Hat, Hat Regatta beats the cold

By Mo Cranker on October 1, 2018.

mcranker@medicinehatnews.com @MHNmocranker

Despite weather close to freezing, a small group of paddlers gathered Saturday at the Echo Dale boat launch for the seventh annual Hat, Hat Regatta.

The group was hoping more than 100 paddlers would be out for the event but some flurries and cold weather scared a large group off.

Medicine Hat Paddling Club president Rick Redmond says the event is always a fun one to organize.

“This is one of the last organized paddling events anywhere in Canada I’m pretty sure,” he said. “Of course we would have liked the weather to have been nicer, but we’ll still have a good paddle down to Strathcona.”

The group of paddlers left around noon and expected to get to Strathcona a couple hours later.

“It’s been a great year for us,” said Redmond. “We’ve seen a big increase in our memberships this year which is just fantastic.

“Paddling is really picking up around the city and it makes sense to me. We have some great resources here, good weather for it and the river makes it accessible.”

The group all wore hats of different shapes and sizes Saturday — all in the name of fun, says Redmond.

“It’s just something we decided to do for fun,” he said. “We don’t have rules on what to wear or not wear, it just adds another element of fun to the last paddle of the year.”

For more information on the group go to http://www.facebook.com/medicinehatpaddlingclub

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