Blackburn Challenge 2023 Summary

As always, the Blackburn Challenge in Gloucester, MA lived up to its name. With moderate, but persistent, tide, wind, and chop working against competitors, this was one of the slowest Blackburn’s in recent memory. Twenty single and a half-dozen tandem surfskis lined up for the 19.5 mile race around Cape Ann. They’d be fighting a strong incoming tide for the first third of the course, only to then be confronted with a 7-10 mph headwind from the SW. Miles 13 to 17 would prove particular tricky, as waves reflecting off the rocky shore made for a sloppy chop. Although the forecast called for clouds, most of the race took place under sunny skies, with temperatures in the mid 70s.

Last year’s silver medalist, Rob Jehn, returned in an attempt to repeat his 2021 win. His primary competition was likely to come from three seasoned competitors with nearly 40 Blackburn appearances between them – 2022’s third, fifth, and sixth place finishers – Greg Lesher, Brian Heath, and Jack Van Dorp. In the HPK doubles category, the favorites were Cape Ann locals Matt Drayer & Dan Brooks, while New England stalwarts Wesley Echols & Tim Dwyer sought the SS20+ doubles crown. In the women’s field, Beatrice Weinberger and Jean Kostelich would face off again for the SS20+ title, with Johna Till Johnson joining the fray in an HPK. Of course, there’d also be 120 other craft of every imaginable type contending for their own medals.

At the start, Rob immediately took the lead, with Jack, Greg, and Brian latching on to the draft. Within the first half mile, however, Rob broke free and led his pursuers by 3 or 4 lengths through the turns of the Annisquam, trying to find a path to avoid the strong tidal current. Nearing the mouth, he cut a sandy point too close and had to jump out of his ski to free it. This allowed Greg to get back on Rob’s draft. Jack was only a couple lengths back on a wider line, with Brian starting to fall slightly off the pace.

Exiting the river and approaching the Annisquam Light, Rob broke free again from Greg and started opening up a lead. Over the next few miles to Halibut Point, he would establish a dozen length advantage over Greg and Jack, who stayed within a few lengths of one another, but on different lines. At Halibut Point, conditions changed as competitors emerged from the lee of Cape Ann into the headwind. Rob continued to widen his lead over Greg, while Jack started to fall further back – at least in part due to an unfavorable inside line.

By the halfway point at Straitsmouth, Rob was over a minute ahead of Greg, who enjoyed a similar advantage over Jack. During the long open stretch after Lands End, paddlers had to deal with increasingly beamy conditions, although there were occasionally some helpful runners. Once the racers approached the shore, reflected chop made it difficult to keep applying full power. The order of the leaders didn’t change, but the gaps continued to widen. For those not too fatigued to catch them, some rideable waves greeted the field along the Dog Bar. The final two miles across the harbor were relatively benign, with the wind now gently pushing tired paddlers to the finish.

Rob won his second Blackburn title in 2:54:03, with Greg and Jack claiming the remaining podium spots at roughly 5 minutes intervals. Although conditions weren’t terrible anywhere along the course, they were relentlessly against the competitors, making this the slowest Blackburn since 2000. John Stevens took the men’s SS20+ title at 3:28:02. In the women’s race, Johna won the HPK division, but Jean took victory in the SS20+ class with the faster overall time of 3:56:07. In the doubles race, Matt & Dan powered out to an early advantage and kept extending their lead throughout, finishing in 2:51:50. In an SS20+ double, Wesley & Tim kept a measured pace for the first half before turning on the jets to win the class in 3:00:40 – also beating the other HPK doubles.

Here are the full results:

You can find more detailed race results at SurfskiAmerica.