Moser has victory in canoe race > Hampden kayaker wins Souadabscook

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HAMPDEN – Steve Moser’s simple strategy helped him win his first-ever Souadabscook Stream Race during the 17th annual event Saturday.

Moser directed his long kayak to a winning time of 56 minutes, 18 seconds over an 8-mile course which featured a half-mile portage near the race start and fast, churning white water which kept 15 of the 81 craft from finishing.

Last week, Hampden’s Moser finished nine seconds behind Brewer’s Rick Swan in the St. George River Race. This week, Swan and several other top competitors were unable to make the race, but that didn’t alter Moser’s strategy.

“This was supposed to be a class start, but there was only one other boat in my class. One of the things I learned from last week was to just go all out – go hard right from the start,” said Moser, who competed in his sixth Souadabscook. “I tried to portage hard and then get my pace established.”

The course is usually 8 1/2 miles, but there was still ice on Hammond Pond, which forced competitors to portage for one-half mile after paddling about 250 yards from the start.

“I think (the portage) actually shortened up my overall time,” Moser said. “I have a fairly light boat, so I ran the portages. It was different, you get to beat on your legs awhile instead of your arms. It was more of the Souadabscook biathlon this year.”

Bob Martin of East Holden and Rick Bartlett of Newburgh, competing in the medium canoe division, finished second overall with a 1:01 clocking. Rounding out the top five were: Tim McCluskey of Bangor and Paul McCluskey of Hampden (short canoe), 1:02.12; Paul Brown of Belfast (open canoe), 1:02.36; and Bill Deighan of Newburgh and Kevin Toothaker of Hampden (medium canoe), 1:05.40.

Recent heavy snowfall and a late spring combined to make the Souadabscook water higher and faster than past races, evidenced by the high number of craft which did not finish.

“It was a much more challenging race this year because of the half-mile portage and because of the exceptionally high and exceptionally fast water,” said race director Greg Morin of the Katahdin Area Council of the Boy Scouts of America which sponsors the race.

Several craft had difficulty at the race’s two biggest drops, Emerson Mill and Crawford.

The brother-and-sister team of Rick and Sarah O’Donnell of Newburgh were leading the open canoe mixed division until the strong current wrapped their canoe around a tree at Emerson Mill.

“We kissed the tree at Emerson Mill a little too hard,” Sarah O’Donnell said. “We tried to pull the boat out of the water, but the water just took it and wrapped it around the tree. It’s still there, at the top of the drop. It won’t come out until the water comes down.”

The O’Donnells had successfully navigated the tricky drop in past races and knew what they had to do.

“You always have to try to just kiss that tree. If you go right for it, the current will spin you around. We were going for it a little too hard and a little too low and that’s all she wrote,” Sarah O’Donnell said.

O’Donnell and other competitors, such as Hilary Billings of Bangor didn’t like portaging at the beginning of the race.

“It’s a paddle race and you expect to spend most of your time on the water,” said Billings, who added that a better option would have been to postpone the race and wait for the ice to go out.

Billings and his partner, Tom Mulvey of Hermon, went on to win the medium canoe recreational division (1:06.08) despite the portage.

They actually lengthened their lead during the portage.

“One of the problems with the portage is you have scores of boats landing at a very narrow entrance to the portage. There’s bound to be a logjam. We were lucky enough to be the first ones there,” Billings said.

Morin said organizers decided to have the portage and not postpone the race for three reasons: there is a canoe race every weekend through October, the Boy Scouts also have other activities planned for other weekends, and the race was publicized for April 10 and could stay on schedule with a modification.

Souadabscook Stream Race Results

Kayak 1 short: Kick Hanson, 1:05.50; Bob Dean, 1:06.16; Mark Bamford, 1:07.32; Earl Baldwin Jr., 1:08.50; Tom Caffyn, 1:17.27; Paul Gerow, 2:01.21; Jamey Willey, 2:01.29

Kayak 1 long: Steve Moser, 56:18; James Chute, 1:10.08

Kayak 1 rec: Hi Hasey, 1:08.09; Eric Taylor, 1:08.47; Jonathan Lindberg, 1:10.42; Kevin O’Connell, 1:14.37; Bill Rice, 1:14.38; Greg Cunningham, 1:24; Daniel Perkins, 1:28.06

Open canoe 1: Paul Brown, 1:02.36

OC 2M short: Tim and Paul McCluskey, 1:02.12

OC 2M medium: Bob Martin-Rick Bartlett, 1:01; Bill Deighan-Kevin Toothaker, 1:05.40; Gary Brooks-Kent Frati, 1:05.49; Stephen McPherson-John Preble, 1:15.55; James Fahey-Adam Gormely, 1:31.36; Rick and Brent Slowikowski, 1:45.23; Dan Arnold-Frank Patstone, 2:08.18; Tom Cole-Carl Ross, 2:30.07

OC 2M long: Terry Wescott-Lauren Power, 1:08.48; Neal Jacobs-Mike Ballesteos, 1:30.44

OC 2 female: Judy Kate-Ann O’Brien, 2:18.19

OC 2 mixed: Kim and Mike Bailey, 1:15.05; Christian and Irving Gilbert, 1:15.50; Jessica and Wayne Ray, 1:44.06; Anne and Timothy Brooks, 1:46.37; Julie and David Walsh, 2:06.04

OC 2 junior-senior: Aaron and Dennis King, 1:55.49

OC 1 rec: James Jordan, 1:13.45; Ed Dysart, 1:25.45

OC 2M rec short: James Decoste-Thomas Cronkite, 1:06.30; Chris Cowan-Wayne Hathaway, 1:17.08; Stanley Downs-Justin Smith, 1:25.10

OC 2M rec medium: Tom Mulvey-Hilary Billings, 1:06.08; Jeff and Ray Owen, 1:08.23; Tim Dysart-Heath Hathaway, 1:09.27; Dan Merrill-Al Beeson, 1:09.34; Scott Thrasher-Chris Durian, 1:11.29; Tom Breindel-Bradley Boynton, 1:13.05; Jerry Ellis-John Hwalek, 1:15.42; Matt and Keith Polo, 1:18.30; Rick Ravenberg-Tom Riddell, 1:19.01; Dan Grosham-Richard Balentine, 1:19.19; Dick-Dan Kelley, 1:20.25; Dan Kircheis-Todd Deluck, 1:24.29; Clay Matson-Randolph Sawyer, 1:47.31; Brian Burt-Richard Rounds, 1:55.53; Dan Ward-Ken Buckley Jr., 1:58.05

OC rec mixed: Mary Hartt-Eric Dysart, 1:12.04; Susan and Jerry Smith, 1:41.18; Dan Gowell-Christy Stout, 1:55.02; Vicki and James Doane, 1:57.57

OC 2 junior-senior rec: Mark and Gordon Willis, 1:32.55

OC 2M rec novice: Joel and Brent West, 1:26.35; Leland Mathews-Richard Stoddard Sr., 1:26.46; Ben Eyles-Brian Mushrow, 1:43.52; Mike and Dennis Prewitt, 1:45.29; Michael Walker and Anthony Honnell, 2:14.56