Plum Island Lighthouse Race

It was a small turnout for Plum Island Lighthouse Race in Wickford, RI today since I postponed it by one day due to weather. It was a beautiful day for the last race of the season. Bob Jehn, Greg Lesher, and Tim Dwyer took the top 3 places. These three paddlers also place 1,2,3 in the SurfskiRacing.com Series for the 2021 Season. Leslie Berchtold Chappell won the Women’s coming off another win at Essex. Robin Francis and Igor raced a double today and had a great time. Melinda Edward completed another ocean race. Kirk and Tim battled it out for 3rd and 4th. Kirk closed the gap in the last 2-mile segment of the 8-mile race. Tim just held him off by seconds. I watched these guys from behind placing 5th. Jerry Madore got some more ocean experience and John Redos made the trip up from NJ. coming off an excellent performance at the Great Stone Dam Race a few weeks ago. Surfin Dave Grainger just keeps going and going providing me tips along the way. Rob continued his dominance this season by putting over a two-minute gap on Greg in the last half of the race. Greg held close to Rob until the lighthouse turn.

The conditions were more straightforward than last year’s race with the wind from the North West lining up pretty well for the first half of the race for some small downwind with the outgoing tide. This year with very little interval work on the water, my starts have been slower than previous years where I prided myself on fast starts putting in massive redlining efforts over the first few 2-3 minutes before leveling off to race pace. My cycling and running have greatly increased my overall fitness level but I lack some punch and strength not paddling as much. It is hard to balance all the things I enjoy doing.

Nevertheless, I found myself immediately behind Jerry and John before we made the first half-mile turn headed to Fox Island. Due to solar glare and no sunglasses, I could not see my GPS so I had little reference of my heart rate and pace that I check too often during a race. So going with perceived effort, I was chasing these two on the way to Fox with Robin and Igor just behind me in a double. Once we rounded Fox and conditions slightly more wobbly, I pulled up even with them, and about halfway to Fox I opened up a gap on them. I have an advantage on these two since I paddle 90% in the ocean while these guys spend much more time on flat water. John edged me out a few weeks earlier in his V9 at the Great Stone Dam 8 mile flatwater race. Jerry had a good performance at the Essex River Race a few weeks earlier. Jerry and Scott Ide paddle a Wenonah Canoe Odyssey at this year’s Blackburn which only two very experienced canonists could pull that feat off.

So as headed to the Lighthouse that is located on the Northern side of the Jamestown Bridge that millions of cars have viewed, I tried to keep the gap between me and Kirk the same. He was chasing Tim and gradually reeling him. I closed the gap slightly on a different line headed on the return segment to Fox Island. When Tim realized Kirk was only a few boat lengths ahead, those guys opened up another minute on me. The second half of the race was into the current and the wind so I was trying to keep my heart rate as close to 150 as I could. I looked around infrequently to see if Jerry or John were there but they were not today.

So this race marked the close of another New England race season. It was mixed this year with postponements, cancellations due to Covid 19. Hopefully, next year we will see the ROTC back on the schedule, the Lighthouse to Lighthouse(East Coast Surfski Champs) as well the traditional dates of the Essex and Blackburn. Thanks to Greg Lesher for posting the results to the site and his contributions in his writings that make us all chuckle or laugh out loud.Sean Brennan also contributed with his article on the “Around the Cape” race. Also congratulations to Rob, Greg, and Tim for reaching the podium in the SurfskiRacing.com series, no easy feat with a competitive field.

I will be beginning my off-season training that includes cycling as long as I can endure the wind chill on my road bike or gravel bike, running with my partner Emma(my beautiful German Short Hair Pointer), indoor rowing, strength training that is a must this year, and paddling. Stay safe and see many of you at the Narrow River in April 2020.