Canoeist eager for St. George

The 18th St. George River Race Saturday signals the start of the Maine Downriver Championship Series for many. For a few, like nationally ranked canoeist Paul Brown, it will begin another run to nationals.

The six-mile St. George River Race is the first in a series of 10 that run every weekend until May 11.

Brown, a self-employed pulp truck driver and painter from Belfast, has traveled to Vermont, Pennsylvania, New York, and South Carolina in his 10 years of canoe racing to compete in national championships. And he never misses the St. George Race.

“It’s always excellent,” Brown said. “It’s good for beginners and all levels.

“To some it’s tame, but to others it’s tricky,” he added with a foreboding laugh.

The treacherous fun started for Brown 10 years ago when a friend asked him to compete in a canoe race. Brown was a long way from the nationally ranked canoeist he is today, but he was smitten with the sport he enjoys with his friends and wife, Michelle.

“I had no clue what was going on,” Brown, 42, recalled of his first race. “I had never been in whitewater. Thank God the fellow I was paddling with knew what he was doing. We did OK. I don’t know if we got a trophy. We had a good time.”

Since that introductory race, Brown has won two national championships in 1988 and ’89 in the two-man small canoe division. Last year, he took second in the two-man medium canoe at nationals with Scott Phillips of Old Town. He took third in the mixed division with Michelle Brown, with whom he’ll race this weekend.

In fact, Brown has placed in big races more times than he can remember. What he does recall clearly from 10 years of competition is the good times, and the spills, which he said is part of the sport’s allure.

Two years ago when nationals were held on the Dead River in western Maine, Brown was enjoying a good size lead in the master’s one-man canoe when he fell in and got passed by second place. Brown lost by 30 seconds, but he didn’t even mind.

“I didn’t care because everyone’s a good sport,” Brown said. “If you do lose, it’s always to someone you know. There’s great camaraderie.

“Everybody swims,” Brown promised of the St. George Race. “There are no exceptions. I swam at nationals. It was a long swim, too.”

The St. George River Race that will raise money for the Waldo County YMCA begins at 11 a.m. on the river near the Searsmont Town Office with one craft leaving every minute in the order of registration.

As of Thursday, there were 75 craft entered, but race director Dale Cross expects more than 120 craft for the event with as many as 200 paddlers.

“There are more than a dozen nationally ranked paddlers,” Cross said. “The water is not really high. It’s canoeable, but not as dangerous as it’s been in some years. Certainly people can take a swim, but it’s a bit low.”

The race has 15 different categories for two people, single canoeing, and various kayak classes. Registration is $10 per paddler and will be held from 8:30-10:30 a.m. on race day at the Searsmont town office.