Ben paddled the Great Brant Lake Canoe Race

By Ben Westcott, Chronicle Staff Writer

On the first Saturday of August, I rowed in The Great Brant Lake Canoe Race, a six-mile paddle starting at Hoyt’s Beach on the lake’s north end and finishing on Mill Pond at the lake’s south end.

It was my first time seriously paddling a canoe over any considerable stretch of water. I remarked to some fellow paddlers pre-race that it would be a good arm workout, and they said it’s actually more of a core-based move. After the race, I found my shoulders to be the most sore.

The canoe I was provided was a “13 classic mid profile coming in at 21 and a half pounds,” explained Randy Kuba, production manager at Minerva-based Hornbeck Boats founded by the late Peter Hornbeck now celebrating its 50th year.

[Editor’s note: Peter’s wife Ann, who co-founded the business and was a long-time teacher at Minerva Central School, passed away on July 31 at the age of 77.]

“This is our classic series of hull designs, so it’s a wider, more stable boat,” Mr. Kuba said. “It’s more of a recreational pack canoe. I wanted you in something that you felt comfortable in stability-wise.

“The 13 is a nice length because you’ll get a little more speed out of it. It tracks a little better. Rather than our 10 footer — you’re paddling that all the way up the length and it’s kind of back and forth, back and forth.”

Hornbeck sells pack boats, a hybrid of a traditional canoe and a kayak.

“You have the open cockpit design of a canoe,” Mr. Kuba said. “You sit on the bottom like you do in a kayak. Most folks use a double bladed paddle with them.”

The boats are hand crafted. “We build everything right there,” he said. “We have a bunch of different boats, many models to choose from. We have a demo pond there. So we encourage folks to come up and try anything they want to try.”

I told him I liked the boat he had chosen for me, remarking with a laugh that with my inexperience, I probably wouldn’t notice the difference one way or another.

I got in the water at 10 a.m.

I was one of 152 paddlers in categories that included canoe and kayak solo and tandem divisions, and a standup paddleboard division.

I started to get better rhythm and form as I progressed further on the lake, but it was definitely hard work paddling all that way. Parts of it were meditative, though, as you start to feel fully absorbed in the repetitive motion.

It took me an hour and 52 minutes, stopping occasionally to take pictures and rest. My time put me second to last in the Pack Canoe Men’s division. There were some impressive paddlers out there.

One of the highlights of the race was taking in the beautiful views. A band called The Plunge played on the shoreline part-way through the route to inspire paddlers. The day also had a costume contest and kid’s scavenger hunt paddle.

“We’re very happy with who came out today and grateful for our community,” organizer Matt Strickland said. “On the day of and a couple days before we have a ton of volunteers. It’s the volunteers who make all this work. It’s been really great to see how people just show up from our community to do it.”

The event started in the 1970s. It was revived after a poster from that decade was found on the back of a bathroom door in a marina.

That poster, now hanging in a pub and bicycle shop in Brant Lake called The Hub, inspired Mr. Strickland and a core group of other paddling enthusiasts to revitalize the event in 2019, utilizing the same route that was raced in the 70s.

“There’s a lot of race series in the region,” he said. “Ours is focused toward families and fun, or people who are newer to the activities and want to get into it.

“We do have some very serious paddlers here. They tend to be very fast and very invested in the sport. But they love to come here and have fun, just to check it out too. So it’s here for everybody.”

Proceeds benefit the Bob and Gert Newton Campership Fund, The Northern Forest Canoe Trail and The North Warren Chamber of Commerce Community Scholarship. Fundraising totals weren’t yet available for this year’s race, but last year it raised $5,000.

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