Essex River (Replacement) Race Summary

Although the official Essex River Race was cancelled, a group of dedicated surfski paddlers met on Saturday to hold an unofficial replacement on the standard course. With the generous permission of the town of Essex to use their launch facilities (thanks to Bill Kuklinski and Tom Lawler), 16 paddlers assembled on a pleasant October day. The temperature was around 60 with a 5 mph wind from the southwest. The favorite to win was Rob Jehn, who made the long trek up from New Jersey once again. But Rhode Island’s Mike Florio – making his first race appearance since dominating the (Rob-less) field at the Narrow River Race back in April – was a serious challenger. And should these two falter, could local Greg Lesher exploit his familiarity with the estuary to capture a win? On the women’s side, Leslie Chappell was the favorite, with New England newcomer Frances Hiscox as the wildcard.

The 5.9 mile course starts in town, winds out the Essex river, loops Cross Island, and returns to the town. Although this sounds straightforward, navigating the estuary is notoriously difficult – particularly on the return leg where it’s difficult to discern the correct route amidst a homogenous field of reeds. Paddlers must also watch for extended shallows that can slow boats to a crawl. On race day, paddlers would have a modest tide in their favor for the first half of the course, then face a slightly less modest tide on the way back, as well as a light breeze in their faces.

With a few quick turns immediately after the start, establishing one’s position early is essential. Rob and Chris Chappell got off the line well and set the pace, with Mike, Jerry Madore, Greg, Tim Dwyer, and Hank Thorburn in pursuit. Within the first few moments, Rob pulled free of Chris and started separating from everyone except Mike, who made a hard push to follow. A few moments later, Greg had moved past Chris and Jerry into 3rd. Throughout the rest of the race, the two leaders would pull further ahead of Greg, as he likewise separated from the remainder of the field.

Rob and Mike sacrificed a bit of their lead on the east side of Cross Island as they started turning prematurely into a small inlet. Recognizing their error (with the help of some shouted directions from behind), they corrected and continued around the back side of the island. However, Rob diverged again from the optimal route once he made the turn south – keying in on the wrong cluster of houses in the distance. He was quickly out of earshot, and only recognized his error several minutes later after noticing Mike on a different line. Swinging back to the proper course, Rob powered back to Mike and pulled even.

While Greg paddled solo in pursuit, a more social group formed behind him. The quintet of Chris, Tim, Kirk Olsen, Jerry, and John Mathieu would stay within a minute of each other the entire race. Chris, Tim, and Kirk remained particularly close, drafting each other while strategizing for the final push that would separate them. Back at the head of the field, Rob slowly pulled free of Mike in the final stages, ultimately finished 14 seconds ahead at an even 47:00. Greg pulled in 2 minutes later to claim the final podium spot. Tim managed to break free of Chris and Kirk with a mile or so to go, putting 30 seconds on Chris by the finish to take 4th. Kirk, Jerry, and John followed in the next 30 seconds. Leslie put in a strong performance to take the women’s title, with Frances in 2nd. Here are the full results:

You may also want to check out the SurfskiRacing.com series standings and more detailed race results from SurfskiAmerica.