I think I was the only one to represent the YCCC at the Raisin River this year. The Raisin was HUUUGE - I have never seen it like that. In 39 years of race history, it was never at such a high level, organizers said.

About 140 boats participated. The infamous weir was closed & cordoned off; everyone had to use the portage, the start of which was set a bit higher up the river for safety reasons. The Rapid below the weir (which we paddled through) was raging through the trees. People were dumped in many rapids and climbing out on strainer trees everywhere. I would classify several of the normally benign rapids as technical 2+ this year (they could not be just run straight down; they had to be well scouted from the boat as we went and manouvered to the least wavy 'dry lines' to keep the boat from filling with the freezing water).

The worst, however, was the gusting wind, which was from the west, adding to our speed, but scary... and add to that the sleets of rain, snow & hail. It was scary to paddle in Bill's low flatwater fast canoe, especially in those wind blasts in the bow - I thought it is just going to be a matter of time until we dumped. But we didn't. Many people, including the women's and mixed winners dumped at the finish line rapids. We (Bill & I) finished second in the men's category in 2:35:something, my best ever result on the Raisin. Last year, the Raisin Race was cancelled due to water levels that were too low to run it at all, and the year before that, the organizers had to shorten the race due to water levels that left too many rocks exposed for a safe run of the first few kilometers. What a difference this year!