Yet another great day at the USNWC
By millers • Aug 20th, 2009 • Category: Uncategorized <!– /* Font Definitions */ @font-face {font-family:Shruti; panose-1:2 0 5 0 0 0 0 0 0 0; mso-font-charset:0; mso-generic-font-family:auto; mso-font-pitch:variable; mso-font-signature:262147 0 0 0 1 0;} @font-face {font-family:Tahoma; panose-1:2 11 6 4 3 5 4 4 2 4; mso-font-charset:0; mso-generic-font-family:swiss; mso-font-pitch:variable; mso-font-signature:1627421319 -2147483648 8 0 66047 0;} /* Style Definitions */ p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal {mso-style-parent:”"; margin:0in; margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:12.0pt; font-family:”Times New Roman”; mso-fareast-font-family:”Times New Roman”;} a:link, span.MsoHyperlink {color:blue; text-decoration:underline; text-underline:single;} a:visited, span.MsoHyperlinkFollowed {color:purple; text-decoration:underline; text-underline:single;} @page Section1 {size:8.5in 11.0in; margin:1.0in 1.25in 1.0in 1.25in; mso-header-margin:.5in; mso-footer-margin:.5in; mso-paper-source:0;} div.Section1 {page:Section1;} –>
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We had a bunch of new people come out for the Slalom Survivor and the Throwdown, mixing it up with the now veterans. Some have mastered the art of capturing the flamingo while others continue to pull out all kinds of tricks in the Throwdown to impress the judges and get those style points.
We had a great set-up again this time with demo boats from Jackson Kayak and Bliss Stick Kayaks for everybody to check out. Wes brought the JAW that now includes the entire 2010 Star series. All that can be said is that the Monstar is huge and the big boys were all smiles.
The Slalom Survivor kicked off at noon and lets just say you haven’t lived until you’ve seen two grown men in kayaks fighting no, actually ripping a blow-up pink flamingo in half as they are paddling through class II rapids. During the race the flamingo is thrown out somewhere in the course and whomever gets to the finishing eddy with it gets a minute off there time, anything goes. This time we had to modify the rules a bit as the flamingo got ripped/bitten into two pieces so we did the logical thing and each racer with a piece got 30 seconds of there time.
We played musical Throwdown again, which is one of the great things about the USNWC, not only do we have the different classes we can move around the Center and utilize a bunch of the great playspots. We started things off with the ladies at second drop It is amazing to see the progression of the competitiors through the series as the ladies are now going for spins, enders and are attempting cartwheels and even loops. Jen boated away in first after throwing some great vertical cartwheels.
We moved across the island to Dave’s Dilemma for K1B, a great hole and wave combination. The hole is a bit flushy at most levels but the K1B boys were pulling off some spins and cartwheels. The wave is right behind the hole, and offers up some great surf, spins and the occasional blunt were seen. The trick of the day from our C1er keeping old school, balancing his paddle in the air tee handle on his helmet while front surfing.
Our Juniors have progressed so much it is amazing. We had both Will and Conner throwing down with the K1A boys and Alex the little big man in the Shooting Star mixing it up with the K1B boys.
K1A was held once again and quickly becoming a crowd favorite, on M wave. The wave seemed to be a little more flushy today, but the rides were still great to watch. Will and Conner competing in K1A now (started the Throwdowns in Junoirs) battled it out, with Will ending up in first throwing a couple nice blunts and spinning like a top on the wave.
