2012 Nolichucky Hometown Throwdown #4
The final event in the 2012 Nolichucky Hometown Throwdown Series closed in style! We continued the trend of “the year of no rodeo” on th Noli, due to heavy rain earlier in the week leading up to the event.
However, like we have been doing all season, we made the best of it and had 12 competitors join in for some friendly downriver freestyle/slalom and boatercross competition! We had several spectators who watched and cheered on the competitors from the Riverpark Campground bank. The event was held at Big Rock on the Lower Nolichucky River, TN with nice partly sunny weather.
The river level was 1,610CFSwhich made the main Big Rock wave/hole feature too flushy for a rodeo format. So we agreed to a slalom course through the rapid. Each competitor got 2 runs through the course and each run counted for their “DFS” Score. The course involved catching 3 eddies down through the rapid behind rocks. The competitors got 10 points for each of the eddies they caught. Competitors had 1:30 minutes to complete the course while attempting downriver freestyle moves along the way to earn additional points from our Variety and Technical judges!
The third run was a boatercross race for each class from the top of the campground and went through the main feature. Then the race course veered through our version of the “Notch” and finished at a rock in the center of the river! This made for a fun zigzag course with a bottle neck at the “Notch”. We gave 10 pts per place in the boatercross race and summed the BC score with the DFS runs for the grand total!
2012 Nolichucky Hometown Throwdown Event #4 Results:
Women K-1 DFS + BC = Total
1. Jennifer Bradley 86 4th place:30 (116)
Men’s Expert K-1:
1. Duane Gibson 143 4th place:30 (173)
2. Wesley R. Bradley 84 1st place:60 (144)
3. Andy Woods 90 3rd place:40 (130)
Men’s Intermediate K-1:
1. Steve Moore 82 2nd place:50 (132)
2. Ryan Shealy 89 5th place:20 (109)
3. Jeff Weatherford 82 6th place:10 (92)
Men’s Novice K-1:
1. Jamison Evans 96 1st place:60 (156)
2. Jeremy Gass 99 2nd place:50 (149)
3. Ben Carr 47 3rd place:40 (87)
4. Jeff Vannoy 58 5th place:20 (78)
Junior Men’s Novice K-1:
1. Alex Geisman 92 6th place:10 (102)
Click here for a PDF copy of Event #4 Results
Thank you to all the competitors for their participation and congrats to all of our class winners of Event #4!
Event Highlights:
*We had 2 swimmers during the event that went home with with the coveted River Gypsies “Everybody Swims” sticker award.
*The Men’s Intermediate & Expert boatercross race was a crowd pleaser with Jeff Weatherford sacrificing his first place lead to cause some major action at the “Notch”!
*Everyone who competed or volunteered in the event went home with a nice prize and free swag!
Event #4 Photo Album Links:
Cheryl Killman’s Noli HTTD #4 photo album
Jamison Evans’ Noli HTTD #4 photo album
Noli HTTD #4 Award Ceremony photo album
A big thank you goes out to all of our great volunteers for their help in event #4:
Jennifer & Wesley Bradley – Variety Judge & Registration
Laura Ward – Technical Judge
Erin Weatherford – Time Keeper
Cheryl Killman – Photographer
Susan Jarvis – Scribe
A special thank you goes out to our World Kayak Partners listed in the banner at the top of this page & the local sponsors below for all the great prizes & support of the events!
The final point series standings and awards were a highlight of the event ceremony! Congrats to all out our Series Champs!
