behind Mike feeling very good that my race plan of not going out too hard, drafting when I could, and keeping the pace up in the last few miles, was carried out. Kirk came in shortly after I did, saying he blew up slightly at mile 11.
This race is the identical course that most of us have known as the old Jamestown Race, not held since 2006. I looked back at my previous times going back to 2001, 2002, 2003 when I raced my Greenlander Pro, a 60lb sea kayak. My times increasingly got faster since 2001 while I upgraded to a Thunderbolt in 2004 and a S1X in 2005. That time was a 2:34:00 in the Huki in 2005, so it is nice to see I have actually gotten faster with age after transitioning to surfskis. 2006 race was held during a NorEaster with all boats pulled after an hour with the notable exception of Mike McNulty who completed the race in 4 hours despite 40 mph winds and 5 ft seas in a Necky Phathom racing kayak. Mike would raft up on a mooring buoy often during this race to pump out his boat. Incredible he could do this in the storm. Mike’s legend lives on!!
Group shot post race
After the race, having the post race food and awards under the Fort Getty pavilion was very relaxing, over looking the majestic Narragansett West Bay Passage down toward Beavertail. It was great to see Mike McDonough, Katie and Carol, Greg Lesher (who will paddled the L2L in a surfski for the first time), while talking over the details with Chris about how his race went, still getting used to his 21 pound Stellar SE. We talked briefly with Simon about having an East Coast Surfski Championship in the future since the venue is ideal for such a race coupled with the enthusiasm and resources of the combined Northeast paddling community.
But for now the next race will be the L2L September 18 which attracts more paddlers than any other race outside the Blackburn run by Wayne Lysobey and Gary Williams. See everyone there!!
~ Wesley
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