This wraps up our events for the season…..maybe keep checking H2O PLAY IN CHARLOTTE for more details. We have to give a big THANKS to everybody who volunteered throughout the events, Andrew, Wayne, Billie Joe, Heather, Chris, Wes, Jen, Natalie, Brian, the Ripple boys (great noseplugs by the way http://ripplenoseplugs.blogspot.com/)
Results:
Slalom Survivor
Mens
|
Name |
Time |
Place |
|
Wes |
3.00 |
1 |
|
Brian |
3.39 |
6 |
|
Billy joe |
3.34 |
4 |
|
John |
3.05 |
2 |
|
Phillip |
3.45 |
7 |
|
Duo |
3.37 |
5 |
|
Parker |
3.29 |
3 |
Womens
|
Name |
Time |
Place |
|
Heather |
3.48 |
2 |
|
Jen |
3.52 |
3 |
|
Natalie |
2.38 |
1 |
Throwdown
Women
|
Total |
|
|||
|
# |
Name |
Total |
Place |
|
|
1 |
Jen |
44 |
1 |
|
|
2 |
Heather |
33.5 |
2 |
|
|
3 |
Sam |
24 |
5 |
|
|
4 |
Yona |
25 |
4 |
|
|
5 |
Natalie |
29.5 |
3 |
|
K1-B Mens
|
Total |
|
|||
|
# |
Name |
Total |
Place |
|
|
1 |
Alex |
67 |
7 |
|
|
2 |
Wes |
77 |
2 |
|
|
3 |
Jason M |
65 |
8 |
|
|
4 |
Brian |
77 |
2 |
|
|
5 |
Chris |
54 |
9 |
|
|
6 |
Shawn |
73 |
4 |
|
|
7 |
Steve |
69 |
6 |
|
|
8 |
Tim |
72 |
5 |
|
|
9 |
Ryan |
86 |
1 |
|
|
10 |
Griff |
36.5 |
10 |
|
|
11 |
Travis |
23.5 |
11 |
|
K1-A Mens
|
Total |
|
|||
|
# |
Name |
Total |
Place |
|
|
1 |
Billy joe |
27.5 |
4 |
|
|
2 |
Will |
47.5 |
1 |
|
|
3 |
Tim |
29 |
3 |
|
|
4 |
Shawn |
21 |
5 |
|
|
5 |
Connor |
38 |
2 |
|
millers is We have lived a few places. We are both originally from the Northeast, New York and New Jersey, respectively, and briefly Baton Rouge, LA. Jason is a chemical engineer, currently working in Chester, SC and Samantha is a civil engineer at PBSJ in Charlotte, NC. We love our jobs because we get to live in the best place for kayaking. We are surrounded by some of the best rivers; Nantahala, Green, Gauley, Saluda (just to name a few) and the USNWC is in our backyard and running late in the summer when most everything else lately is dry.
We got into kayaking in college when we took a rafting down the Lehigh and decided we needed a bigger challenge. We took some classes but it was not until we moved to Baton Rouge, LA that the kayak bug really hit us. We got adopted by a great group of paddlers in Louisiana, seems whitewater paddlers exist everywhere, even the swamp. We started calling our group the NOKers (New Orleans Kayakers), a group who loves to paddle and drive together. Our "local" river, the Coosa was a mere 5 ½ hours away in Alabama, we would frequently trip there to paddle. We also hit the Locust and Mulberry Forks, both great late winter /early spring runs.
Well about a year ago, when the South was hit hard by drought we decided to visit Charlotte to see the USNWC. It was truly love at first sight for both of us. After a long weekend, we decided we needed to move to Charlotte and make it our home. We worked at it for awhile and then the stars aligned and we got our wish. We are so happy to be part of an amazing paddling community here in Charlotte.
Paddling has become a great part of our lives together as a couple. We have traveled to several countries to paddle. We have been to the Ottawa, where we had an amazing paddling experience with EJ and Emily Jackson. We also went on a adventure paddling trip to Jamaica for our honeymoon. Each new river helps us to grow both as individuals and builds a greater bond between us.
Some our favorite rivers include the Nantahala, Mulberry, Pigeon, Gauley, and the Ottawa. Jason is a bit more adventurous and is a confident Class III-IV boater. He is always up to new challenges and hopes to hit many more new rivers this paddling season. Jason is more into play boating, but does love running new rivers. His favorite spots are Lunchstop on the Mulberry, The Gap on the Coosa, Garb on the Ottawa and of curse Biscuits and Gravy at the USNWC. Samantha has been consistently building her skill level and considers herself a pretty solid Class III boater, although she is more a river runner she loves to play in little spots (her favorites are Second Drop at the park and Pop Up Hole on the Saluda). We are always up for checking out new play spots and paddling rivers we have never done before.
It seems lately that we have started teaching our neighbors who are general outdoor types how to roll and basically get down the river having fun. It's great to get more people involved in the sport we all crave and love.
We are both excited about the World Kayak program and are thrilled to be named ambassadors for Charlotte. We can't wait to tell you all about the amazing events going on and to host some awesome paddling events. We really want to get as many people involved in the Charlotte paddling community as possible.
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