A common sight at Rhode Island beaches are paddleboarders. The past decade has expanded the paddleboarding scene from a novelty craze to a part of the state’s identity surrounding water activities. Despite the popularity, there have been few opportunities to bring paddlers together in a social and competitive manner. This year, lifeguard veteran Brian Guadagno has put a spotlight on the state and the water sport with his inaugural 15-mile Ocean State Crossing paddleboard race, which takes place between Fort Adams in Newport and George’s of Galilee at Point Judith in Narragansett on August 9.
The 15-mile race is currently Guadagno’s capstone event in the Summer Safe Ocean State initiative and event series. “It all started back in 2011 when I initiated the Waterman Eco- Challenge. Stand up paddling was getting pretty popular around here; lifeguards were always prone paddling on rescue boards,” he remembers. The Waterman Eco-Challenge is a way to embrace the popularity of the watersport while also working to highlight ocean and sun safety. It was the core fundraiser for the Summer Safe Ocean State nonprofit, which works to support drowning prevention, cancer prevention, boost cardiac health and awareness, promote ocean and coastal sustainability.
“We’ve just continued to grow that event, grow that platform. Now, we just finished our fifteenth year [for the Waterman Eco-Challenge], and we have a 3-mile and a 6-mile paddle in that event.” As shown by the success of the eco-challenge races, the love and community support surrounding paddling of all types – prone or stand-up paddling (SUP) – has grown. “We have so many paddlers that come up from Jersey, New York, the mid-Atlantic, and down from upper New England, and I wanted to get a real distance event going. We have this iconic oceanscape here in Rhode Island from Newport all the way to Point Judith,” Guadagno asserts, wanting to “give some top competitors the opportunity and the interest to come here and paddle in these iconic waters.”
One such top competitor headlining this year’s race is Jack Bark, the son of paddleboard shaper Joe Bark of Bark Paddleboards, and the record-breaking champion of the Catalina Classic, the oldest endurance paddleboard race in the world. “My wife and I were actually in Rhode Island, exactly where the race is starting, last year around the same time for a vacation. I was so bummed I didn’t have a board to paddle,” Bark recalls. “I remember sitting at The Breakers, having a drink, overlooking that whole harbor inlet, and I was thinking we have to come back here and paddle. That’s killer.”
Earlier this year, his wife saw an Instagram post about the Ocean State Crossing Race from a friend who, coincidentally, was also friends with Guadagno. It was through this serendipitous connection that put the race designer and the racer in touch, and together they have worked to elevate the Crossing to the next level; not only will he compete, giving locals a chance to race against a top paddler, but Bark has also worked with FLORENCE, a performance gear company, to design a custom rash guard race jersey for all competitors, inspired by his preferred competition attire.
“It’s a cool opportunity to race on the East Coast,” Bark says, not only since there are few paddleboarding races on this side of the country, but also because of the unique landscape in which the race takes place. The Ocean State Crossing follows a fifteen-mile path from Fort Adams in Newport Harbor into open ocean just past Point Judith. Open to prone and SUPs, surfskis, ocean kayaks, and coastal rowing crafts, challengers will paddle past the Newport Bridge, Castle Hill and Beavertail Lighthouses, Narragansett Towers, and the Point Judith Lighthouse.
The Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management have been supportive of the race, allowing use of state property, and helping with marine assets on the water for safety. “In terms of direction of the race, we are going to make that determination a couple of days before based on conditions,” Guadagno explains, though the preferred course is from Newport to Narragansett.
While racers shouldn’t shy away from the fifteen-mile end goal, the distance is no small feat. “Two of the big races in the world right now for paddleboarding are the Molokai 2 Oahu race, which is 32 miles, and the Catalina Classic, which is also 32 [miles]. Anything over 15 is a long way,” Bark says. “The most I probably paddle is 15, 16 miles training for these big races,” he adds, and the local races leading up to the Californian 32-miler are mostly between the 8- to 14-mile range. “The 15-mile mark is a great race because it’s not so far-fetched for someone who’s comfortable paddling 5 or 6 miles, but it’s still a challenge for anyone. Anytime you paddle that distance, you’re looking at two to five hours in the ocean.”
Unlike paddling in a protected cove, a river, a lake, or an inlet, it is the constant movement of the ocean that makes open ocean paddling more challenging. “Even when there’s small surf and no wind (‘glassy conditions’), there’s still this underlying rolling of the seas. It sounds cliché,” Bark jokes, but the effects the swells have are anything but. “You’re paddling way faster than you could paddle alone because you’re catching these open ocean swells […] and you can ride them 30, 40, 50 yards where you can sit up and rest your arms and harness that energy from the ocean.” He recommends starting in a place like a harbor, where it is more protected but there is access to the open ocean, then slowly working your way out.
Very long open ocean races can be exhausting. The Catalina Classic is so intense that it requires a qualifier race, “not so much that you need to show you’re really fast, but to show you can cross a channel,” Bark explains. There are races local to California that act as qualifiers, but races on the East Coast were sparse.
Guadagno, however, has been in contact with the Catalina team in California who received word of the Ocean State Crossing with “incredible support.” The Catalina team “certainly has accepted it and acknowledged it as a quality race they’re supporting and encouraging people to participate in with the inspiration of maybe someday getting to Catalina,” Guadagno says.
At the time of interview, it was unclear to him if his race could be an official qualifying race for the Catalina this year due to some restructuring of the qualifier rules and the short time between the Ocean State Crossing and the Classic. Online, the Rhode Island race is on a short list of open qualifier races that the Catalina Classic will accept; the future looks bright for bringing Newport, Rhode Island into serious paddleboarding culture.
“Races help build the community,” Bark asserts. “Most of us paddle because we grew up surfers, lifeguards, on the ocean, and it’s a way to stay in the water, stay in shape. It’s really fun going paddling all the time, but it’s fun to race as well – it’s fun to challenge yourself and see how you compare against other people.”
Registration for the Ocean State Crossing is open to competitors ages 15 and up. Registration requirements include a $200 registration fee, fundraising a minimum extra of $600, supplying a personal vehicle and driver for transportation, and complying with United States Coast Guard and RIDEM safety regulations.
Proceeds support the Summer Safe Ocean State initiative and will be specifically donated to the Partnership to Reduce Cancer in Rhode Island and used for the deployment of more outdoor public access to AEDs in beaches around the state. The Summer Safe Ocean State initiative deployed five outdoor AED stations last year around coastal Narragansett at Roger Wheeler State Beach, Scarborough State Beach North and South, Fisherman’s Memorial State Park, and Salty Brine State Beach.
The race begins August 9 at 6 a.m.