We had another good turnout for the 13th Sakonnet River Race including three doubles made up of two mixed teams(Robin, Igor), (Chris, Patty), and one all-male team(Bill and Kirk).  Dave Thomas of Stellar also made the trip down from Northfield.  Conditions were very flat with cooler temps making the flat water race tolerable. The course this year was an out and back around the red can off Sandy Point making it a 9.5-mile course.

Greg Lesher(2nd) chased Rob Jehn(1st)to the turn and then gave up a few seconds on the return. Matt Drayer placed a solid third. John Redos chased Tim Dwyer in his V9 to come in 5th behind Tim(4th). John can power up that V9 with astonishing speed. I saw John later that day with his wife in Newport.  We discussed the race and cycling. It turns out John has been cycling a long time, and I have just gotten into it over the last two years. This year cycling has taken up most of my training time. Leslie Chappell placed 1st in the women’s division. Paddling once every few weeks does not bod well for racing surf skis. Nevertheless, I enjoyed the race despite disqualifying myself for drafting Patty/Chris until the turn. I found myself close by them after half a mile and decided to see how long I could hang on. I was working hard knowing I would DQ myself concentrating on the workout itself. The team of Patty and Chris were super smooth in Patty’s first ocean race.

Chris Chappell and Dave paddled together on a different line to the turn before Chris decided to turn it up a notch to try to catch Sam who was a quarter-mile ahead.  Chris caught him within a mile of the turn, and Sam and Chris dueled it out before Chris edged him out at the finish.  Bill and Kirk had an excellent race keeping a steady but fast pace to win the doubles race.

I want to thank everyone for coming, Adam Stadel of Run Newport(specialty running store) where I work now. Adam donated the $50.00 gift certificate, and I regifted the Epic $200.00 gift certificate I won a few weeks ago that Tim was able to secure from Epic. I also donated a Starbucks gift card and Tim brought the Epic Flags upon my request.  The next race is Ride the Bull hosted by Tim and Greg now that I have stepped back from it and the Narrow River Race.