Bay Paddle Founder Chris Hopkinson announced the third annual Bay Paddle, August 27-28, 2022, to raise funds for Chesapeake Bay nonprofits. The 45-mile, 2-day, staged paddle race begins at Haven Harbor Marina South in Rock Hall, MD and finishes in Cambridge, MD.
In 2020, Hopkinson made history when he paddled the length of the Chesapeake Bay solo by stand up paddleboard in order to raise money for Maryland nonprofit Oyster Recovery Partnership. Last year, Hopkinson turned his experience into a week-long, staged relay race, adding Chesapeake Conservancy as a beneficiary.
The Bay Paddle is the longest paddle race of its kind on the Chesapeake and one of the longest distance-paddle races in the US.
The Bay Paddle has raised over $330,000 in charitable donations since 2020 and has now added Waterkeepers Chesapeake as a beneficiary, in addition to Oyster Recovery Partnership and Chesapeake Conservancy.
Over 100 paddlers are registered, including a group of 19 Anne Arundel County Teachers who are bringing their Bay Paddle experience back to the classroom. The Paddle finishes the day before school resumes on Aug 29th.
In addition, three 6-person outrigger canoe teams will be participating in the first-ever change race on the East Coast. Change races are popular in California and Hawaii and involve 3 paddlers exiting the canoe and 3 new ones jumping in without the canoe stopping.
Several professional paddlers will be joining this year as well as folks from as far away as Mexico, Canada and other areas around the country as the race continues to grow.
Bay Paddle 2022 sponsors to date include Tito’s Handmade Vodka, Pacifico, and Ørsted.
Relay teams and solo paddlers will face wind, currents and tides, using standup paddleboards, kayaks, outriggers, surf skis or other paddlecraft to cover the distance.
