The SurfskiRacing.com Race Series began back in 2010 to include most of the races in New England but scoring it differently than the previous series as a way to encourage more local paddlers to attend the local races. If you are a local paddler(Northeast) then you get points for the series. If you are not, then you don’t get points. While Reid Hyle won the L2L, he hails from Florida so he recieves no points. So the points for each race are awarded to the first local paddler starting with 12 points for the winner of each race. You also must compete in at least 6 races to be eligible for the final standings. By doing the scoring this way, the series is very competitive in the top places and encourages paddlers to attend at least 6 races. Below are the top places from previous years and this year’s winners: Borys Markin(repeat from 2012, Greg Lesher(his best finish, 2nd), and Eric McNett(3rd).
Greg,Borys, Eric, top 3 for SurfskiRacing.com Series, Picture taken at Nahant Cup Race
Borys at ICF World Marathon (photo Vadim Lishchuk)
Borys, Beata, Dorian at ICF World Championship
Borys and Reid, 3rd in US Surfski Championship Doubles Race(photo Beata)
2013
1.Borys Markin
2.Greg Lesher
3. Eric McNett
4.Francisco Urena, Jan Lupinski
5. Wesley Echols
Start of Ride the Bull Race, Greg,Eric,Wesley(photo Betsy Echols)
2012
1.Borys Markin
2.Greg Lesher/Francisco Urena
3. Eric McNett
2011
1.Joe Glickman
2.Wesley Echols
3.Eric McNett
2010
1. Tim Dwyer
2.Wesley Echols
3. Jim Hoffman
So this year’s winner was the very versatile Borys Markin. Borys was a world racer attending not only every local race but also traveling to Houston, Texas, Portugal(ICF World Surfski Championship), Denmark(ICF World Marathon Championship and San Francisco for the US Surfski Championship. Bory’s paddling resume is on a different scale than most of us, so he really only gets tested in these bigger races mentioned here or if some of the better East Coast paddlers come to race like Dorian Wolters(Ohio), Reid Hyle(Florida), and Sean Brennan to name a few. Borys and his friends Beata, Jan, and Flavio we would often see at the Run of The Charles prior to them joining the surf ski scene. It took them a few years for them to get accustomed to ocean paddling despite their massive K1 experience. Now that combined experience is paying dividends in surf ski paddling.
Greg Lesher, second place finisher, like many of us, was toiling away racing sea kayaks before he found nirvana in surfskis. Greg has leap frogged over most of us in just a few short years. It took Greg a few years to figure out the stability of skis, proper paddling technique, and he realized that he would have to increase his training load and intensity if he was going to move to the top of the races. Greg was a little inconsistent in 2012 despite a second place finish. This year he resolved that issue and could be found often leading the pack behind only Borys or mixing it up with 3rd place winner Eric McNett or 4th place winner Jan Lupinski. What do these guys have in common? They are training very hard, they have figured out through trial and error, not all skis are created equal, and they show up for the races. As we know getting to the start line is half the battle in racing and in life. You have to be in the race to place.
I asked Greg a few questions regarding his season and below is what he said:
What is your favorite race?
Greg’s Response:
Although each race in the New England season holds its own appeal, my hands-down favorite this year was the Lighthouse-to-Lighthouse. The venue is great – a beautiful beach from which you can see most of the course, bordered by a grassy area with shade trees and ample parking. The central location (and fact that it was the East Coast Surfski Championship) pulled in tremendous collection of paddlers from New England, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and further. Being able to paddle with (where I use “with” in the loosest sense) reigning world champion Michele Eray was a real kick. The conditions for the race were about as good as you could hope for, with a truly splendid downwind leg. And to top it off, I had an exciting see-saw of a race with a strong finish.
What did you differently this year that enabled you to be more faster and more consistent this year?
Greg’s Response:
My training for this season was a lot more disciplined than in the past. I tried to stick to a weekly schedule of 1-2 interval sessions, 1 session at 80-85% max heart rate, 1 session at race or near-race pace (generally Tuesday night’s Salem League race), and 1-2 extended paddles at 70-75% max heart rate. In the past I had done a higher percentage of cross-training – mostly running and weights – but I cut back on those to make more time for paddling. Unlike previous years, I didn’t have to travel for work this season, which made it a lot easier to stick to a plan. Another difference from the past was that I avoided doing any significant paddling for the two days preceding a race.
Greg in Salem Sound(photo Pamela Swan)
My Season and others of note.
As you can see my standings has slipped with such an influx of talent over the past few years. I have remained very consisistent throughout the years, but I was disappointed in some of my 2013 races. My best race was the Kettle Island Race which was unexpected for me. Over training is my downfall since I like to paddle so much, but for this race I was very rested which paid off. The highlight for me was the US Surfski Championships where I paddled the Coyota Point race and then at Saturdays race along with Chris. Next year I hope to have a much better racing season by increasing my power in the off season, paddling primarly one ski for most of the races, losing ten pounds and getting more rest between races.
Chris Chappell at US Surfski Championship (Photo Pressure Drop)
Wesley at US Surfski Championship finish. Photo by Barbara Mossy
It should be noted that Tim Dwyer, Chris Sherwood, Bob Capellini, Chris Chappell all completed at least six races, and Bob and Chris Sherwood completed virtually every race as did Kahm Truhn. Matt Drayer upped his training and is climbing the surfski ladder paddling faster skis as he continues to get more surfski experience. Chris Chappell had a super race at the L2L while Eric Costanza of New Jersey put two impressive back to back races at the L2L and at the Downwind Race (Kettle Island Race course) on a terribly rough day to come in third.
Eric Constanzo at L2L(photo Vadim Lishchuk)
Chris Sherwood, Bob Capellini, Mary Beth, Greg at Snow Row
Beata Cseke, had one of her best seasons ever and saved her best race for the biggest stage of the year, the ICF Surfski World Championships in Portugal. I often found myself very close to Beata in some of the races and often all I could see was her smooth stroke ahead of me. Mary Beth Gangloff made great strides again this year often paddling the correct race course while most of us did not(Double Beaver) or she chose to add a few miles to the course like the L2L. Nevertheless she can grind out the miles with the best of us and it is always great to see her and Greg(Lesher) at the races.
Beata, Michele Eray, Mary Beth at L2L(photo Vadim)
If you look at the best attended races like the Blackburn, L2L, and Essex, the surf ski class is the largest and continues to grow with an attendance about 50 skis for each race. Attendance is up at the smaller local races as well attracting a few new paddlers each year. I know there are many other surf ski paddlers that do not race. I encourage all paddlers to come out and join us at the races for the social aspect and experience a race venue even if you just use the race as a training day. Coming to a race is the best ways to try new boats and getting a few pointers that could help you along the way. Lastly I want to thank Vadim Lishchuk for providing us with some outstanding videos and photos for some of the races over the years including the L2L this year and the Blackburn last year.
Sakonnet River Race 2013
Bill K and Timmy Shields at L2L(photo Vadim)
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