Battle of The Bay 2020

Battle of the Bay 2020 from Wesley Echols on Vimeo.

It appears Little Rhody where Tim and I live, is one of the few places to still hold ocean races due to COVID 19. A few weeks ago, Ride the Bull Race was rough and exciting with a great turnout. Saturday was a smaller turnout, but you only needed your Garmin or one other racer to test your fitness level. In my case I had Forrest, Tim had Kurt, and Greg had his Garmin, despite not being able to upload his data due to Ransom Attack on Garmin that affects millions of users. (that’s another story).

My Race with Forrest

I first met Forrest a few years ago at the Narrow River Race which I believe was his first surf ski race having gotten his Swordfish from OPSE. Since then, Forrest has been putting in more time in the bucket in his home waters of Falmouth, MA, and Woods Hole. Wanting to improve his times, Forrest called me about faster surf skis and a possible lesson. So a month ago I gave Forrest a lesson, mainly on the set up of his ski/paddle and tips on his forward stroke and boat handling maneuvers. We ended the lesson with a short Pier to Pier interval where I suggested more interval work to go along with his longer paddles to increase his fitness level if he wanted to race competitively. I knew halfway through the 2-minute interval, I would be competing with Forrest at some point in a race. Well, that race was Battle of the Bay or for me, Battle with Forrest.

The venue for this race typically begins across the bay in Jamestown, however this year, Tim decided to have it at Goat Island. I encourage you to read the history of Goat Island. It is fascinating complete with goats, Narragansett Indians, pirates, a fort, a lighthouse, a torpedo station, a hotel, condos, and more. This a quote from Wikipedia: “In September 2018 maritime archaeologists reported that they had discovered the resting place of Captain Cook’s HMS Endeavour just off the coast of Goat Island, where it had been used to blockade the British during the US Revolutionary War. The ship and its crew had been made famous as the first European explorers to visit Australia’s east coast.” Newport has one of America’s richest histories.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Goat_Island_(Rhode_Island)

Goat Island has superb views of Narragansett Bay, parts of Newport Harbor, the Newport Bridge with plenty of boat traffic on a summer morning. Traffic was not bad at all on this loop course. Tim avoided the most trafficked can at House on the Rocks by altering today’s course. Tim took an early lead with me behind and Greg to our right slowly getting warmed to pass us on a more northerly line to the can off Rose Island. Kurt caught Tim on the first lap and passed him in the harbor to maintain his lead on the 2nd lap.

After a quarter-mile, I glanced behind me to see Forrest only a few boat lengths behind. Typically in any race, the field fades at mile 1or so, and the experienced racers settle into their race paces, while the adrenaline of the less seasoned racers dissipates. Periodically, I would glance over my left shoulder to see where Forrest was and at every glance, he was right there, a few lengths behind or riding my wash.

It was not until we passed under the Goat Island Bridge on the first lap that Forrest decided to make his move. I was hoping, he would have made his move earlier so I could ride his wash in the flatter sections. Nevertheless, I jumped on his wash for about half a mile until he began to fade just before we turned to complete lap 1. Forrest stopped shortly after that to back up for weeds he thought he might have. We have all been here. After the race, he said he did not think he had any. It was very weedy today. I increased my gap here, only to realize Forrest made up that gap as we approached the can at Rose Island. I had not slowed down. I am in decent paddling shape and excellent running shape thanks to my running partner Emma, my 2-year-old rescue German Short Pointer of the legendary speed and endurance and my heat tolerance is very good thanks to her too.

So I was able to maintain my race pace without fading on this 6-mile course while being pushed very hard by Forrest. Both of us lost some time, at the Rose Island standing waves. I should have opened my bailer anticipating the chaotic water just prior to entering them. So halfway through I flooded my cockpit and pulled my right foot off the pedal to open the bailer losing more time with a brace or two. Forrest was slowing too in this section. I gained some distance, thinking I finally had broken Forrest. Not so fast. As I rounded the Goat Island Lighthouse to flatter water and mile to go, Forrest had closed the gap some but it was not enough. The old guy with 25 years on Forrest still had some in the tank to hold him off with a 15-second margin. Whew! Forrest said after the race the lesson he took with me really helped him and it was evident today. Well Done Forrest! I am sure it won’t be long until I will be chasing Forrest thinking how nice it is to be young again!

It was great to see everyone including Robin, Dave, Bob, Igor, and meet newcomer Bob Spang. Greg took the overall honors with Kurt finishing 2nd, ahead of 3rd place finisher Tim. I placed 4th and Forrest 5th. Mary Beth placed 1st and 2nd was Robin gritting it out. Thanks to Tim for hosting and Igor for some of the pictures. Next race is the challenging Double Beaver and then my race, the Sakonnet River race, that will be September 19th, 2020 and then the Plum Island Lighthouse Race October 17th, all in Little Rhody.