|
2012 Nolichucky Hometown Throwdown Point Series Standings |
||||||
|
|
Event #1 Big Rock |
Event #2 Big Rock |
Event #3 Big Rock |
Event #4 Big Rock |
TOTAL |
PLACE |
| Men’s Expert K-1 | ||||||
| Andy Woods |
125 |
135 |
125 |
115 |
500 |
1 |
| Duane Gibson |
0 |
115 |
0 |
135 |
250 |
3 |
| Kerry Porche |
115 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
115 |
5 |
| Michael Bianchi |
0 |
0 |
135 |
0 |
135 |
4 |
| Wesley R. Bradley |
135 |
125 |
115 |
125 |
500 |
1 |
| Men’s Intermediate K-1 | ||||||
| Andrew Bentley |
85 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
85 |
8 |
| Brian Burton |
125 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
125 |
6 |
| Jeff Weatherford |
0 |
0 |
115 |
115 |
230 |
4 |
| Joseph Obenschain |
135 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
135 |
5 |
| Matt Dalton |
115 |
0 |
135 |
0 |
250 |
3 |
| Mike Dorsey |
0 |
0 |
125 |
0 |
125 |
6 |
| Ryan Shealy |
95 |
125 |
105 |
125 |
450 |
2 |
| Steve Moore |
105 |
135 |
95 |
135 |
470 |
1 |
| Men’s Novice K-1 | ||||||
| Ben Carr |
0 |
0 |
0 |
115 |
115 |
5 |
| Brian Vermillion |
125 |
135 |
135 |
0 |
395 |
1 |
| Hayden Blake |
0 |
0 |
115 |
0 |
115 |
5 |
| Jamison Evans |
115 |
115 |
0 |
135 |
365 |
2 |
| Jeff Vannoy |
0 |
0 |
0 |
105 |
105 |
7 |
| Jeremy Gass |
0 |
125 |
0 |
125 |
250 |
3 |
| Josh Carter |
0 |
105 |
0 |
0 |
105 |
7 |
| Lance Simerly |
0 |
0 |
105 |
0 |
105 |
7 |
| Pat Ladner |
0 |
95 |
0 |
0 |
95 |
10 |
| Robert Davis |
0 |
0 |
125 |
0 |
125 |
4 |
| Women’s K-1 | ||||||
| Jennifer Bradley |
135 |
0 |
135 |
135 |
405 |
1 |
| Laura Meade |
0 |
0 |
125 |
0 |
125 |
2 |
| Junior Men’s Novice K-1 | ||||||
| Alex Geisman |
135 |
0 |
0 |
135 |
270 |
1 |
| Carter Davis |
0 |
0 |
135 |
0 |
135 |
2 |
| James Hunter |
0 |
0 |
125 |
0 |
125 |
3 |
Click here for a PDF copy of Final Point Series Standings
Mark your calendar for September 29 & 30, 2012 to join us & Click Here to Register for the last big WK event for the season, 2012 WORLDKAYAK Hometown Throwdown Championship @ the NOC – Bryson City, NC! WK will host a freestyle rodeo on Saturday and a boatercross race on Sunday for this Championship event! I hope to see you at the GAF!!
2012 Nolichucky Hometown Throwdown #3
The third event in the 2012 Nolichucky Hometown Throwdown series was kind of a shocker! Just when we thought the river level for Big Rock was going to drop in for a good rodeo the day before, we awoke on event day to discover the river level was rising from rain overnight. We have now coined this year’s Noli HTTD Series as “the year of no rodeo”!
However, we made the best of it and had 16 competitors join in for some friendly downriver freestyle/slalom and boatercross competition! We had several spectators who watched and cheered on the competitors from the Riverpark Campground bank. The event was held at Big Rock on the Lower Nolichucky River, TN with very humid partly sunny weather.
The river level was 1,640CFSwhich made the main Big Rock wave/hole feature too flushy for our typical rodeo format. So we agreed to a slalom course through the rapid. Each competitor got 2 runs through the course and each run counted for their “DFS” Score. The course involved catching 3 eddies down through the rapid behind rocks. The competitors got 10 points for each of the eddies they caught. Competitors had 1:30 minutes to complete the course while attempting downriver freestyle moves along the way to earn additional points from our Variety and Technical judges!
The third run was a boatercross race for each class from the top of the campground and went through the main feature. Then the race course veered through our version of the “Notch” and finished on the river right beach! This made for a fun zigzag course with a bottle neck at the “Notch”. We gave 10 pts per place in the boatercross race and summed the BC score with the DFS runs for the grand total!
