The Blackburn Challenge. Long considered the premier race of the northeast, conditions can vary from mild to wild, although for the last several years, the former has been the case. The conditions of the icy paddle made by Howard Blackburn that set the stage for this circumnavigation of Cape Ann [...]
Hot day and flat conditions. It doesn’t get any better than this! Okay, maybe not for the pure enjoyment of surfski racing(catching waves) but those conditions suit me and I look forward to them. When the weather forecast for the Blackburn Challenge was calling for hot and flat, I was pretty stoked. Craig Impens [...]
It is axiomatic that in almost any race, the lighter you are the faster you go. At about 8.3 pounds per gallon, a small amount of water can be deceptive. Twelve gallons in your boat becomes a hundred pounds of slippery, shifting payload. Not only have you acquired a load [...]
The major thought I have about this year's event is the remarkable level of participant support and assistance exhibited throughout the race. I personally saw Bill Baker, an FSK entry and a SK entry (regrettably I don't know their names or remember their numbers) helping a surf ski paddler to [...]
2009 would be my 18th consecutive Blackburn; twelve of them had been oar-powered and this would be my sixth time around facing forwards, having paddled Touring Doubles with Tom Mailhot in 1998, 2006 (fog- shortened course) and 2008, Double Surfski with Pam Browning in 2003, and Touring Single in 1999. [...]
