Belle Isle Classic paddleboard competition became so popular it collapsed. Now, it's back.
After a three-year break and worries that a Detroit event was gone forever, Belle Isle will again be the site of an international water competition that attracts athletes from throughout Michigan, the U.S. and Canada.
The Belle Isle Classic takes place at 9 a.m. July 17 on the Detroit River.
This year, the 6.6-mile race is capped at 150 participants for stand-up paddleboarding, kayaking and rowing. There's also a category that allows pairs to do the event as a noncompetitive personal challenge only.
"I never imagined that the same island that had the pirate ship play structure and the elevated zoo of my childhood would be the site of my adult sporting life," said Harrison Withers, 49, an employee development consultant from Whitmore Lake.
The race previously known as OABI, short for Once Around Belle Isle, grew so popular as a competition and beach party with live music and food trucks that it took on a life of its own until it got to be too big and unwieldy. Then the pandemic happened.
This renewal is focused exclusively on sporting activity, according to the state permit.
'A crown jewel'
"Belle Isle is really an important race on the national and international stage," Withers said. "Paddling, an inherently sustainable nonmotorized sport, is the right kind of activity to highlight what Belle Isle represents, a crown jewel of the natural environment" that's tucked into what is often considered an industrial city.
"Once again, people will stand victorious at the accomplishment of circumnavigating Belle Isle, their pictures taken against the backdrop of a city gleaming with the possibility of rebirth," Withers said. "Paddle racing on Belle Isle is back. It’s not OABI. There will not be a band. There will not be a beer tent. ... It will be the start of something new, something sustainable and something that is sure to become classic."
'Kept the dream alive'
As of Tuesday, 91 people have registered. Organizers said they expect it to sell out. One of the top paddleboarders in the world, Kim Barnes, is coming up with a team from Florida. Others from Ohio, Illinois and Wisconsin have registered.
"This is the first official race since 2018 and a group of dedicated paddlers have kept the dream alive since then," said Withers, a member of the Midwest Paddle League board of directors that sanctions the Midwest racing circuit and president of USA SUP, a national organization dedicated to building the sport.
"It all started here in Detroit," he said.
One of the fastest 'on the planet'
Barnes, 45, an elementary school physical education teacher in Hobe Sound, Florida, talked to the Free Press by phone while cruising Lake Okeechobee on an Aquila 36 Catamaran with her husband and two kids.
"I have never been to Detroit," she said. "I’ve been to Ann Arbor and Lansing only. So I’m excited to see Detroit and paddle around Belle Isle."
She said she and a few of her teammates in Florida will drive up to Detroit with equipment while others will fly. Barnes, who has been paddling for nine years, learned about the Belle Isle race at an event in North Carolina.
Barnes is "one of the five fastest women on the planet," Withers said. "She'll present a serious challenge if not set the pace."
The competition categories are determined by equipment, not gender.
Kevin Cansiani, 45, a General Motors engineer from Detroit, is often seen paddling the Detroit River year-round and plans to race around the island for the first time since 2017.
"The challenge is exhilarating," he said. "We've confronted hail, heavy winds. It's really a race of endurance, the way the current is rolling. It's very unique."
Cansiani has traveled to Los Angeles and San Francisco to paddle at Dana Point and Alcatraz Island in the San Francisco Bay. Unlike those races, the Belle Isle Classic does not involve the possibility of sharks.
Dan Novak, 50, a John Deere construction salesman from Traverse City, has played a key role in resurrecting the event. About two-thirds of the participants are male.
"I really want more women racing or paddling to just finish. I know these women are out there," he said. "I don't think they're intimidated. I just don't think they want to race. So we added a new category that's about accomplishment as a personal challenge for distance in pairs instead of a standard race."
Women often paddle in pairs on the lakes and rivers in Michigan, and they often race together on separate paddleboards or kayaks.
All ages compete
Stand-up paddleboarding is a fast-growing watersport because it's great exercise and can be mastered rapidly by athletes from other sports, such as running. Competitors often begin in their 40s and 50s, many with no previous experience on the water.
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Canadian Olympian Larry Cain dominated the Belle Isle event in the past.
The registration fee is $70 per person or $70 per pair for the non-compete category. Registrations received by Saturday include a T-shirt. Race categories for stand-up paddleboard, Surfski, kayak, canoe, outrigger canoe and coastal and open water scull.
To register or learn more, go to: https://paddleguru.com/races/BelleIsleCLASSIC
Editor's note: Staff writer Phoebe Wall Howard competed in a 2-mile race off Belle Isle in 2017 despite hail and waves and fell off the board more than 36 times. (She lost count.) She was so exhausted from falling that she struggled to climb back onto her race board. Competitors asked if she sincerely needed a rescue. But she finished the race. In 2018, she won her class and stood at the top of the podium. Her father, Robert Wall of Algonac, did stand-up paddleboarding into his late 80s.
Contact Phoebe Wall Howard at 313-618-1034 or phoward@freepress.com. Follow her on Twitter @phoebesaid. Sign up for our autos newsletter.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Belle Isle Classic paddleboard competition returns to Detroit
