Harry Rock, race director for the 71st running of the Westfield River Wildwater Races on April 18, 2026.
Reminder Publishing submitted photo
WESTFIELD — Race Director Harry Rock has announced that registration opens on Feb. 1 at westfieldriver.org/races for the 71st running of the Westfield River Wildwater Races on April 18.
Early bird registration is $35 per person and will increase to $45 per person on March 16 and $75 on April 13. The last day to register is April 15.
The Expert Race kicks off at 9:30 a.m. at the Knightville Dam and ends at the Route 20 pull-off across from the Hilltown Community Health Center. The Classic Race will start at 11 a.m. from the Route 112 MassDOT maintenance yard in the center of Huntington and end in Woronoco Center. There will be classes for solo canoes, tandem canoes, kayaks and SUPs — or stand-up paddleboards.
Rock said race day start times are based on the chronological order in which people register. “If you are the 10th person to register, you are the 10th person to start. The earlier you register, the earlier you will start,” he said.
Tandem canoes need to designate a team captain who will register the team under a team name. The captain must pay for themselves and their team partner. The team partner then needs to register by searching for the team name and filling out their information on the team registration. They do not have to pay, as their team captain will have done that already. If they are asked to pay, they have most likely created a second registration, which needs to be deleted, and they then need to search for their team captain’s registration to attach themselves to.
“If you want to paddle as a group with friends or family members, organize a day and time for everyone to register at the same time, and chances are very good that your start times will be next to one another or very close. It is very difficult for race officials to change recorded start times after people are registered, so please plan ahead,” Rock said.
A liability waiver must be signed by all participants individually on the registration website.
The awards ceremony will take place at Strathmore Park following the races. Prizes will also be awarded for best costumes and for the best team names.
There will be two instructional clinics on Saturday, April 4 and 11 for paddlers to learn more about proper clothing, paddling equipment, proper paddling technique, self-rescues after capsizes, and how to correctly run the river and cross the two portages.
Last year, at the 70th running of the Wildwater Races — first established in 1954 — the final head count was 293 paddlers on the river. “It was a phenomenal day because of the great weather, which led to many smiles and happy faces as people exited the river following their runs,” Rock said.
Send questions to races@westfieldriver.org. Stay tuned for updates and follow race information on Facebook at Westfield River Wildwater Races.
