FORT KENT – Ron Bomberger of Danforth and Francis Cyr of Caribou outdistanced everyone in their racing canoe Saturday covering the 14.5 miles on the St. John River from St. Francis to Fort Kent in just under two hours.

The racing shell swiftly covered the shallow waters in 1 hour, 59 minutes and 28 seconds, more than eight minutes faster than Toby Hafford and Cody Hafford of St. Francis.

A team of game wardens, Gary Sibley of Fort Kent and Chad Abbott of Eagle Lake, took the Fallen Officer Trophy with a time of 2 hours, 21 minutes and 31 seconds. The trophy is named after Jean Baptiste Jalbert, a game warden who lost his life on the St. Francis River in 1933.

Saturday’s River Fest 2007 was the first canoe race in Fort Kent in 11 years. The day also included an anything-that-floats race on the Fish River and a motorized canoe race on the St. John River.

Jody Marston, executive director of the Greater Fort Kent Area Chamber of Commerce, said 45 watercraft, including 22 kayaks, took part in the 14.5-mile race. There were two entries in the anything-that-floats race and three entries in the motorized race.

“It was an excellent project,” a still hyped-up Marston said Tuesday morning. “We could not have asked for a better day.

“The weather was fantastic, the [Riverside] park was full of people and many watched the race from along the banks of the river,” she said. “We had food, games and displays in the park and people just had a good time.

“We will have the race again next year,” she continued. “We are looking forward to it. It will just be bigger and better next year.”

The Chamber of Commerce used the two waterways Saturday as the backdrop for the one-day event. The day also included breakfast, a barbecue, children’s games, musical entertainment, door prizes and the exposition of the Northern Forest Canoe Trail traveling museum.

The highlight division of the race was for public safety groups. Sibley and Abbot took home the trophy, which was more than 2 feet tall. Other teams represented police departments, border patrol, customs officers, firefighters, forest service and emergency medical technicians.

The race had four other divisions in the mass start race from Hartt’s Landing in St. Francis to Riverside Park at Fort Kent.

The other divisions that competed for trophies were for one-person kayaks, a mixed man-woman or two woman division, a two-man division and one for other crafts that did not meet the canoe length of the other divisions.

The Northern Forest Canoe Trail had its mobile museum, “Ways of the Woods,” on site for public viewing. The museum has been in Fort Kent much of this week, but was limited to tours each day except Saturday.

The Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife had its display trailer at the site as well.

The race results were:

K1 Kayak/decked kayak; 1 paddler starting with the winner:

Jeff Spencer (2:06:48), John Kaleta, Jennifer Morin, William Hinkley, Lilly Tuell, Allen Morneault, Norman Martin, Dave Fletch, Leslie Ferris, Gina LeBlanc, Joseph Pelletier, Micha Dougherty, Denise Kaleta, Carol McKenzie, Joseph Hinkley, Kelly Martin, Lisa Fournier, George Dumond, Lendal Johnson, Bruce Johnson, Jamie Pelletier, Michelle Madore (3:10:58).

OC2 – Canoe, mixed and women, 2 paddlers:

Jennifer Banneau and Samantha Perkins (3:00:21).

OC2 – Canoe, male, 2 paddlers:

Fran Cyr and Ron Bomberger (1:59:28), Toby Hafford and Cody Hafford; Skip Fletcher and Scot Fletcher, Mark Shea and Ben Wakana, Caleb Pelletier and Ryan Grow (3:00:20).

OC2 Public Safety, 2 paddlers:

Gary Sibley and Chad Abbott (2:21:31); Justin Carney and Robby Gross, Mark Albert and Rob Crawford, Dan Marquis and Darrell Ouellette, Roger Dube and Dean Lavoie, George Ferland and Keith Toussaint, Bill Caron and Jim Caron (2:45:31).

Open – any craft

Connie McLellan (2:24:03); Arthur Jandreau (2:51:30).