welshkate

…no, I’m not talking about the injections of botulism that seem to be so popular among the movers, shakers and socialites these days but I’m referring to my first Boater-Cross experience.

What a fun, low pressure gathering of the kayak tribe. Click the “read the rest of this article” link below the photo to read me write up. Its long, so you may want grab a cup-o-coffee.

Photo by Jenn Hart: Gorge Games Boto-X winners

Gorge games made a welcome return after a 4 year hiatus. The timing couldn’t have been more perfect; a fitting end to my time in Oregon. The games provided an opportunity to celebrate the superior kayaking offered by the White Salmon River. I decided to compete in the boater-cross event. This event was run on the Class IV Maytag rapid.

Photo by Kayakattack.com

My day began early when I met Sandra and crew for a spin down the Middle White; a class II to III+ section of the river. It was a good warm up for the race and gave me the chance to get used to paddling Dave’s boat (Dagger Nomad 8.1). I like Dave’s boat very much; it’s fast and responsive (esp. to duffecks) and as I’d paddled it more than my rocker, I thought I’d use it for the race.

I checked in at the registration site, saw the list of entrants and nearly changed my mind about competing. How could paddle against the likes of Christie Glissmeyer and Heather Herbeck? But I thought to myself that the worst I could do was come last and I didn’t care if that happened. At least I would be one more women out there representing. The heats were drawn and I was against Libby from New Zealand and Turin from PDX; both ex-slalom paddlers. I knew it was going to be difficult.

Turin got the best start, and left Libby and I in her wake. Libby got ahead of me, but I felt like I could catch her. I was paddling as hard as I could. But then after the first drop I spin out and dropped further behind. Then as Libby went over Top Drop, I saw her get stuck in the hole for a second or two giving me chance to catch up and over take. I paddled hard, making every stroke count and thought I’d got her at the finish line.

Photo by Kayakattack.com

However, when I jumped out of the water, Sam immediately began interviewing Libby for Fox Sports and I knew I’d lost, but it had been a close call. The top two from the heat were promoted to the next round. So I knew I wasn’t going any further. Or so I thought….

Photo by kayakattack.com: Sam interviews Turin and Libby for Fox Sports

The judge called down to Sam to say that they’d checked the video and in fact I had placed second, behind Turin, and in front of Libby by a mere inch. Phew. I headed back up to start to race my next heat. I was slated to race Turin again. However, as they were calling us down to race, Libby was informed that she had not placed second in the first heat and did not go through. Understandably, she was upset as the judges had not told her that there was a mistake. She contested the decision, and in a bid to keep things amicable and fair I agreed to a re-run.

In the re-run, Libby got the best start, but she flipped before the first drop. I was paddling conservatively and carefully, trying to give her space to roll. Her flip gave me a chance to get ahead and I took the lead with clean lines through the drops. However, I eddied out before the finish line, confused about its exact location. The crowd yelled to me to paddle further down stream. A few choice words came out of my mouth, frustrated at my brainless mistake. I managed to peal out across the finish line before Libby hit the Top Drop. Phew. Made it again.

Now to face Turin. By this time, I’d figured out the best start position, put myself in it, hit clean lines through the rapid and crossed the line before Turin. After that run, I faced my toughest task yet. Heather Herbeck. Yikes.

Heather and I put in at the start. Heather had the best start place, and was easily a boat length ahead of me by the time we were in view of the crowd. This lead increased as the further we progressed through the rapid Nevertheless, I continued to give it my all. Then disaster for Heather. She dropped over Top Drop was stern squirted in the hole, flipped and then spun around as she rolled up. When I saw her bow go up I knew this was my one and only chance to catch her. I dug as deep as I could and boofed over Top Drop, passing Heather (valiantly fighting the eddy line) on the way to the finish line.

I couldn’t believe it. The race taught me that it’s never too late to pull off a win, even if 3-4 boat lengths separate competitors. Never give up. It also taught me that Boto-X is more about luck than skill. Heather for sure deserved to win the race.

The crowd were spectacular and made a HUGE difference to the competitors. They ROCKED! Kudos to the organizers (John Hart/ Kayak Shed), to the Judges and to the TV crew who worked exceptionally hard through the day and produced a well organized, unbias, fun event. Cant wait for the next one!

Luke put a video up on his blog

Alternatively, You can catch the all the action from the games, including the down river race on Fox Sports 12, August 17 th onwards.

-Kate