2012 Nolichucky Hometown Throwdown Event #3 Results:
Women K-1 DFS + BC = Total
1. Jennifer Bradley 66 2nd place:40 (106)
2. Laura Meade 37 DNF (37)
Men’s Expert K-1:
1. Michael Bianchi 164 2nd place:40 (204)
2. Andy Woods 142 3rd place:30 (172)
3. Wesley R. Bradley 131 4th place:20 (151)
Men’s Intermediate K-1:
1. Matt Dalton 116 1st place:50 (166)
2. Mike Dorsey 112 2nd place:40 (152)
3. Jeff Weatherford 100 3rd place:30 (130)
4. Ryan Shealy 89 4th place:20 (109)
5. Steve Moore 88 5th place:10 (98)
Men’s Novice K-1:
1. Brian Vermillion 96 1st place:50 (146)
2. Robert Davis 80 3rd place:30 (110)
3. Hayden Blake 40 4th place:20 (60)
4. Lance Simerly 41 5th place:10 (51)
Junior Men’s Novice K-1:
1. Carter Davis 146 1st place:50 (196)
2. James Hunter 90 5th place:10 (100)
(Click here for a PDF copy of Event #1 Results)
Thank you to all the competitors for their participation and congrats to all of our class winners of Event #3!
Event Highlights:
*We had 3 swimmers during the event that went home with with the coveted River Gypsies “Everybody Swims” sticker award.
*Laura Meade introduced the new hand/paddle gesture, the “BANTHA-POO-DOO”, which will forever shadow the “Brown Claw”! This gesture involves raising your paddle above the head and pumping it up and down while yelling like one of the Sand People from Star Wars! This gesture was an instant classic by the crowd and will forever live in infamy!
*Laura Meade’s son quoted “Mommy you didn’t do very good” after she swam on her first run!
*Junior competitor, Carter Davis, kicked all the Men’s Expert’s butts in their boatercross race!
*Women competitor, Jennifer Bradley, kicked all but one of the Men’s Novice’s butts in their boatercross race!
*Everyone who competed or volunteered in the event went home with a prize and free swag!
Event #3 Photo Album Links:
Cheryl Killman’s Noli HTTD #3 photo album
Noli HTTD #3 Award Ceremony photo album
A big thank you goes out to all of our great volunteers for their help in event #3:
Jennifer & Wesley Bradley – Variety Judge & Registration
Samantha Young – Technical Judge
Erin Weatherford – Time Keeper
Cheryl Killman – Photographer
Susan Jarvis – Scribe
A special thank you goes out to our World Kayak Partners listed in the banner at the top of this page & the local sponsors below for all the great prizes & support of the events!
The point series standings are getting exciting with only one event to go ion the series! There are some tight point spreads between several of our top competitors in some of the classes! Who will come out on top and/or make it up on the podium after the final event? Check out the current standings below:
|
2012 Nolichucky Hometown Throwdown Point Series Standings |
||||||
|
|
Event #1 Big Rock |
Event #2 Big Rock |
Event #3 Big Rock |
Event #4 Big Rock |
TOTAL |
PLACE |
| Men’s Expert K-1 | ||||||
| Andy Woods |
125 |
135 |
125 |
385 |
1 |
|
| Duane Gibson |
0 |
115 |
0 |
115 |
4 |
|
| Kerry Porche |
115 |
0 |
0 |
115 |
4 |
|
| Michael Bianchi |
0 |
0 |
135 |
135 |
3 |
|
| Wesley R. Bradley |
135 |
125 |
115 |
375 |
2 |
|
| Men’s Intermediate K-1 | ||||||
| Andrew Bentley |
85 |
0 |
0 |
85 |
8 |
|
| Brian Burton |
125 |
0 |
0 |
125 |
5 |
|
| Jeff Weatherford |
0 |
0 |
115 |
115 |
7 |
|
| Joseph Obenschain |
135 |
0 |
0 |
135 |
4 |
|
| Matt Dalton |
115 |
0 |
135 |
250 |
3 |
|
| Mike Dorsey |
0 |
0 |
125 |
125 |
5 |
|
| Ryan Shealy |
95 |
125 |
105 |
325 |
2 |
|
| Steve Moore |
105 |
135 |
95 |
