SRR 2018

Sakonnet River Race going strong after 10 years.

This was my 10th year to host this race. For years I wanted to host a race but thought only kayak shops or other big organizations with the money and support could host a race. True to my nature, I said I will try it and see what happens. Well here we are 10 years later and the race, this site, and surf ski paddling here in New England going strong due to the efforts of all the surf ski paddling community.

Winners of the 2017 SurfskiRacing.com 2017 Series, Greg, Jan(2nd), Chris Quinn(not pictured)3rd, with their SurfskiRacing.com Mugs. These guys are FAST and in any conditions!

The SurfskiRacing.com series which includes most of the local and regional races including six just here in Rhode Island: (1)Narrow River Race w/Tim, (2) Sakonnet Race, (3)Ride the Bull w/Tim, (4) Double Beaver(Tim), (5)Paddle the Bay(Tim), and the new addition to the series, (6) Plum Lighthouse Race(old Paddle the Bay series by the Kayak Centre in Rhode Island). Yes, that is a lot of races here in the Ocean State but that is due to such great public access to the water and we have such a variety of conditions that can accommodate most intermediate paddlers as well as the advanced racers.

The races are also low-cost affairs with a minimum or free entry fees just to cover the cost of the food or the porta johns or in some cases, race shirts. To keep the cost down we also employ the honor system where everyone records their own time and place of finish so no need to employ the extra person or cost of a timing company. So by in large, our races get anywhere from 15 to 25 paddlers at a given race for the past 10 years including the Sakonnet River Race. The purpose of the series was to increase the attendance of the local paddlers leading to growing the Surfski Community.

Thanks for making SurfskiRacing.com

It is important in any endeavor to reflect back and give thanks to people who helped you along the way. I got an idea in 2009 to make and sell a Surfski Dvd, yes remember those DVD’s. I floated the idea in the car with Paul Cronin of Jamestown, the professional sailor, videographer, sit on top kayak designer and Tim while we were headed to Pt Judith for a downwind paddle back to Jamestown. As I remember it, there was some skepticism in the car if an above average surf ski paddler had the “cred” to produce such a video. Skepticism has never stopped me.

I proceeded with my venture which was made possible with my co-host on the DVD, Mark Ceconi with partial funding from Jude of Huki Surfskis and Outriggers. So a big thanks to Mark and Jude. However, I needed a way to sell the Surfski DVD called Surfski Basics. So after selling Chris Chappell his first wing paddle, an Onno, then shortly thereafter, his first surfski, we talked at the Lighthouse to Lighthouse where I mentioned I needed a website to sell my DVD. Chris said he could do it and the next day SurfskiRacing.com was created as initially a platform to sell “Surfski Basics”. So the big guy gets A HUGE thanks and how fitting is it, that Chris of (FastPaddler Braca -Sport Paddles) is now the USA distributor of Braca-sport paddles. Chris for years worked tirelessly on SurfskiRacing.com providing the admin, races results, classifieds and more, for many years back when most of it was hardcoded (very time consuming), unlike today’s sites that are plug and play, depending on the complexity of the sites.

The Surfski Basics DVD, Wesley Echols & Mark Ceconi

Keeping SurfskiRacing.com in the family, Leslie Chappell, (Chappell Studio), another very capable paddler and web designer has provided the administration of my site. Greg Lesher, another multi talented person, including being one the top paddlers in New England, has contributed greatly over the past years as the race/series tabulator and has provided us with countless laughs with his sense of humor in his race summaries. Greg’s Surfski America on this site also is a great resource for current and historical race information. So a big thanks to Leslie and Greg for all their contributions to the site as well.

Mark, Chris, Wesley

Now the Race

Olga’s Pictures of Race

The weather is for the Sakonnet River Race is seldom the same from year to year. This year with threatening thunderstorms and very humid conditions, I decided to make the course a two loop course keeping everyone close to shore and in sight. However doing this, I lengthened the course by a mile which has some paddlers wondering if I had gotten heat stroke before the race. As it turned out the course turned out to be fine with two legs with the current and with the a small breeze out our backs which provides a faster pace but heats you up to the point you are asking yourself “how much longer to Black Point turn buoy?” and how much suffering can I take on the hottest and most humid(85%) day of or New England summer?”. Once you turned 180 degrees at Black Point, the wind was now in your face that felt like walking into a Mississippi air conditioned house. Oh ,what a relief! My first leg on my home course, was pretty much where I expected to be, well behind the leaders, and within a minute or so of Tim. However, I did not expect John Costella to be nipping at my heels for most of the race. As you can see in my video, John was within 20 seconds of me at the first turn. I decided I needed to increase the tempo slightly and see if I could catch the tiny waves to open up the gap while taking a more different line. This seemed to help. On the 3rd leg, upwind but the tide was in our favor, I went very wide to take advantage. As the race grew longer, my long training paddles were paying off. I opened the gap on John and Kirk.

Heat

Very slowly I reeled in Chris Laughlin who was suffering from the heat. I knew Chris was not on top of his game if I was able to pull next to him in the last leg of the race. We all have been there. I suffered greatly at the oppressive 2016 Nationals with temps reaching 100. During the singles surfski race at the 4 mile mark of the 12 mile race, I called it a training paddle since I was overheating and slowed my pace down dramatically. However, two days later, paddling a tandem surfski with Dave, we had a great race, coming in second, having adjusted to the heat for two days. Twice I bonked over the years at the East Coast Surfski Champs due to the heat. Years ago at the Mississippi River Phatwater Challenge, a 42 mile, 4 hour race in 95 degree heat, I was bordering on heat exhaustion after the race. What I read a few years ago on this topic in Runner’s World was a combination of poor sleep the night before a race, poor acclimation, coming in slightly dehydrated pre race(traveling), and a hot/humid race day can lead to poor performance, heat exhaustion, and even heat stroke. Being from Mississippi, though living in RI for the past 30 years, I consider myself a pretty good hot weather paddler but I need to acclimate for a day or so, drink my fluids, and get a good night sleep. My experience over the years with friends who have shown signs of heat exhaustion is to insist they get out of the sun, get to a cool place like an air condition car, drink plenty of fluids, rest, and monitor them periodically to make sure it is heat exhaustion and not heat stroke.

Wesley and Chris Laughlin at finish.

Finish

So by the time Chris and made the last turn home from Black Point, I hugged the shore to stay out of the current while Chris took a wider line until we reached Sandy Point, 1.6 miles from the finish. I pulled up close to Chris and told him to hop on my wash if he could so I could drag him along. He stayed close and he finished slightly behind me as the the wind picked up to 15 to 20 mph as a front moved in making the last leg a grind. As we turned for the final 30 yards to the finish, we all encountered beamy conditions stacking up from the beach along with gusting winds. Going from upwind grind to these conditions, in a long race, will put you on edge.

Winners: Leslie, Greg, Matt, No Chris Q, awarded Narrgansett Bay Coasters.

We had a good turn out with four new paddlers during the course. Peter completed his first ocean race in his surfski and was delighted he had such a good race. Ryan has made most of the races this year and is certainly gaining valuable racing experience. John Costello continues to push his pace and making great strides moving up a boat class as his balance has improved. Leslie Chappell won the women’s race despite correcting me on my math, that the race was actually longer than I had calculated. Nevertheless, I assured her she was up to the task and she was with a smile on her face. Thanks to Olga for all the great pictures.