After a 20-year hiatus, the canoe/kayak races return to Middleburgh on Saturday.
If you can float in or on it, enter it in the Middleburgh Sloughter Canoe/Kayak Regatta scheduled to begin at 11am.
The race is run on a five-mile strip of the Schoharie Creek, beginning at the Route 30 Fultonham parking area and ending at the Middleburgh bridge pavilion area (at the junction of Routes 30 and 145).
Middleburgh Rotary and the Knights of Columbus recently reclaimed and rebuilt the pavilion destroyed by Hurricanes Irene and Lee. These two organizations are now joined by the MCS Booster Club, West Fulton Rod and Gun Club, Middleburgh Rod and Gun Club and Boy Scout Troop 2, and local State Parks in managing the race as a symbolic "reclaiming" of the river.
The course is better suited to well-used stock and rec boats than to newer carbon pro-boats. A well-worn comp cruiser would be a good choice also. Of course, downriver kayaks are made for this race. With the high water this year, it should be fast and exciting.
There are eight classes: canoe-two-men, two-women, man/woman, and adult. student (under 19) and kayak-man, woman, student (male), and student (female). Classes for competitors include those for men and women and for those under 19 (individuals or in teams). Awards will be given to those placing first, second or third in each class.
Registration forms are available in Middleburgh at the Coxsackie and NBT Banks, the library, and from area merchants. The pre-registration fee of $15 for adults and $10 for students goes up on the day of the race and down if you can prove you took part in the last race (somewhere in the early 1990s) or that you are, indeed, a Schoharie County Sloughter (born and raised in Schoharie County).
For information questions, contact Jim Spencer at 827-4448 or email: poppop@midtel.net.
The race is being managed by the Rotary Club in coordination with the MCS Booster Club, the West Fulton Rod and Gun Club, the Middleburgh Rod and Gun Club, the Knights of Columbus, Boy Scout Troop 2, and support from the State Parks in the area.
Refreshments will be sold at the finish line.