Whitehorse Daily Star

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Photo by Photo Submitted

STARTING LINE – The canoes line up for the start of the Autumn Classic canoe race last Saturday on the McClintock River.

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Photo by Photo Submitted

TO THE BRIDGE – Brian Groves and Margo Millette paddle toward the bridge.

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Photo by Photo Submitted

UNDER THE BRIDGE – Shane Orban and Crispin Studer head under the bridge.

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Photo by Photo Submitted

SOLITARY PADDLE – Eric Braul paddles down the McClintock River.

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COLOURFUL CANOER – Jake Paleczney's colourful garb stands out on the river as he paddles toward the bridge.

Autumn Classic canoe race paddles off down the river

The Autumn Classic Canoe Race took place last Saturday on the McClintock River, the last Saturday in September, as usual.

By Freelancer on September 28, 2021

The Autumn Classic Canoe Race took place last Saturday on the McClintock River, the last Saturday in September, as usual.

This year, we had a small field of only five canoes, but they were all fast!

With the water levels being high and the McClintock Bridge boat launch being flooded, the original plan for this year was to start the race not from the boat launch, but ’round the corner at the McClintock Resort.

But with the high winds on Friday and the forecast Saturday being more of the same, we reverted to the boat launch start.

In fact, we had almost perfect race conditions: almost calm, a warm 5 C, bright sunshine and beautiful autumn colours.

The five teams, three tandem canoes and two solos, set off at 11 a.m. and paddled 5.6 kilometres upstream to where there were some plastic dinosaurs hanging from an overhanging tree.

There, they grabbed a dinosaur, turned, and paddled back to the finish line.

This year, we had very fast times – the slowest boat had a better time than the fastest boat last year.

The race was not only fast, but very compact. From the moment the first boat was in sight, there were no gaps until the last boat, and that was only a couple of minutes.

Well run, everyone!

The next canoe race will be in the spring.

– Submitted by Peter Coates

Results:

1:09:10 1st Tandem Shane Orban and Crispin Studer
1:09:51 2nd Tandem Steven and Karla Ramsay
1:11:56 3rd Solo Eric Braul
1:15:31 4th Tandem Brian Groves and Margo Millette
1:22:13 5th Solo Jake Paleczney

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