Battle of the Bay 2022 Summary

Despite a persistent fog, a dedicated group of paddlers met at Rhode Island’s Fort Adams State Park for the 8th edition of the Battle of the Bay. Surveying the situation, race director Tim Dwyer modified the normal course to accommodate the reduced visibility. Starting just off the park beach, competitors would round the north tip of nearby Goat Island, return to a turn-around near the park, and then repeat the process for a second lap. The total distance would be a little under 7 miles. Race-time temperatures in the 60s with very little wind.

Four of the top five paddlers from last weekend’s Essex River Race (Rob Jehn, Greg Lesher, Tim Dwyer, and Jerry Madore) would be facing off again in similar calm conditions. They’d be joined by four other paddlers (Wesley Echols, Bruce Deltorchio, Mary Beth Gangloff, and Bob Wright) and two SUPs (Will Bomar and Mark Lengowski).

As the 10:00 a.m. start time approached, the fog thinned slightly but stubbornly refused to burn off completely. Goat Island – a little under a mile away – was not visible from the start. Tim therefore made the decision to make a rolling start. The field would paddle together at a comfortable pace until the island became visible, at which point Tim would send everyone off at pace. This occurred roughly 5 minutes after leaving the starting line. Visibility would improve throughout the race.

Once the field was fully underway, Rob jumped to the lead, with Tim on his right draft and Greg on Tim’s right draft. After a few moments, Rob pulled free from Tim. Greg made a wide move around Tim and managed to get on Rob’s side draft. Behind the two leaders, the pack soon strung out with each paddler working on his or her own for the remainder of the race.

Greg briefly dropped behind Rob as they neared the north end of Goat Island, but regained the draft by taking a tighter turn around the tip of the island. They continued together until the end of the first lap, where Rob dropped Greg at the turn-around. However, the latter again managed to latch back on. Halfway back up Goat Island however, Rob managed to break free for good. Over the remainder of the race, his lead would slowly grow as Greg was unable to keep pace.

Rob finished in 53:58, successfully defending his title. Greg finished second at 54:16, while Tim took third at 58:10. Mary Beth won the women’s race in 1:10:00. The SUP contest winner was Will at 1:18:33.

Here are the full results:

You can find more detailed race results at SurfskiAmerica.