Racing Rivals: Log Canoes of Chesapeake Bay

Grab your sunglasses and visors and prepare for an exhilarating behind the scenes look at a Chesapeake Bay racing favorite: Log Canoes!

Tickets: (fees not included)
General Admission Seating: $25
MPT Films of the Chesapeake Series of 3 Films: $60
(Discount is applied at checkout when all 3 events are in your cart.)
- The series package includes:
o April 16: “Lifeblood: Chesapeake River Stories”
o May 20: “Creatures of the Chesapeake” and “The Long Shore”
o June 3: “Racing Rivals: Log Canoes of Chesapeake Bay”

Just in time to kick off the 2026 racing season, the Talbot Spy and the Avalon Foundation team up with Maryland Public Television, the Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum, and Chesapeake Forum to present this fan favorite documentary: “Racing Rivals: Log Canoes of the Chesapeake Bay.”

Craig Fuller sits down with a special guest to discuss one of our favorite Chesapeake Bay pastimes. He’ll also welcome a few of the racers to discuss the 2026 season that opens in St. Michaels in late June and will take questions from the audience after the screening. Don’t miss this incredible opportunity to see this fascinating documentary at the historic Avalon Theatre!

Racing Rivals: Log Canoes of Chesapeake Bay (30 minutes)
Elegant and agile, propelled by outsized sails offset by a nimble crew serving as human ballast, the iconic racing fleet of Chesapeake Bay log canoes embodies tradition, speed and grace. On breezy summer weekends, those that restore, race, and revere them are out to win- but not at the expense of preserving these unique vessels and the heritage they represent. Racing Rivals: Log Canoes of Chesapeake Bay introduces us to this uniquely Chesapeake sport and the passionate sailors vying for coveted trophies.

For centuries, harvesting the bounty of the Chesapeake has called for a special kind of boat - a canoe - nimble enough to navigate the shallow corners of the Bay and its tributaries without running aground. The first English settlers carved simple canoes like those used by Native Americans at the time; designs were likely influenced by enslaved Africans as well. But in the mid-19th century, these reliable workboats, fashioned from massive logs, began to evolve. Leaving the oyster harvest to more modern boats, artisans constructing log canoes began to design for speed rather than mere utility. The canoes got narrower, sails larger, and the chance of tipping over... much more likely.

Today, much of the racing action centers around the quaint Eastern Shore town of St. Michael’s, situated on the Miles River, where skippers and crews raise the sails for thrilling weekend regattas.

Racing Rivals: Log Canoes of Chesapeake Bay is the winner of three Capital Emmys from the National Capital Chesapeake Bay Chapter of the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences (NATAS-NCCB)

“Racing Rivals: Log Canoes of Chesapeake Bay” is a production of Maryland Public Television.

Funding for “Racing Rivals: Log Canoes of Chesapeake Bay” is provided by the following:
Richard and Ellen Bodorff
Henry and Judy Stansbury
The MPT New Initiatives Fund
Maxine Whalen Millar
Tom and Alexa Seip
The Arthur H. Kudner, Jr. Fund
Richard and Beverly Tilghman
Jim and Pam Harris
The Grayce B. Kerr Fund
Craig Fuller and Diane Terpeluk
The Poplar Islands Yacht Club
Langley and Karen Shook
The Following Members of the Miles River Yacht Club
* Dave and Jean Brooks
*Michael and Robyn Kealy
The Following Members of the Chesapeake Bay Yacht Club
*Hon. John C. North II
Ned Hennighausen
Edward H. Boyd Fund
Richard Hynson, Jr
Easton Utilities Commission