World Cup Final, Rock Island
Tenessee is a long way from Watertown, and has had a drought this summer so we didn't have any water release until Friday. This meant we had a few days to find some paddling. Most of us headed to the upper Yough in West Virginia, and had a fun day on the river, paddling in a group of over 30 paddlers! The following day, after a fantastic breakfast at Cathedral Cafe, Fayetteville, we had a chilled out paddle on the New River.
The water at Rock Island released for just a few hours on Friday, Saturday and Sunday. This meant timings were tight for the competition and also meant only 45 minutes of practice between 15 paddlers i.e 5 rides. There were no surprises as to who was paddling well in practice - the locals! The feature is a wave-hole, trashy in the middle but flushy on the edges - especially on river right. Cartwheels go well in the middle and blunts etc. were possible on both shoulders, but you had to be quick on river-right to ensure you stuck in the hole. In my practice rides I was concentrating on sticking entry moves, and just surfing about the hole. I stuck all the entry moves (although maybe not scoring ones) but often found myself flushing off river right side of the feature. On Saturday I stuck a nice entry move in my practice ride but then flushed on my first competition ride, and didn't get back up to the wave. Perhaps on my 2nd ride I should have played safe and not gone for the entry move again, as once again I was too slow with the move, and basically landed on my head, flushing straight away! This time I just about made it back up to the wave, but didn't have enough time to do any moves. Nil points and 8th place for me. Hmmmmm. Unfortunately this didn't do me any favours in the overall World-cup rankings as it pushed me down a place into 4th.
The ladies final was fun to watch though (although obviously I would have liked to have been paddling in there!). Tanya Faux had a solid first ride, and an amazing 2nd ride with entry move, big blunts, cartwheels and a McNasty (I think). This meant she took 1st place in this competition and 1st place overall, ahead of Emily Jackson in 2nd. Devon Barker had some super fast clean cartwheels earning her 3rd place at Rock Island. Ruth Gordon had been getting some great entry moves and blunts, but unfortunately not in finals, so she took 4th place which put her just ahead of me, 3rd place, in the overall rankings.
The mens final was going to be good, 3 locals along with Ed Smith (England) and Peter Czonka (Slovakia). All had been getting big moves throughout prelims and semis. Peter started his finals with a score of over 100 points from a huge entry move, big pan ams, McNastys, and even a phonics monkey. Clay Wright wasn't phased by this score and upped the pace even more landing just about every move possible and earning 122 points. The pressure was on the other paddlers. There were some unlucky flushes from Ed, EJ and Stephen, and there was some confusion over scores, EJ and Stephen scoring equally, both in 3rd place. In the overall placings EJ was World Cup Champion, Stephen 2nd and Clay 3rd.
Despite the lack of water and my poor performance Rock Island was a good event, thanks to the Jacksons, and all who helped for the organisation, and for the parties - free food and drinks and an appearance from Elvis made a great loosers' party!
I'm now in North Carolina for a few days, and preparing myself for a big weekend of partying at the Gauley fest!
The water at Rock Island released for just a few hours on Friday, Saturday and Sunday. This meant timings were tight for the competition and also meant only 45 minutes of practice between 15 paddlers i.e 5 rides. There were no surprises as to who was paddling well in practice - the locals! The feature is a wave-hole, trashy in the middle but flushy on the edges - especially on river right. Cartwheels go well in the middle and blunts etc. were possible on both shoulders, but you had to be quick on river-right to ensure you stuck in the hole. In my practice rides I was concentrating on sticking entry moves, and just surfing about the hole. I stuck all the entry moves (although maybe not scoring ones) but often found myself flushing off river right side of the feature. On Saturday I stuck a nice entry move in my practice ride but then flushed on my first competition ride, and didn't get back up to the wave. Perhaps on my 2nd ride I should have played safe and not gone for the entry move again, as once again I was too slow with the move, and basically landed on my head, flushing straight away! This time I just about made it back up to the wave, but didn't have enough time to do any moves. Nil points and 8th place for me. Hmmmmm. Unfortunately this didn't do me any favours in the overall World-cup rankings as it pushed me down a place into 4th.
The ladies final was fun to watch though (although obviously I would have liked to have been paddling in there!). Tanya Faux had a solid first ride, and an amazing 2nd ride with entry move, big blunts, cartwheels and a McNasty (I think). This meant she took 1st place in this competition and 1st place overall, ahead of Emily Jackson in 2nd. Devon Barker had some super fast clean cartwheels earning her 3rd place at Rock Island. Ruth Gordon had been getting some great entry moves and blunts, but unfortunately not in finals, so she took 4th place which put her just ahead of me, 3rd place, in the overall rankings.
The mens final was going to be good, 3 locals along with Ed Smith (England) and Peter Czonka (Slovakia). All had been getting big moves throughout prelims and semis. Peter started his finals with a score of over 100 points from a huge entry move, big pan ams, McNastys, and even a phonics monkey. Clay Wright wasn't phased by this score and upped the pace even more landing just about every move possible and earning 122 points. The pressure was on the other paddlers. There were some unlucky flushes from Ed, EJ and Stephen, and there was some confusion over scores, EJ and Stephen scoring equally, both in 3rd place. In the overall placings EJ was World Cup Champion, Stephen 2nd and Clay 3rd.
Despite the lack of water and my poor performance Rock Island was a good event, thanks to the Jacksons, and all who helped for the organisation, and for the parties - free food and drinks and an appearance from Elvis made a great loosers' party!
I'm now in North Carolina for a few days, and preparing myself for a big weekend of partying at the Gauley fest!
posted by flea at 3:57 PM 
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