Rapid waters bring swift times in Memorial Day Boat Race
It may seem like it can't stop raining this year, but that's good news for those paddling down the river of the Rochester Memorial Day Boat Race - or their finish times, at least!
The day dawned cold and dreary, and the first droplets of rain fell over an hour before the first boat paddled out of Grandma Hartley's Reservoir at 8:30 a.m. Monday morning.
The cold weather didn't deter cheering fans, who popped open umbrellas and cheered with hot coffees at hand. Over the next hour, 50 boats departed from the reservoir, spaced a minute apart and timed by the crack of a starting gun.
Boat number one, Jake Goyette of Rochester and Ian MacGregor of Acushnet were the winners of the 2016 edition of the race. They unseated three-time winners Dan Lawrence and William Watling III with an overall time of 1:52:14.
The continuous rain over the past few months swept the boats down the river without trouble. The high water level helped Lawrence and Watling, who were out for revenge.
Goyette and MacGregor were able to shave two minutes off of their winning time this year, finishing in 1:50:13. Lawrence and Watling, in boat number seven, came out with a vengeance though - they took back their crown with a finishing time of 1:48:14.
As Goyette climbed out of the boat, he said, "It wasn't too bad, until I lost a shoe and was running over stones barefoot. My dad yelled at me to put my shoe on but I was a little busy."
Just behind the leaders were Andy Weigel and Jay Lawrence, who stopped the clock at 1:51:14, and Tim Hathaway and Gary Stopka, who clocked in at 1:57:01.
Tucker and Jonathon Roy of Rochester took first place in the Parent/Child division with a time of 2:07:29. Ethan and Samantha Hathaway swept the Co-Ed division, reaching the finish in 2:10:13. Caitlin Stopka and Emma Knox won the Women's division, timing out at 2:38:23. Eli and Rylan MacGregor topped the Boy's Junior division in 2:39:32.
Joel Hartley was awarded the Old Man River award as the oldest participant in this year's race.
This year marks the 83rd running of the race, a timed race down the stretch of the Mattapoisett River, from Grandma Hartley's Reservoir off Snipatuit Road in Rochester, to the Herring Weir at River Road in Mattapoisett.
