NYMCRA Article Archive

Forty-seven paddlers enjoyed cool and somewhat breezy conditions for the fourth running of the Tupper Lake 8-Mile canoe and kayak race last Saturday.          Unlike last year, with its mass start, there were two waves: the first consisted of 17 canoes and the second 19 kayaks. The addition of a new digital chip-scanning system that Matt Skeels of St Lawrence University has recently developed made it possible to time these two waves very accurately to Olympic standards of a hundredth of a second.          The start at the Simon Pond Tupper Lake Boat Launch was in somewhat choppy water but after the paddlers rounded the first buoy into the Raquette River the main challenge was to pick the best line up the river avoiding as much as possible suck water on the corners.           Last  year’s second-placer, Jim Mallory from Henrietta in the Over 50 class and in an Olympic K1,  eventually managed to take...

By Katie Peck 2018 marks the beginning of my 12th paddling season, but my first time to complete the General Clinton 70 miler. In 2007, I started my paddling career as an amateur dragon boater in Philadelphia. I eventually wanted to paddle competitively, so I joined the Philadelphia Dragon Boat Association’s Yutes (youth) Team. In addition to winning various local races, I have paddled in crews that have won Nationals in Mixed and Women’s boats, and I have competed internationally at four World Championships on Team USA. Knowing that if I wanted to be a better paddler, I decided to branch out to other paddling disciplines. I always wanted to try marathon canoe, and in September 2016, the opportunity presented itself through Glen Green’s Philadelphia Fall Classic. Linda Lensch had broken her neck, leaving Betsy Ray without a C2 partner. I jumped at the opportunity to paddle with her. It was my first marathon canoe race AND my first time ever in a marathon canoe. I don’t re...

While I am writing this it is currently 8 degrees outside and while we would all like it to be 80 degrees and sunny so that we would all be able to get out and paddle, bike, run or do something else enjoyable outside, we find outside inside either enjoying the Holidays or working out in the basement as I do to try to keep in shape and try to keep my weigh down after over indulging on food over the past month. I try to work out in my basement at least 5 days a week for at least a half hour minimum, splitting my time up between my Schwinn Air dyne, Paddle One machine, Total Gym, Stationary bike and free weighs. In order to prevent boredom I usually watch my ceiling hung TV typically watching some up lifting old TV reruns of the Dukes of Hazzard, MacGyver or some movies such as Miracle, Blue Brothers, Animal House, etc. Although some up beat fats paced high energy music always goes well with any type or workout. I would like to get out and paddle or do some other type of outdoor activi...

We recently received several pictures from days gone by. If you know who these pictures may be of, feel free to comment below. Be sure to reference the picture's number :) 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8

NYMCRA Team Finishes First in Class in Yukon River Quest By John Vermilyea During one of our episodic mind wanderings over the course of the 2011 Yukon 1000 canoe race, we came up with a question that would burn in my mind for years: Why were there no C4's in the Yukon? A tripping canoe of 23’ designed for four paddlers, it seemed to be a perfect craft to paddle and even race the Yukon River in. Given the popularity of the C4 class in New York State, I was relatively surprised that the class didn't even seem to exist in the Yukon Territory. Thus began several subsequent years of emails querying various board members and petitioning race committees' about the possible future inclusion of C4's in Yukon races. We were turned away several times before finally achieving success in August 2016 following the success of adding a SUP class. We were being given a chance to enter our C4's in the 2017 Yukon River Quest, a 440 mile race from Whitehorse, YT to Dawson C...

By Dylan Kirk Our days have been getting progressively shorter since June 21 st . As our planet follows it's annual course, the Earth's axis positions the Northern Hemisphere away from the Sun's direct rays. As a result our temperatures drop, and our lakes and rivers freeze. A wise paddler once described winter as “this sucks”. If a river's current flows quickly enough, the water molecules will have too much energy to solidify. The river will not freeze. Several of these rivers exist throughout New York State, and many paddlers brave frigid winter temperatures to stay active. In mid-March 2013, Ed Wagner and I were out in his JD Pro, paddling past large chunks of ice on the Owasco Outlet. As we came to a sharp corner, I planted a post to bring the boat around. The boat jostled and we went in. I gasped. It was my first time in freezing water. I was afraid, but not at all surprised. Both Ed and I had a hand on the boat and we swam it to shore. The paddle from...