Great Stone Dam Classic

Wow!

Happy Holidays from our race to you!

Season's Greetings from the Great Stone Dam Classic!

Thanks to your generosity, we collected 187 pounds of food for the Merrimack Valley Food Bank. Great job! While this is 10 lbs less than last year's record donation, the giving per paddler is up. Let's break the record next year, shall we?

Draft race results are now online at the race website. If you have edits, PLEASE send them as messages or emails. PLEASE do not submit edits as comments to this post -- they'll get lost! Updates will close this Sunday, 9/14, at midnight ET. Anyway, select the link to draft Results here:

Great Stone Dam Classic Lawrence Canoe Racers, 1920. Photo courtesy of the Lawrence History Center

Photos by Reba Saldanha of the Lawrence Eagle-Tribune

55 intrepid paddlers braved the elements to make today's 15th Great Stone Dam Classic a success! Here are a few snaps from the day. Please share any photos you took - we'd love to see 'em.

Thanks to everyone who made today's Great Stone Dam Classic a success! Race results will be posted tomorrow.

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Weather forecast as of 5 AM race morning: Scattered light showers this morning with light and variable winds around 5 mph. The showers will slowly exit the area into the afternoon. Race forecast: Low current and light winds are expected to make for fast times. Fun forecast: 100%. See you soon!

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If you search Apple Maps for "Great Stone Dam Classic," well, here we are! What a hoot. See all y'all tomorrow! There will be cake. And cowbells.

Despite our lack of rain hereabouts the past several weeks, there's plenty of water for our race. The Great Stone Dam employs a feedback control system to maintain the water level for power generation. Plus, there's been ample rain in Northern New England, some of which flows into our stretch of the Merrimack. Here's a photo from Francisco's drone looking at the downstream end of Pine Island. See you Sunday!

A reminder: If you bring a donation of non-perishable food for the Merrimack Valley Food Bank, you'll get $5 off your registration fee. Please give generously if you can. Last year, we collected a record 197 lb of food. This is a record worth breaking!