Androscoggin Canoe Race on August 27

RUMFORD – The annual Androscoggin Canoe Race will be held at the Rumford boat launch on Saturday, August 27 with two separate course lengths starting and finishing at the boat launch.
The 10-mile racing class boats begin at 10 a.m. followed at 10:30 a.m. by the five-mile recreational canoe class.
Both courses start and finish at the Rt. 2 boat launch, directly across from the Rumford Public Works Garage. The racers go down stream around Wheeler Island and then proceed up stream to a turnaround buoy and return to the start/finish line.
Help celebrate the 50th Anniversary of the Clean Water Act on the upper Androscoggin River in Rumford — the birthplace of Edmund Muskie, the author of the Historic Clean Water Act.
This event is being hosted by the Chisholm Ski Club Paddle Sports Program. Race updates and online registration can be viewed on the Chisholm Ski Club Website: https://Chisholmskiclub.org/paddlesports.
Racer sign in and on-site registration begins at 8 am at the boat launch.
Participants must sign a USCA waiver and comply with all USCA flatwater racing safety requirements. Life jackets are required for each paddler, as well as a bailing device in each watercraft.
Race classes are K-1 Men, K-1 Women, K-1 Jr., C-2, C-1 Men, C-1 Women C2 Jr/Sr, C2 Jr., SUP Men, SUP Women,
The 10-mile course also has a Surf Ski class.
On water safety will be provided by the Mahoosuc Mountain Search and Rescue and the Rumford Fire Department water rescue team.
The per person registration cost will be $20 online through 5 p.m. August 26 or $35 on race day starting at 8 a.m. The first 100 registrants will receive a free colorful event T-shirt. There will be food vendors, music, and swag raffles. Awards will go to the first three finishers in each class.
Each registered paddler will receive five free raffle tickets for the great swag raffle. Swap items include throw ropes, dry bags, waterproof medical kits, emergency bevy kits, bilge pumps, hats, t-shirts, and Yeti, Camel Back and Nalgene mugs.
Addition raffle tickets can be purchased at the registration desk for five for $10.
The event is sanctioned by the Unites States Canoe Association.
The Chisholm Ski Club would like to thank the following sponsors and event partners for helping make this year’s event possible: United States Canoe Association, Maine Canoe and Kayak Racing Association, New England Canoe and Kayak Racing Association,Town of Rumford, Rumford Parks and Recreation, Rumford Fire Depart Water Rescue Team, Mahoosuc Mountain Search and Rescue, Turner Publishing, Brookfield Renewal Energy, Black Mountain of Maine, Rumford Polar Bear Snowmobile Club, Androscoggin River Watershed Council, Community Energy, Dan Warner, and the Preble Family.