335 |
1 |
|
| Men’s Novice K-1 | ||||||
| Brian Vermillion |
125 |
135 |
135 |
395 |
1 |
|
| Hayden Blake |
0 |
0 |
115 |
115 |
5 |
|
| Jamison Evans |
115 |
115 |
0 |
230 |
2 |
|
| Jeremy Gass |
0 |
125 |
0 |
125 |
3 |
|
| Josh Carter |
0 |
105 |
0 |
105 |
6 |
|
| Lance Simerly |
0 |
0 |
105 |
105 |
6 |
|
| Pat Ladner |
0 |
95 |
0 |
95 |
8 |
|
| Robert Davis |
0 |
0 |
125 |
125 |
3 |
|
| Women’s K-1 | ||||||
| Jennifer Bradley |
135 |
0 |
135 |
270 |
1 |
|
| Laura Meade |
0 |
0 |
125 |
125 |
2 |
|
| Junior Men’s Novice K-1 | ||||||
| Alex Geisman |
135 |
0 |
0 |
135 |
1 |
|
| Carter Davis |
0 |
0 |
135 |
135 |
1 |
|
| James Hunter |
0 |
0 |
125 |
125 |
3 |
|
Click here for PDF Point Series Standings
Mark your calendar for August 11, 2012 to join us & Click Here to Register for the final event #4! I hope to see you on the Noli to Throwdown and pray the level will drop in for a rodeo in our final event!!
2012 Nolichucky Hometown Throwdown #2
The second event in the 2012 Nolichucky Hometown Throwdown series was full of good times! We had 10 competitors join in for some friendly freestyle and boatercross competition! We had several spectators who watched and cheered on the competitors from the Riverpark Campground bank. The event was held at Big Rock on the Lower Nolichucky River, TN with warm sunny weather.
The river level was 1,070CFSwhich made the main Big Rock wave/hole feature flushy, but the participants wanted to rodeo. So we agreed to the one and done flip & flush freestyle rodeo. Each competitor got 2 rides on the wave/hole and both ride scores counted for their “FR” Score.
The third run was a boatercross race for each class. The race started from the top of the campground on river left and went through the main feature. Then the race course veered through our version of the “Notch” and finished on the river right beach! This made for a fun zigzag course with a bottle neck at the “Notch”. We gave 10 pts per place in the boatercross race and summed the BC score with the FR score for the grand total!
2012 Nolichucky Hometown Throwdown Event #2 Results:
Men’s Expert K-1: FR BC Total
1. Andy Woods 95 1st place:50 (145)
2. Wesley R. Bradley 74 2nd place:40 (114)
3. Duane Gibson 61 5th place:10 (71)
Men’s Intermediate K-1:
1. Steve Moore 59 3rd place:30 (89)
2. Ryan Shealy 57 4th place:20 (77)
Men’s Novice K-1:
1. Brian Vermillion 47 1st place:50 (97)
2. Jeremy Gass 40 2nd place:40 (80)
3. Jamison Evans 33 3rd place:30 (63)
4. Josh Carter 35 4th place:20 (55)
5. Pat Ladner 17 5th place:10 (27)
(Click here for a PDF copy of Event #2 Results)
Thank you to all the competitors for their participation and congrats to all of our class winners of Event #2!
Event Highlights:
*We had 2 swimmers during the event that went home with the coveted River Gypsies “Everybody Swims” sticker award!
*Everyone who competed or volunteered in the event went home with a prize!
Event #2 Photo Album Links:
Cheryl Killman’s Noli HTTD #2 photo album
Jamison Evans’ Noli HTTD #2 photo album
Noli HTTD #2 Award Ceremony photo album
A big thank you goes out to all of our great volunteers for their help in event #2:
Jennifer Bradley – Registration
Samantha Young & Laura Ward – Technical Judge
Steve Moore & Jennifer Bradley – Time Keeper
Cheryl Killman – Photographer
A special thank you goes out to our World Kayak Partners listed in the banner at the top of this page & the local sponsors below for all the great prizes & support of the events!
