BANGOR – While the name of the Kenduskeag Stream Canoe Race would seem to indicate otherwise, for much of its existence those looking to post the fastest finishing time at the prestigious event have followed a simple rule.

Use a kayak – not a canoe.

In each of the last 18 editions of the race, a kayaker (or two) has emerged as the overall champ of the “canoe” race.

But on Saturday, as times were compared and wet suits peeled off after the top contenders finished the 41st annual race, the two biggest grins were on the faces of a pair of veteran canoeists.

Longtime paddling partners Jeff Owen of Orono and Steve Woodard of Cumberland shattered their own record in their division and earned a bit of redemption for canoeists everywhere, winning the race in 1 hour, 52 minutes, 30 seconds.

Three-time champ and kayaker Trevor MacLean of Dartmouth, Nova Scotia, was second in 1:53:30, while Matt Dingle and Dan Wagner, both of Carmel, took third – also in a canoe – in 1:56:23.

A massive, six-paddler war canoe (J.R. Mabee and Leslie Winchester-Mabee of Bangor, Terry Wescott of Thorndike, Ander Thibauld of Mount Desert, Tammy Kelley of Lamoine and John Cangelosi of Bangor) was fourth in 1:57:03, and seven-time champ Fred Ludwig was fifth in 1:59:57.

Five boats took advantage of high water conditions to finish the 161/2-mile course in less than two hours. In the previous 40 Kenduskeag races, only 17 boats had cracked the two-hour barrier. Nine class records were set in the race.

In all, 452 boats carrying 812 participants began the race in Kenduskeag Village. The high water took its toll, however, with many paddlers swamping, crashing, losing paddles (or boats), and eventually dropping out.

“It’s been awhile coming,” Owen said of a canoe winning the overall crown.

Owen credited his paddling partner and the high water for the title.

“The boat that Trevor paddles, it’s a flat-water racing kayak, and in a year such as last year’s with the low flow, he’s got a marked advantage over anybody with the boat he paddles,” Owen said. “A boat like ours is fast in high water.”

And there was plenty of that to be found on a sun-drenched Saturday, when temperatures peaked in the low 70s.

MacLean echoed Owen’s sentiment, explaining that on a day when the Kenduskeag was still roaring after an early-week deluge, paddling his craft became tricky.

“It was definitely wild. Big water, very fast,” MacLean said. “[My kayak] is the same boat that the guys are racing in the Olympics, sprint racing, flat-water stuff. So it’s by no means a down-river or white-water boat. At least I [was] able to keep it upright the whole way down.”

Despite having to paddle more carefully in a boat designed for flat water, MacLean said he still thought he could win.

“[The time of Owen and Woodard] is very impressive,” MacLean said. “I was kind of surprised that they’d be able to put down a faster time, compared to my kayak.”

MacLean’s assessment comes with some historic backup: At the Kenduskeag, the speedier kayaks have fared exceptionally well.

Back in 1976, Mike Waddle and Bob Waddle used a canoe to post the overall win. It took 12 years for another canoe team – Lee Martin and John Mathieu – to come out on top. And for 18 straight races since then, the feat hadn’t been replicated.

Owen and Woodard, who finished third to Martin and Mathieu back in 1988, said the high water provided for an enjoyable race.

“It was great fun,” Owen said. “Just fast current the whole way and no rocks. No rocks at all.”

Woodard said that’s not what paddlers have become accustomed to in recent years.

“The last few years it’s just been slogging it out in that shallow water,” he said. “Usually it’s ‘How long can we hold Trevor off?’ because he usually starts about three minutes behind us. We never saw him today, so we were pretty happy about that.”

While much of the pre-race jitters of first-time paddlers involves concerns over the challenging Six Mile Falls section of the course, this year’s race featured an unexpected stretch of rapids.

You can call it 16 Mile Falls.

“Coming through the concrete pond here was about the most interesting,” J.R. Mabee said.

The problem: High water, combined with low tide, created some massive waves at the point where the Kenduskeag canal converges from two chutes into one near a bridge at State Street.

“The waves are huge,” Owen said with a laugh. “The last quarter of a mile is just 4-foot waves.”

Those 4-footers claimed more than one boat. Included in the late-race carnage was the team of brothers Terry Warren of Mercer and Tim Warren of Strong.

The Warrens dumped their boat after coming through the tunnel, within sight of the finish line.

“Well, we should have been hanging to the right, but we got to the left side and there’s a big hole in there,” Terry Warren said. “We took on water, and then that was it. We were upside-down. For the fourth time.”

That wasn’t the worst part, however.

Floating past the finish line – and a sizable crowd – was.

“You’ve got to float down and see all you people, upside-down,” a grinning Terry Warren said. “That’s the way it goes.”

Tim Warren pointed out that the experience didn’t seem to faze his brother much.

“He was laughing the whole way. Sounded like he was having fun,” Tim Warren said.

At least there was good-natured consensus on whom to blame for their swamping.

It wasn’t the tide. It wasn’t the waves.

“I think it was his fault,” Terry Warren said, tossing an accusing glance at his brother.

“It’s always my fault,” Tim Warren agreed. “I’m older, so it’s always my fault.”