On Saturday October 10, Lake Champlain Maritime Museum’s Champlain Longboats Program will hold its annual youth rowing race in Burlington, The James Wakefield Rescue Row. The race is named after James Wakefield who was responsible for the courageous rescue of the passengers and crew of canal schooner General Butler on December 9, 1876 when the vessel crashed into the Burlington breakwater during a fierce winter gale.
(above) Youth participants in the James Wakefield Rescue Row. Click image for high-resolution download and find more at our Press Room.
For Immediate Release
Contact: Nick Patch, Outdoor Education Director
(802) 475-2022, nickp@lcmm.org
Over 150 youth in 20 crews will participate in the race, rowing 32- and 25-foot boats in a series of heats along the Burlington Waterfront. Local crews hail from Burlington High School, South Burlington High School, Diversified Occupations Program at the Hannaford Career Center, Vergennes Middle and High School, Champlain Valley Union High School, Rice Memorial High School and Mt. Abraham Union Middle and High School, while visiting crews travel from as far as the coast of Maine. Races begin at 9:00 at Perkins Pier at the foot of Maple Street.
The colorful boats used in this event were built by Vermont High School and Middle School students at Lake Champlain Maritime Museum’s boat shop. The boats are used by 160 students at nine area schools in After-School rowing programs that meet two or three times a week through mid-November. Setup to build the next boat in LCMM’s fleet begins in November, ready for a new crew of boat building students to arrive in January.
See these boats in action: Lake Champlain Maritime Museum’s website, Facebook page, andYouTube channel.
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For Information Contact: Nick Patch
Phone: 802-475-2022 x113; nickp@lcmm.org
- If you wish to photograph the race from a boat contact Nick Patch at the Lake Champlain Maritime Museum.
- To download additional images of the James Wakefield Rescue Row, visit LCMM’s web pressroom; see images 6, 8 and 10 (click thumbnail image to access high-res file).