HUNTINGTON - The 52nd running of the Westfield River Wildwater Races is just a few weeks away and paddling clinics have begun for those interested in a dry - or perhaps wet - run down the river.

Longtime race organizer Jeffrey M. DeFeo said there should be no shortage of fast-moving water for the upcoming clinics thanks to Monday's rain and ensuing snowmelt brought on by the warmer weather.

"It's really cranking now," DeFeo said Tuesday. "It's actually too high. Hopefully it will calm down by Sunday."

The second of three paddling clinics begins Sunday at 1 p.m. in the state Department of Public Works yard at the intersection of routes 20 and 112.

The races, sponsored by The Republican and offered by the Westfield River Canoe Club, begin April 16 when the novice classes hit the river. Expert races begin the following day.

The first clinic, last Saturday, was well-attended even though the river was running a bit low.

"We had no water," DeFeo said of the 18 boats that maneuvered down the river that day. "We were scraping bottom all along."

The third clinic is set for April 10 at 1 p.m., same place, Defeo said.

Participants just need to show up on time with the appropriate equipment, including their own canoes or kayaks, DeFeo said. There is no fee or advance registration for the clinics.

"We just take how many we get and off we go," DeFeo said.

Last year some 200 racers participated in the eight-mile novice race, which begins in the state highway yard.

Another 100 or so in the expert classes competed in a 12-mile, more challenging version the next day. The expert races begin at the base of Knightville dam.

Both courses offer two portages and end at the Strathmore Dam at the Russell-Westfield line. After both racing days, awards will be presented to the various winners during ceremonies at Gateway Regional High School.

The races, which started as a friendly barroom bet 52 years ago, have proven popular to paddlers over the years in part because the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers can regulate the flow through its flood control dams at Knightville and Littleville.

For more information call DeFeo at (413) 354-9684.

Wildwater Races 2005

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