Gusting winds and choppy water slowed competitors in the annual Bluz Cruz kayak and canoe race Saturday.

First-place finisher Elmore Holmes of Memphis completed the 22-mile race in two hours and 20 minutes — about 30 minutes longer than his win in 2011.

“It was the roughest I’ve seen it for this race,” Holmes said.

Nearly 120 people competed in the race on 96 boats, event organizers said.

Wind gusts of up to 20 mph were recorded during the race, according to the national weather service.

Holmes has competed in the Bluz Cruz the past four years and said the scenery along the race route from Madison Parish Port to City Front in Vicksburg is beautiful.

“That’s part of why I like this race,” Holmes said. “This race is a favorite of mine.”

Tim McCarley of Vicksburg and his 14-year-old daughter, K.K., finished the race in the middle of the pack. The race was K.K.’s third time competing in the Bluz Cruz with her father.

She also runs cross country at Warren Central High School and said even though the race was tough it couldn’t compare to a cross country meet.

“I guess it was easier,” she said.

McCarley, who is on the board that organizes the race, said the wind became brutal in the bend of the river near Marshall Point.

“We thought it was tough last year, but it was really tough this year,” he said.

New additions to the race this year were several Boy Scout canoes, McCarley said. As the word spreads about the Bluz Cruz, McCarley said he expects more Scouts to compete next year.

Several competitors braved the choppy waters with their children or pets.

Sam and Isabel McLemore of Starkville took the 22-mile journey with their dog, Sally.

The couple and their pet compete in water races around the South and recently hiked the Appalachian Trial, Sam McLemore said.

“It’s nothing for her,” he said of his dog’s participation in the race.

Wind slowed the couple’s time about half an hour from their estimated finish, Isabel McLemore said.

“It felt like I was in the ocean, not on a river,” she said.

Dave Cornthwaite of England rowed a stand-up paddle board in the race, finishing towards the back of the pack.

Cornthwaite holds the Guinness World Record for longest paddle board journey and was the first paddle boarder to compete in the Bluz Cruz.

“I was aiming to get just below four hours and I think I managed that,” he said.

He stood on the board and paddled the entire 22 miles in gusting winds.

“It was a struggle,” he said.

Cornthwaite stopped in Vicksburg last year as he made his world-record journey down the Mississippi River. It took him 82 days to travel from the headwaters to the Gulf of Mexico.

“It turned out to be one of the most formative experiences of my life,” he said.

Only three of those days had wind as strong as Saturday, he said, but that won’t keep him from returning.

“So much work has gone into it, and it’s great to see so many people out in the Mississippi River,” he said. “It’s got such a reputation that people keep away from it.”

For the Bluz Cruz, Cornthwaite used a paddle made by Vicksburg’s Mark Daniels.

On Monday, Cornthwaite will leave for Miami on a four-wheeled bike car as part of his Expedition 1000. The expedition is made up of 25 different journeys, of 1,000 miles or more, all using non-motorized transportation.