Gary Cholwek / Gitchee Gumme Photography
Paddlers in the Washburn Board Across the Bay can pick from three different races. This year’s event will also honor surfing innovator Tom Blake.
It’s easy to imagine the late surfing pioneer Tom Blake hanging out on Chequamegon Bay to inspire and cheer for the paddleboarders racing their hearts out during Washburn Board Across the Bay in July.
A key figure in surfing history, Tom Blake will be honored at this year’s racing event. A plaque will be dedicated at Memorial Park, and local historian Bob Mackreth will give a talk on Tom, whom he calls “a fascinating character, a self-made Renaissance man of the beach from way up in northern Wisconsin.”
Afterward, paddlers can follow the shore north to visit Houghton Falls, one of Tom’s favorite spots.
Tom Blake (1902-1994) grew up in Washburn, but left town after high school to follow a nomadic lifestyle. Today he’s known for inventing the hollow surfboard in 1926 and for adding the stabilizing fin that remains part of today’s surfboards and paddleboards. He built one of the first successful waterproof camera housings for underwater photography and worked as a stuntman in movies. He’s in both the swimming and surfing halls of fame. In Surfer magazine, Sam George praised Tom: “The extraordinary contributions of this one man to the lifestyle we call surfing are almost impossible to gauge.”
Tom returned to his hometown in 1967, spending much of his time camping in Memorial Park.
Washburn Board Across the Bay, in its fifth year, draws people from across the Midwest and as far away as California. Participants can choose the 3-, 7- or 14-mile races, with men’s and women’s divisions for standup paddleboards, surfboards and watercraft (canoes and kayaks).
Last year a 3-mile race was added for novice paddlers. The 3-mile and 14-mile races start and end at Thompson’s West End Park in Washburn, and the 7-mile race starts later at Bayview Beach in Ashland.
If you love paddling, but not racing, try the fun obstacle courses and relays that are open to anyone, including beginners, at Thompson’s West End Park.
Or simply come and watch the races and learn about a local surfing legend.
Washburn Board Across the Bay, July 21-22. boardacrossthebay.com or Washburn Area Chamber of Commerce, washburnchamber.com, 715-373-5017.