GLOUCESTER — The 2009 rowing season just went from great to spectacular for Jimmy Tarantino.
Tarantino already had the 2009 International Dory championship, his first in 27 years of rowing, and a men's senior seine boat championship with Kaos under his belt this summer. Saturday, Tarantino took home an individual honor as he won the Bank's Dory singles division in Saturday's Blackburn Challenge. To top it all off Tarantino set a new course-record with a time of 4:34:25, eight minutes ahead of New Jersey's Mick Cote.
"(Cote) pushed me the entire race," said Tarantino, who's hands were riddled with blisters and calluses. "That's why I was able to get such a good time. It's been an amazing year for me."
Over 400 rowers participated in the 20-mile trek around Cape Ann in 29 different divisions.
The majority of the racers competed in single seat kayaks, but it was the sliding seat racing doubles teams that were the fastest, as the top three times were from that division.
The tandem of Carin Reynolds and Peter Kermond finished with the top overall time of 2:27:31, 12 seconds ahead of Mark and Michael Klinker. A six-person out rigger conoe captained by Blake Conant finished with the fourth best time of 2:32:42 while Russ Cone finished with the fifth best time (2:38:56) in a sliding seat single boat.
The Division Winners: Banks Dory Singles, Jimmy Tarantino; Banks Dory Doubles, Jeff Muise and Joe Sanfillippo, Fixed Seat Double, Donald Carter and George Hamilton; Sliding Seat Touring Single Men, Mark Allen; Sliding Seat Racing Single Men, Russ Cone; Sliding Seat Racing Single Women, Gia DeAngelis; Sliding Seat Touring Double, Sean Bercaw and Wendin Smith; Sliding Seat Racing Double, Carin Reynolds and Peter Kermond; Open, Thomas Tieman; Outrigger Canoes, Blake Conant, Michael, Steve, Paul, Randy; Sliding Seat Touring Singles Woman, Deborah Olsen; Fixed Seat Single Men, Rob Gunther; Outrigger Canoes Double, Colleen Moore and Cindy Mcnett; Outrigger Single Men, Dan Hammer; Outrigger Single Women, Margo Pellegrino; Fixed Multi Rowing, Team Saquish-Christine Snow - David, Scott, Peter, Kurt, Tucker, Dan; Fast Kayak Double, Jonathan Rose and Priscilla Reinertsen; Fast Kayak Single Men, Roger Gocking; Fast Kayak Single Women, Fiona Cousins; HP Kayak Single Men, Patrick Hemmens; HP Kayak Single Women, Alex McLain; Paddleboard, David Reichel; Sea Kayak Double, Joe Royer and Carol Lee Royer; Sea Kayak Single Men, Tucker Lindquist; Sea Kayak Single Women, Sarah Evertson; Sliding Seat Multi Rowing, Allice Bellone-Cohasset - Natalie, Tara, Jackson; Work Boats Single, Cyrus Ebinger; Work Boats Double, Stan Wasserman and Paul Flannery; KP Kayak Double, Philip Warner, Nick Schade.
