“Hut!” “Hut!” “WHOAAA!” (Splash!’‘Splash!’) erupted from my right, as a banana shaped ama lifted high at right angles to the water like a garden pergola, framing momentarily two legs and a random arm sticking out of the water. The blue OC-2 I had just passed at the turn buoy had gone in.


The start line was a sea of amas, at Blake Conant’s East Coast Out Rigger Association’s (ECORA) Milford Race, on this gloriously sunny day in Milford, CT. Over the years, Blake has always graciously invited his double-bladed ‘bruddas’, in the true Hawaiian spirit of ‘Lokomaika’i.’ This year’s roster was down on surfski numbers, as there were three other races scheduled for this weekend in New England. It made for a tough choice for paddlers, many of who wished they could enact out of body experiences to attend them all.

The course itself comprised two roughly triangular laps around red buoy cans circling an offshore island on Long Island Sound; a total of approximately 8 miles. This distance is a tough one, short enough to require a hard effort from beginning to end, and long enough to really hurt. The water was dead flat to start, with a slight breeze picking up, along with a fair amount of boat traffic. Blakey thanked the group for coming at the pre race Captain’s meeting, and the racers and their families were entertained by traditional hula dances and a wonderful Hawaiian blessing before we took our boats to water.

At the mass start, most of the surfski crowd clustered together. Representing the wing paddlers were Simon ‘The Durban Dominator’ Ross, Dave ‘Sippy Hat’ Grainger, Bob ’Hardbody’ Capellini, Paul ‘P.E.I.’ Banks, and me. The start was fast; Simon shot out of the blocks, floppy hat receding into the distance, with Dave and Bob valiantly giving chase. I was immediately gapped, with the gap only continuing to grow as the race progressed. My heart rate was pegged through the ceiling, and my speed was lagging beneath the floor. You reap what you sow, and a Fairfield beach party the night before, and lack of training in recent weeks rose up to whisper: “Slacker, this will be a looong (albeit short) race for you today.” Conversely, Dave and Bob were smoothly stroking away, Dave’s textbook K-1 form immediately recognizable in the distance. Bob gave it his all, reporting to me after the race; “I kept saying to myself the whole race that Mark was right behind me; I’d better get going because he was right on my heels.” “I was,” I replied, ‘Right on your heels, about three minutes back.” Smile.

There was some bizarre current action happening just before island, but aside from that, it remained calm. Boat wakes were the only real issue, particularly in the backstretch pointed towards the beach. The third line segment of the three-sided course paralleled the boat channel to the adjacent marina. Beam wakes from the procession of pleasure craft motoring out to enjoy the day occasionally interfered with one’s rhythm. As we came into the final stretch, the lovely volunteers and timekeepers cheered us through, perched high on the elevated dock.

After loading up the boats, we set out for the after party. There were some comical moments parading through the streets of Milford lemming-like, doing laps of the downtown circle with brightly colored boats uptop, trying to locate the venue, but we all eventually arrived at the restaurant ‘Citrus’. The keg was in full swing, and burgers, dogs, fries, salads, and other munchies were set out before us on the patio in the sunshine for our enjoyment.

Blake, as usual, gave a very warm and heartfelt awards ceremony. Simon took home the bling with an overall fastest time of day at 1:08 for the surfski open class. His lovely family was very proud, and son Adrian sported his medal, bringing home his ‘hardware.’ First place in the other surfski class was Dave Grainger, followed by Bob, then me. It was wonderful getting to visit with the other friendly denizens of the paddling community, superb folks like Wayne Lysobey and Bill Russell (Wayne accepted his medal walking backwards-hysterical!), Rod McLain and son Andrew (Watch for this member of the McLain clan!), and many others. To Blake, to all that attended, and to all that volunteered; ‘Mahalo nui loa,’ and ‘A hui hou’. Until next year. ~ Mark