An Allagash canoeist is hoping to lure racers up to the farthest reaches of Aroostook County for a newly created 15-mile Class II whitewater race this May.
Jake Feener, who races along with his wife Lisa in the Maine Canoe & Kayak Racing Organization downriver series, decided to create an Allagash race dedicated to a town legend, the late Tylor Kelly, who died last spring.
The 1st Annual Tylor Kelly Allagash Dash, slated for 10 a.m. May 18, was recognized by MaCKRO as the 11th race on the 2025 point series schedule, Feener said, adding that he contacted the American Canoe Association and they are insuring the race.
Back in the 1980s, canoe racing in Aroostook County was alive and well and there were races in Fort Kent and Canada, many that the Allagash race’s namesake won, Feener said. But over the years, the number of visitors in Allagash dropped significantly and canoe racing all but disappeared. Feener doesn’t know what to expect, but he’s trying to bring the racing community back to The County and Allagash.
“Lisa and I do the races down south in Bangor, and others and I always felt we should have a race up here,” he said. “We have beautiful rivers up here and the races mark the coming of spring.”
In early calls about the race, potential participants wondered if the region was all dirt roads and if it was a wilderness race.
“There hasn’t been a race in this area for 10 or 15 years,” Feener said. “It will be good for people to come up here and realize there is a lot more infrastructure in Allagash from what they are thinking.”
Allagash is the largest town by acres in the state at 128.6 square miles it is fondly called Moose Town, with perhaps more moose than people. And while it is remote, there is cell service, places to stay overnight, a restaurant and a hot top paved road all along the length of the race for people to watch, he said.
Tylor Wade Kelly was born in 1937 in a modest and remote home near where the Little Black River pours into the St John River. His life began at a time where water travel was still essential to existence, Lisa Feener said.
It was a time that people in the Allagash region used the rivers as their travel routes. While other communities had automobiles, most people in Allagash still depended on the waterways for travel and fun.
Kelly was a hard worker but also loved to have fun and was very competitive, racing just about anything, Jake Feener said. He raced wooden canoes with wooden paddles he made himself. For years he groomed the Can-Am dogsled trails and was a pillar of the community.
Feener’s stepfather is Tylor Kelly’s oldest son.
In April 1991, when the ice floes took out the bridge in Allagash, leaving ice watchers at the bridge stranded, Kelly put a motor on his canoe and made his way through the swift, ice-filled river to save the people.
Louie Pelletier III, who was videotaping the ice moving and captured the bridge being swept away, was among the people Kelly rescued.
“We were encircled by the ice,” Pelletier said. “That night there were two or three people shuttling people back and forth and I happened to get into his boat.”.
Feener is now restoring that same boat, a 20-foot Jackson canoe, that Pelletier was rescued in, he said.
The 15-mile race will start on the Allagash River at the bridge that crosses the river in town. Within 10 minutes, racers will be at the confluence of the Allagash and St. John rivers as they are dumped into its vast and powerful waters, finishing at Hart’s Landing in St. Francis off Route 161.
Unlike the Meduxnekeag River Race, also in the downriver series, the Allagash Dash will have a mass start with six or eight classes of canoes and kayaks starting at the same time.
A mass start is a favorite of the Feeners because it gives the race a competitive feel and makes for a fun race, Jake Feener said.
“People should be prepared to paddle some white water. There are a couple sections of rapids at a Class II that are not super technical but will get you excited,” he said. “This is a swift course almost continuously moving.”
Following the race, there will be a big meal at the Allagash Community Building along with race awards. Shuttles will be available after the race.
Participants can preregister by May 16 for a free T-shirt, though supplies are limited and the earliest to sign up and pay will receive one. The fee is $25 per paddler, or $15 for University of Maine at Fort Kent students.
Racers can also register the morning of the race at the community center, starting at 8 a.m. Racers must be at the race briefing at Carney Landing just above Allagash Bridge at 9:45 a.m. to participate.
For more information, [email protected] or call Jake Feener (207) 316-3483.
