HAMPDEN – Steve Moser said the warm weather for the 20th Souadabscook Stream Race Saturday was the best it’s been in four to five years, a real pleasure to paddle in. And despite the river being low, he navigated through the traditionally tough white water well.

But old rival Kenny Cushman was just a little better. Cushman took first overall in 59 minutes, 30 seconds with Moser finishing second in 1:01:12.

“It’s not that I wasn’t in shape, I trained hard,” Moser said. “Kenny the last couple of years has come on strong. He’s come to the front and just keeps getting better and better.”

Cushman also won the overall title in Sunday’s MaCKRO Souadabscook Whitewater Sprint, covering the course in 11:17. Again, Moser finished second, crossing the finish line in 11:56. Chris Francis and Troy Francis of Old Town took third in their two-man canoe, clocking a 13:02.

Both Souadabscook veterans Moser and Cushman, who tied for first in the Downriver Championship Series last year with 29 points each, were out paddling the river all week. And both said they had trouble maneuvering through rocks. But both ended up finding the right rhythm for Saturday’s race.

“I paddled a lot better than last night,” Cushman said. “Last night, I hit everything. I took it easy in the white water and tried to get a lead in the flat. The one thing I worry about is getting a leak.

“If you’re going to bang up your boat in any race, the Souadabscook is the one,” he said.

Worries aside, Cushman’s strategy to sprint out for the first part of the 8.5-mile race worked perfectly. In the end, Moser wasn’t surprised.

“I expect at this point to take second to Kenny,” Moser said.

The Cushman-Moser finish definitely seems to be a trend. The Kenduskeag and Hampden kayakers finished 2-3 in last year’s race, as they did in the St. George race two weeks ago, behind Canadian kayaking wonder Robert Lang. At the Passagassawakeag last week, Cushman and Moser finished 1-2.

Moser said the competitive field in this year’s Souadabscook race, sponsored by the Katahdin Area Council of the Boy Scouts of America, seemed small with the absence of five-year veteran Lang.

But what always makes the race a challenge, in Moser’s estimation, is the unique staggered start, more than the tough portages and fierce white water.

Each division, all 18, started separately with one-minute intervals between classes.

When the long kayaks started first and Cushman sprinted out across the flat water, it broke Moser.

“I’ve always started about 10 minutes apart from Kenny, behind him or ahead of him. So you never know where you are, it keeps you working harder,” Moser said. “But here he tore out across the flat water and once we hit the white water he had an insurmountable lead. It makes it tough mentally to catch up.”

Yet considering the bright, 50-degree skies that shown for Saturday’s race, Moser had no complaints.

“This is a great day,” the competitive Moser said after taking second. “One year there were three portages. I remember in ’93 or ’94 it was snow and ice and Hermon Pond was a sheet. We had to portage down the highway. It became a biathlon.”