I positioned myself (EFT) behind Wesley(V12) at the start, just to give myself perspective on how the rest of the race would go for me. Chris Chappell in his brilliant orange Mohican was off to my right and Jim Hoffman(Mako Elite) was to my left. Wesley Echols shot off like a rocket at the start and was pulling Chris, Jim and I along for the first hundred yards or so. I fell behind Jim who was behind Chris and tried to get a sense of how fast a pace I would need to stay with Wesley. Didn’t take long to see that would not be possible for me.

We started going with the current and I was doing a steady 7.2 mph. Chris stayed relatively close to Wesley for the first mile or so while Jim and I fell behind Chris. I wasn’t sure how far we had to go to get to the Boston University Bridge, but was hoping the pace would settle down once we turned at the buoy there. Along the way up to the BU bridge we caught up with some of the pro canoe racers and I was able to draft them a bit to get a much needed breather after the first mile and a half. The order would stay the same for this leg while all of us were trying to find the flow of faster water and navigate the turns in the river without losing the benefit of the fast water. One minor incident happened when a Canadian goose that wasn’t comfortable with how close we passed by took flight and buzzed Jim and Chris and I at close range.

When Wesley passed me on his way back after the turn he showed no signs of letting up the fast pace. I was able to catch Chris as we came into the turn, with Jim close behind. That’s the way we stayed for the trip back down past the start and to the next turn buoy. Wesley was out front followed by me, Chris and Jim doing our best to keep the gap between us and Wesley from getting too great.

The way back required much more of my attention. Paddling against the flow of water made the line into and out of the river bends more significant. In addition we had a fair amount of other racers from the 6 mile race and some of the pro canoe boats heading up towards us. Added to the mix were quite a few recreational paddlers out for a leisurely paddle on Sunday afternoon that were crisscrossing the river with the occasional rowing shell thrown in for good measure. My speed on the way back was in the 6.6 mph range. Wesley never let up and we finished the race as we were at the BU bridge turn, Wesley, me, Chris, Jim and Dave Grainger looking smooth in his Nelo Vanquish.

The heat wasn’t as much a factor as I had expected. The cloud cover and steady breeze made the heat manageable.

All in all a great day for a race.
Steve