Return to story

Pole power on the river

May 31, 2009 12:36 am

Canoe poling champion Chip Cochrane stood in his boat yesterday and focused on the Rappahannock River's swollen, muddy waters as race timekeeper Anne Rock began the countdown.

"Five, four, three, two, one. Go, Chip, go," she and Cochrane's wife Lani yelled.

With that, Cochrane thrust a 12-foot aluminum pole into the shallow river bottom and pushed off on his first trip in the slalom division of the Canoe Poling National Championships.

The circular course laid out in the rapids near the old Embrey Dam site required that he and 11 other competitors execute turns and backward maneuvers dictated by different colored buoys placed on rocks in the river.

Racing against the clock, Cochrane poled his canoe all the way around the first buoy, a maneuver known as "tying the knot," before ferrying, or pushing across the river, to the second buoy. The river, which had risen sharply after Friday's storm, kept trying to turn the bow of his craft upstream, but he managed to keep it in a fairly straight line to save time.

Competing in the slalom takes strength, strategy and technique, said Scott Stepenuck an engineer from Ballston Spa, N.Y., who is the national chairman of the American Canoe Association's Canoe Poling Division.

By the time Cochrane crossed the finish line, he'd completed the circuit in 4 minutes, 47 seconds, the best time of the day. Harry Rock, who'd been the national champion for years before Cochrane began winning the title, came in second at 5 minutes, 21 seconds.

The two-day championships, which began Friday with a wildwater race won by Lani Cochrane, drew about 18 men and two women from Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, Pennsylvania, Texas and Virginia. It was the first time that the event had been held in Fredericksburg, the new home of the American Canoe Association.

"We wanted to come down and connect with the ACA," said Harry Rock, the author of two books and a video on canoe poling. "We were looking to a midpoint, too, and it's a new river for us."

Canoe poling, which was recognized as a competitive sport by the ACA in 1965, has a long and colorful history. Early man used saplings to propel dugouts up and down streams long before the paddle was invented, and voyageurs used wooden poles to help them navigate wilderness rivers before there were any roads.

Boatmen used poles to help Gen. George Washington and his troops cross shallower sections of the Delaware during the American Revolution. And Lewis and Clark poled their boats up the Missouri on their famous expedition.

Chip Cochrane, a third-generation Maine guide, said canoe poling is a deeply rooted tradition in his sparsely populated state. Loggers, guides and game wardens used stout wooden poles to go upstream or from one lake to another.

"Now there are more roads, and people are using motors on their boats," he said. "It's becoming a lost art, and we're trying to keep it alive."

Canoe poling began making a splash as a sport as lighter-weight, specially designed Kevlar canoes and poles crafted from aircraft aluminum came on the scene. Many were developed by Ed Hayden, 81, who competed on Friday. A national trophy named in his honor was unveiled Friday night.

"Ed took the sport to a whole new level with his designs," said Harry Rock, who teaches at Springfield College in Springfield, Mass.

Poling offers several advantages over paddling, he said. Canoeists can get upstream much easier by pushing on the river bottom, which means they can pole back to their starting point instead of arranging a shuttle. And they can pole in shallower water--as little as 3 inches--than they can paddle.

"It really extends the canoe season because you can pole when the rivers fall off," Rock said.

Canoe poling is particularly popular in the Northeast, Missouri and Texas, according to Chris Stec, the ACA's assistant director. The 2010 national championships will be held on the Westfield River in Westfield, Mass.

Cathy Jett: 540/374-5407
Email: cjett@freelancestar.com