The Canoe Boom

The Fox River was a fine canoeing stream back in 1875, when the Potawatomi Indians headed down it in birch-barks. It still is, as 1,470 weekend paddlers found this month when they took part in the 15th Annual Mid-American Canoe Race. In bright aluminum and fiber-glass craft with names like Shark One and Titanic, the contestants braved a broad, meandering 22-mile stretch of the river in northern Illinois, suffering no injury worse than a cut leg and some overtaxed stomach muscles.

At the end of the race, when the sweaty survivors rejoined their families and cars at Aurora, few seemed to remember who exactly had won. But then, as Paul Vlakancic, 20, of Batavia,Ill., said proudly, "Just getting here was the main achievement."

For most amateurs, the charm of getting there, or getting no place in particular, without gas fumes or hassle or special training, is what canoeing is all about--and why it has become one of the fastest-growing sports in the U.S. The output of canoes, which has doubled in the past four years, shows no sign of being dented by recession or inflation; overall growth of the sport is estimated at 20% per year.

Independent Souls. A compelling reason for canoeing's surge is its convenience. From the Youghiogheny to the Willamette, from white-water torrents to scenic waterways as placid as a bowl of vichyssoise, the U.S. is blessed with hundreds of thousands of inviting streams; Illinois alone boasts 6,500 miles of canoeable water. (Oldtimers say, "If the grass is wet, you can get a canoe through.") Canoes are simple to carry atop a car and easy to tote ("portage") around a rapids. A standard aluminum model costs $300 or less; in many areas, "the poor man's yacht" can be rented for $10 a day.

While organized white-water racing is an exciting, dangerous sport still in its infancy--the first U.S. championships were held in 1958--the great majority of canoeists are typically unexercised Americans who seek a maximum of relaxation with a minimum of risk. Though the hundreds of canoeing clubs in the U.S. schedule an increasing number of races, drifting trips and other mass events, the average weekend canoeist seems to be an independent soul who prefers to stay far from the paddling crowd. Says Dave Carleson, who manufactures, rents and sells canoes in Portland, Ore.: "Most people want to enjoy the sounds of the wilderness, or watch riverbank creatures, or explore a lily-pad-laden inlet, or hear the sound of water stirred by their paddles." Hiawatha would have bought that--if not the Potawatomis.

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