The races are scheduled April 16 and 17 beginning in Huntington.
Douglas Goodale of Middletown, Conn., negotiates the Hill and Dale rapids on the first day of the 2010 Westfield Wildwater Canoe Races. WESTFIELD – Between 230 and 250 area canoeists and kayakers are expected to compete this weekend when the Westfield River Canoe Club hosts its 58th annual Westfield River Wildwater Races.
Novice races will take place Saturday
Organizer Jeffrey M. DeFeo, of Chester, said participation is expected to equal last year’s, if not increase. “In each of the past three years we have had at least 250 boats in the water on Saturday,” DeFeo said.
“It is always difficult to get participants to pre-register for the race, but this year we have 65 who have signed early,” he said.
Heavy winter snows are not expected to affect the race, DeFeo said. “The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers always does an excellent job in controlling water flow from Knightville Dam. There will be no problems in that area despite the long winter,” he said.
Snow was still on the ground in several locations in the Huntington area last week, DeFeo noted.
The races are the oldest continuously run canoe races in the country.
Spectators watch paddlers navigate the Hill and Dale rapids on the first day of the 2010 Westfield Wildwater Canoe Races. Novice races begin at 10 a.m. Saturday at the state’s Department of Transportation yard at Norwich Bridge on Route 112 in Huntington. Registration will begin at 8:30 a.m.. Novices follow an eight-mile course running from the DOT yard to just short of the Woronoco Dam near the Russell-Westfield line.
Expert racers will compete on a 12-mile course that starts at the base of Knightville Dam and ends at the Woronoco Dam.
Registration for experts will begin at 9:30 a.m. at the race start Sunday. Competition will begin at 11 a.m.
For more information about the races visit www.westfieldriverraces.com