Sakonnet Surfski Race Summary

As the first open water race of the season, the Sakonnet Surfski Race always draws a good field from New England and beyond. The “beyond” part was particularly well represented this year, with more than a third of the field coming from NY, NJ, or PA. Among those making the long trip from New Jersey were Sean Brennan, a national caliber ski paddler who excels in bumpy conditions, and Rob Jehn, winner of the Battle of the Bay a few weeks earlier. Other noteworthy long-distance visitors included three Johns – Costello, Hair, and Redos.

From Island Park Beach at the north end of the narrow Sakonnet Bay, Race director Wesley Echols briefed the 20-some strong field on the course: 4.5 miles upwind to Sandy Point Beach, 0.5 miles across the bay to a red nun, then 4.5 miles downwind back to the start. With southerly winds in the 10-15 mph range, a bright sun shining, and temperatures in the low 70s, it was a truly spectacular day for a race. Shortly after 10am, Wesley counted the field down to the start.

As expected, Sean jumped out to an immediate lead. Rob tried to stay with him, but couldn’t match his acceleration. South African Gary Shaw latched onto Rob’s draft, with Greg Lesher in turn drafting him. Chris Chappell and John C. also got off to their typical strong starts, with John H., Matt Drayer, Tim Dwyer, and Wesley close behind. The field quickly strung out as they worked against a growing headwind – Sean, Rob, and Greg leading the way. Some paddlers made half-hearted attempts to move shoreward to get in the lee of McCorrie Point and then Sandy Point, but reported limited success after the race. Sean and Rob just blasted straight line paths to the first turn.

Turning at Sandy Point Beach, paddlers were faced with a half-mile beam paddle to reach the red nun near the center of the bay. Conditions were challenging enough to get the racers excited about the upcoming downwind leg, but not so tough as to be threatening. As it turns out, downwind conditions started out very good after the turn, but definitely lost some oomph after the first mile and a half or so. Nevertheless, everyone was considerably happier during this phase of the race.

Sean reached the final turn buoy first, although by this point there was nobody close enough to witness it. Rob made the downwind turn about 15 lengths ahead of Greg. John H. and Matt were next, followed by John C. and Gary. Rob took an inside line, while Greg stayed far out in the bay, but when they converged at the finish the gap was virtually the same as when they started the downwind leg. Gary made the most of his big water experience, milking every runner to quickly pass John C., John H., and Matt. Although he also closed the gap significantly on Rob and Greg, Gary ran out of course before catching them. Matt and John H. also took divergent lines to the finish, but found themselves in a side-by-side sprint over the last few hundred meters, with Matt nipping John at the finish. Tim D. had a fine downwind leg, catching and passing John C. and Tim Hacket during this span for a close three-way finish.

In the women’s field, Mary Beth Gangloff took the crown. Although Jean Kostelich was also paddling strong, with a solid run in the upwind leg, a navigational error ultimately removed her from contention. Here are the complete race results…

You may also want to check out the SurfskiRacing.com series standings and more detailed Sakonnet race results from SurfskiAmerica. Bob Wright has been temporarily sidelined from racing, but he’s been generous enough to serve as race photographer this season. That’s his photo at the top of this post. Check out his YouTube slideshow from the Sakonnet.