MUDDY CREEK TWP — Muscle-powered crafts cut through the waters of Lake Arthur late Saturday morning at the Moraine State Park Regatta, where 46 kayakers and stand-up paddleboarders competed for the top slots in the Pittsburgh Paddlesport Championships and PA SUP (Stand Up Paddleboarding) Championships.

Solo and tandem kayakers boarded sleek racing kayaks, hand-built wooden versions, inexpensive older models and every type of kayak in between to complete the six-mile race, which started at the boat launch just west of Pleasant Valley Beach.

Paddleboarders stood on their rides behind the kayaks as Teresa Segelson, volunteer event chair, counted down from 10.

Paddles windmilled in and out of the water as the kayakers took off, and paddleboarders dug into the water with all their might after Segelson shouted “Go!”

The kayakers completed two, three-mile loops and ended back where they started.

Paddleboarders did the three-mile loop once.

Friends and family as well as water-sport enthusiasts looking on shouted encouragement to the paddlers as they approached the buoy where the race began.

“Girl power!” one woman shouted as the first female kayaker paddled toward the buoy covered in perspiration. “Make the turn! Make the turn! Good job!”

Amanda Becker, regatta event director, smiled as she watched the paddlers doing their best to win a medal in one of the many categories associated with the first kayak race at the annual event.

“It's a regatta, so it's all about water recreation,” Becker said. “That's one way people enjoy Moraine State Park, is kayaking and paddleboarding.”

Dotty Vogt of Butler cheered on her sister and brother-in-law, Dave and Peggy Novak of Derry, Westmoreland County.

“They are very competitive,” Vogt said. “They do a lot of triathlons.”

A nanny on the weekends, Vogt ensured her charge, Johnny Herbert, 5, of Butler, didn't fall off the dock and into the water.

Johnny had his own thoughts about the race.

“I think they're going to crash into a rock and sink to the bottom of the ocean,” he said as his nanny pooh-poohed his perilous prediction.

Joe White of Lorain, Ohio, used his 18 years of kayak racing experience to outpace the other competitors and come in first.

White said he had hopes of winning but pointed to other racers who are strong paddlers.

All kayakers who participated seemed to know one another, as they have competed against each other for several years in various races throughout the tri-state area.

“It keeps me in shape, I like to compete and everyone here is friendly even though we're racing,” White said after mopping the sweat from his brow.

He said the regatta served as a good practice race for next week's U.S. Canoe Association Nationals in Warren, Pa.

“That one is kind of the culmination of the racing season for these guys,” White said as he made a sweeping gesture toward his bobbing competitors.

Jody and Hansel Lucas of Brookville, Jefferson County, were the first tandem kayakers to cross the finish line.

The married couple swung their paddles in perfect synchronicity as they dug for the win.

Hansel sat in the front of the sleek Stellar brand racing kayak and Jody in the back.

Jody said the couple has won about five kayak races in the tandem category.

“My husband is ultra competitive and I am not,” Jody said, “but this gives us an opportunity to paddle together.”

She said Hansel regularly checks on her during a race to ensure she's breathing properly, drinking water and generally feeling good.

The winner of the paddleboard race, Tito Onyekweli of Pittsburgh, competed in just his second stand-up paddleboard race Saturday.

“I paddle a lot, but I don't race,” he said. “I definitely didn't expect to win, but I aspired to.”

Onyekweli, whose partner, Gabrielle Rovegno, won the women's category, said he paddles about 20 hours a month.

“I can let go of timelines and deadlines and people in my email and just float,” he said of the sport.

“It's the freedom I can get on the water.”

Onyekweli's favorite place to paddleboard is the white water of New River Gorge in West Virginia.

He appreciated Ian Smith, owner of SurfSUP Adventures, for coordinating Saturday's paddleboard race, which was the eighth to be held at the Moraine State Park Regatta.

He also appreciated all the hard work that went into planning the many events and displays at the regatta.

“This is where community begins,” Onyekweli said.

The race benefited the American Cancer Society and First Waves, a group that uses paddleboarding and other means to support and mentor at-risk youth in Pittsburgh.