BETHEL — The river version of New York cabbies maneuvering through rush-hour traffic featured 16-foot, flat-bottomed drift boats manned by an oarsman with fairly decent biceps muscling his way upriver from a calm eddy into a 3-knot current and slaloming downriver through four buoys.

Four two-person teams entered The Northeast Drift Boat Competition on Friday, showing off their rowing and river-reading prowess to a small group of onlookers at the mid-afternoon start from Bethel Outdoor Adventure and Campground beside Route 2.

Timing started after a running push off from shore and a leap into the boat by the oarsman without dumping overboard his teammate standing in the bow.

The stand-in passenger directed the oarsman who was back-to, or porting, around the buoys, and also into faster-moving water. After finishing the slalom course, the oarsmen had to quickly drop anchor and come to a complete stop at a certain spot in a certain direction on the water.

Once achieved, the oarsman quickly weighed anchor, and then it was a flat-out paddling sprint from there to the finish-line buoy about a quarter-mile downriver at Davis Park beside Route 26.

Prior to the race, Bethel Outdoor Adventure owner and race commentator Jeff Parsons briefed competitors on the rules and the course.

“You’ve got to have somebody standing in the bow in a casting position the whole time,” Parsons said.

Michael Jones and Linda Bristol launched first.

“And there they go, Michael Jones floating strongly, if not brilliantly,” Parsons said into the bullhorn. “Oh no! He dropped an oar, but he’s still got Linda.”

“Michael Jones nicely on his way around the first buoy. Look at that! Talk about style! Everybody else watching, gaining knowledge from his experience, Linda a gay wave to us, Michael turning.”

And then Jones could be heard yelling at himself, “No! No! No!” as the current threatened to push him over the last buoy and he fought against it, ramping up the tension onshore from racers and Parsons.

He barely made it and everyone erupted in applause.

“We’re going to call that legal,” Parsons said.

Jones stopped precisely in place, quickly weighed anchor and took off downriver as Hicks and Blood got under way.

“There goes JoAnne standing in the bow,” Parsons said.

“Kevin rowing away,” he said. “Notice how the skill here is a ferry using the strength of the current to push you across the river. Kevin is clearly getting a little bit of coaching from JoAnne, turning the boat straight. Well, he’s being pushed down sideways, but it looks as though it’s a brilliant turn, maybe a little early, but a brilliant turn.”

“Uh-oh. Uh-oh,” Parsons said as the current took Blood past the last buoy before he could round it.

They had to row back upstream to do it correctly.

Afterward, Blood summed up the race.

“It was awesome,” he said. “Good times.”

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Northeast Drift Boat Competition results:

Oarsman Michael Jones, a Maine guide from Harpswell, and passenger Linda Bristol of Lyman won the race. They posted a time of 6 minutes, 50 seconds. Jones won in 2008, the last time the race was held.

Second place went to Luke Gray of Newry and Eric Melanson of Albany Township, who finished the quarter-mile slalom and paddle sprint in 7 minutes, 55 seconds.

Third place went to Scott Stone of Bethel and Beth Johnson of Waynesville, N.C., who finished with a time of 8 minutes, 31 seconds.

Fourth went to Kevin Blood of North Berwick and JoAnne Hicks of Hanover, who finished in 8 minutes, 38 seconds.