I have to confess that I've never heard of this before! Wow... I had no idea, and they DO look silly, but if they're having fun, more power to 'em.
I'll have to ask NC-daughter's boyfriend about this because he's from Vermont, and may have heard of it.
This just proves that almost anything can be turned into "sport" if one takes it seriously enough! That, or someone got way too bored one day, and didn't have a canoe...
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"It is our choices that show what we truly are, far more than our abilities"
(Dumbledore to Harry Potter)