WALDO – All Jeff Sands needed was a steak dinner and a good night’s sleep.

Sands, a Bangor resident and one of the top local kayakers, paddled in Saturday’s St. George River Race, then did it again about 24 hours later when he competed in the Passagassawaukeag River Race Sunday.

Sands had the top overall time at the St. George Race, then turned in the second-fastest time in Sunday’s Passy. The steak and sleep may have helped him recover, but it wasn’t enough to pass rival Kenny Cushman, who had the fastest time on the Passagassawaukeag.

The two popular canoe and kayak races were run on consecutive days for the first time since 1987, according to race director Dale Cross. The St. George race was supposed to be held March 27, but the river in Searsmont was still iced in.

So the St. George was moved to Saturday, and the Passagassawaukeag was bumped back a day to Sunday – thus creating “The Big Splash Weekend.”

The turnout for the two races was approximately 300 paddlers, so numbers weren’t affected too much by the change in dates.

But the changes made a difference for Hampden resident and defending Passy champion Cushman. He couldn’t paddle the St. George this year because he had to attend a wedding Saturday.

And Houlton’s Fred Ludwig was out with an injury, according to Sands. That left just one of the three premier local kayakers in the St. George.

So Sands took it easy Saturday, knowing Ludwig and Cushman weren’t there to push him.

“I really wasn’t sore, and I think that’s because I didn’t go as hard yesterday because [Cushman] wasn’t there,” Sands said. “Fred wasn’t there, so I knew I could back off a little bit and save it for [Sunday].”

Sands was the top finisher in the St. George with a time of 38 minutes, 51 seconds. After the race he went home to relax, had a protein-rich steak dinner and got a full night of sleep to get ready for the Passagassawaukeag.

Cushman and Sands, friendly rivals who train together, were lined up against each other at the start of the Passy. But it didn’t take long for Cushman to grab the lead.

“It was all over in the first 10 feet,” said Sands, who in his 10 years of paddling against Cushman has never beaten him in a kayak. “He was off through the culverts and I didn’t even try to stay with him. I can stay with him sometimes drafting in flat water, but in white water you’ve got so much churn and obstacles. But he’s so much of a stronger paddler.”

Cushman had a reason for taking a big early lead.

“I just wanted to get a jump because about a quarter of a mile up there’s a little shortcut, a path through the woods, that everybody takes,” he said. “I didn’t want us close together, battling through that. Once we got through that I backed off a little bit.”

Cushman clocked a 37:19, which he thinks is one of his fastest finishes at the Passy. High water levels had a lot to do with that.

“There was plenty of water,” Cushman said. “It was good enough water so this was the first time ever I did not touch anything on the way down.”

Sands had a time of 40:44 Sunday. Ryan Linehan of Westport was the kayak runner-up in the St. George and was third in the Passy.

For the top-notch kayakers, the back-to-back races might not have been as hard because the distances are relatively short. The Passagassawaukeag course is about seven miles long and the St. George is six.

For those paddlers who don’t train five days a week, things were a bit different.

“Everybody’s a little sore, but it makes for fun,” said Cross, who raced both days with his son Aaron, a student at Belfast High.

In other results Sunday, Paula Lunt of Tenants Harbor turned in the top time of the female competitors with a 45:01 in the kayak division. She had the fastest finish of the women Saturday when she competed in the short kayak division.

Skowhegan’s John Alsop clocked a 44:54 to finish first in the solo racing canoe category. Orono residents Bucky Owen and Jeff Owen had the fastest overall canoe time (41.54).

In Saturday’s results, Jeff Owen’s 40:17 was the fastest solo canoe time.

Sarah and Matt Dingle of Newburgh clocked a 40:20 in the mixed canoe race. Jamie Hannon of Orono and Stephen McAhee of Greenland, New Brunswick, recorded a 39:44 finish in the two-man canoe.