4th annual canoe race set for this weekend in Tower
The Midwest’s most talented professional and amateur canoe racers are expected to take part in the 4th annual Onaway Professional Canoe Race Saturday and Sunday in the Tower area.
Paddlers come from as far away as Indiana and Ontario, and most come back to the same races, year after year.
“We started it to do two things, to promote the area and to promote and support the sport of competitive canoe racing,” said organizer Steve Watson, who is avid canoe racing enthusiast himself, finishing as high as sixth in the local event.
This year’s races begin Saturday at 5:30 p.m. at Kleber Dam on Kleber Pond. Paddlers will head to the top of the pond, turn around buoy, and head back to the start/finish line at Kleber Dam.
The race, which involves only single canoeists, will take about 45 minutes for the winner to complete.
Watson is expecting between 20 to 30 participants for Saturday’s race.
Races continue Sunday at 10:30 a.m., when the professional and amateur C-2 teams (two person canoes) will take off from the boat launch on Tower Pond.
TEAMS WILL make one lap around the pond and then portage Tower Dam into the Black River, where they will paddle to the end of Kleber Pond.
Co-op Road, near Tower Dam, offers the best vantage point to see the racers up close and to see how grueling the portage portion of the race, or carrying the canoe out of water, can be.
They then paddle back to Tower Pond – portaging Tower Dam again.
The race continues acr
Sunday’s race, which should take about two hours for the winner to finish, is expected to draw between 30 to 40 teams.
“These people are serious,” said Watson. “These aren’t just aluminum canoes. They are 25 to 35 pound canoes that cost upwards to $3,000.”
Watson has been training for the event for about an hour or two each day, after teaching at Onaway High School.
The race has attracted the sport’s best athletes including perennial AuSable Canoe Marathon champion, Jeff Kolka.