Press Release

The Belize Canoe Association presents the “1st Annual Boom to Manatee Lookout Canoe Race”. The race is scheduled for Saturday 19th January and marks the first race for the 2008 season. All teams should attend the signing in and announcements on the riverside by Market Tavern at 9:00 am and the race is scheduled to begin at 10:00 sharp. The race is expected to last about 2 hours and will be followed at 1:00pm by a fixed course “Family Fun Race” at Manatee Lookout Bar & Restaurant. Canoes, paddles and life jackets will be provided for the Family Fun Race and all comers are encouraged to participate.

The main race will have an entry fee of $100 per team and all paddlers will receive a free BBQ at Manatee Lookout. The first 15 boats to sign up will also receive a free T-shirt. Rules will follow the standards set by “The La Ruta Maya River Challenge” committee and those used by the BCA including the wearing of Life Jackets. Categories will include Grand Champions, Male, Female, Mixed, Masters, Juniors under 16 and Pleasure Craft. Cash prizes and trophies will be awarded to each category. Trophies will also be awarded to the winners of the Family Fun Race.

BCA wishes to thank the main sponsors of this race, Belize Aggregates, SeaSports Belize and Architectural Accents and all other persons who have helped in making this race a reality. We urge you all to attend the first warm up race for the La Ruta Maya and look forward to a fun filled day.

Jeremy Wilken

Subject: Boom to Manatee Lookout Canoe Race Results
Date: Mon, 21 Jan 2008 17:35:04 -0600


Boom to Manatee Lookout Canoe Race & Family Fun Race.

The First Annual Boom to Manatee Canoe Race took place on 19th January 2008 and had a total of 19 boats participating, an excellent turnout for the first race of the 2008 season. The race commenced at 10:00am sharp and sprinted down river towards Manatee Lookout Bar & Restaurant some 12 miles down stream. The weather was sunny and hot with a strong breeze blowing up river. The finish was a photo finish with Belize Bank, 1 hr 37 mins edging out Atlantic Bank by just 2 seconds wining the overall champion and first male trophies as well as a gift certificate from Orange Gift Shop and a cash prize. Grumpy Old Men steamed in third at 1 hr 42 mins to win first Masters followed by Rock & Roll who came in 40 seconds later for 3rd Males and Builders who claimed 4th Male. Jonkanu came in 6th place and took the first Mixed trophy followed a minute later by Print Belize who took the fist Pleasure Boat trophy. A strongly contested race for first Female came next with PR Marriott Drilling edging out Grumpy Old Women by just 10 seconds. A flurry of activity took place from 2 hours to 2 hrs 15 mins when the Red Stripe team followed by a fleet of Batsub teams and Thread Love, all arriving during that time. The Thirsty Turtle had a relaxing day out followed closely by the Sea Scouts 1 team who took first Juniors. The final team, Sea Scouts 2 were plagued by homework chores and the final team had not been to practice and had to drop out.

The Family Fun Race was held after lunch with four teams taking part. High winds and drifting buoys slowed the race considerably but it was finally won by 3 Little Men, Matt, Lewie & John, who took home the trophy and a gift certificate from Orange Gifts. A second certificate was awarded to the most deserving paddler, Maddie Riley, in the fun race.

The Organizers would like to thank the sponsors, Architectural Accents, Belize Aggregates and SeaSports Belize for helping making the day possible as well as Manatee Lookout for letting us use the premises. A special thanks goes to Paul from Sea Sports for providing the safety boat (and to Julian who decided to use the motor instead of paddle) as well as Paul from Belize Aggregates for organising the entries, start and timing as well as the prize speech. Mention should also be given to the staff of Architectural Accents including Jose, Ray, Benjamin, Dennis, Deusbury and Brandon for organising the course, cooking the BBQ and cleaning up behind us when we had had enough. Thanks also to all the participants and their sponsors for making it a good day all round.

A reminder that the next race is 17th February starting at the boom landing and finishing at the BelCan bridge.

Jerry Wilken
21 January 2008