The Hawkesbury Canoe Classic is a fun paddle with a serious purpose. Each year around 600 paddlers travel 111 km overnight in the moonlight, down the Hawkesbury River from Windsor to Brooklyn, to raise money for charity.

Over the years the race has build into a great community event, with paddlers, their landcrew and hundreds of volunteers converging on the banks of the Hawkesbury at Windsor on the day of the race to enjoy the camaraderie and spirit the race has built.

The race has an excellent safety record, with the long-term health of paddlers over-riding any other considerations.

The first paddlers leave Windsor at 4:00pm on Saturday and pass 21 safety checkpoints during the night. The fastest craft arrive at Brooklyn in less than 10 hours, but the average time is closer to 15 hours.

The Classic has been run since 1977 and is made possible by volunteers who put in hundreds of hours of time throughout the year, landowners who allow us the use of their land for the weekend and the paddlers and their support crews.

The Classic has raised more than $3 million for medical research, with our major charity being the Arrow Bone Marrow Transplant Foundation.

Master Tam Fook Chee (in Australia) took part in the World Master Games in the Marathon Kayak event in Sydney between 24th and 25th October2009. He won silver medal for my division (45 to 49 years old)

He has again this year raised funds for the Arrow Bone Marrow Foundation by paddling in the Hawkesbury Canoe Classic 111km overnight. He did this kayaking so that I can get donations for that Foundation for cancer research.