The competition is heating up after 2 events in the series! We have a tie for 1st place in the Men’s expert class. The Men’s Intermediate & Novice classes have close races for 1st and 2nd place too! Check out the current standings below:
|
2012 Nolichucky Hometown Throwdown Point Series Standings |
||||||
|
|
Event #1 Big Rock |
Event #2 Big Rock |
Event #3 Big Rock |
Event #4 Big Rock |
TOTAL |
PLACE |
| Men’s Expert K-1 | ||||||
| Andy Woods |
125 |
135 |
260 |
1 |
||
| Duane Gibson |
0 |
115 |
115 |
3 |
||
| Kerry Porche |
115 |
0 |
115 |
3 |
||
| Wesley R. Bradley |
135 |
125 |
260 |
1 |
||
| Men’s Intermediate K-1 | ||||||
| Andrew Bentley |
95 |
0 |
95 |
5 |
||
| Brian Burton |
125 |
0 |
125 |
4 |
||
| Joseph Obenschain |
135 |
0 |
135 |
3 |
||
| Ryan Shealy |
105 |
125 |
230 |
2 |
||
| Steve Moore |
115 |
135 |
250 |
1 |
||
| Men’s Novice K-1 | ||||||
| Brian Vermillion |
125 |
135 |
260 |
1 |
||
| Jamison Evans |
115 |
115 |
230 |
2 |
||
| Jeremy Gass |
0 |
125 |
125 |
4 |
||
| Josh Carter |
0 |
105 |
105 |
5 |
||
| Matt Dalton |
135 |
0 |
135 |
3 |
||
| Pat Ladner |
0 |
95 |
95 |
6 |
||
| Women’s K-1 | ||||||
| Jennifer Bradley |
135 |
0 |
135 |
1 |
||
| Jr Men’s Novice K-1 | ||||||
| Alex Geisman |
135 |
0 |
135 |
1 |
||
Click here for PDF Point Series Standings
Mark your calendar for July 14, 2012 to join us & Click Here to Register for event #3! I hope to see you on the Noli to Throwdown with a good water in July!!
Kokatat continues their support of the HTTD series for a third season!
Kokatat has stepped up to the plate for their third season with the World Kayak HTTD series. Kokatat is known for their amazing quality dry gear. They are an awesome group of paddlers located in northern California who have a true passion for the sport. Look for some seekers headed to a throwdown event near you. There are some exciting announcements coming from Kokatat for our Championship event at NOC later this fall. Make sure to support this great company by checking out their gear at your local retailer.
Later ; Colin
Stonyboater Paddle Wax signs on for a second season as a HTTD partner!
I am excited to announce that Stonyboater Paddle Wax has stepped up to the pate to sponsor the World Kayak Hometown Throwdown series for a second year. Last season a number of you got the opportunity to experience a kung fu grip on your paddle of choice, courtesy of Jason Rigby. Not only is Jason the owner of Stonyboater Paddle Wax, but he is also the Western PA World Kayak Ambassador. As the WK ambassador he is coming on strong this season. He is piloting our new Creek Race component to the event series. He even managed to get some great media coverage of his last event. Check it out here in his region http://regions.worldkayak.com/confluence-ohiopyle/. Make sure you check out the Stonyboater Paddle Wax website at www.stonyboater.com
Later ; Colin
Want to get involved with the 2013 World Freestyle Kayaking Championships?
- *Sign-up
- *Volunteer
- *Learn More
Click the link below to be a part of this BIG evevnt:
Want to get involved with the 2013 World Freestyle Kayaking Championships?
- *Sign-up
- *Volunteer
- *Learn More
Click the link below to be a part of this BIG evevnt:
The Nantahala Wave…still a work in progress
Jackson kayaker Stephen Wright sets up for a loop on the Nanthala Wave.
Construction on the Nantahala Wave, home of the 2013 World Freestyle Championships, was completed in the end of November. However, the feature is far from “done.” The construction phase consisted of excavating the area around the feature to make it deeper and constructing a wave shaper machine, which forms the feature.
There is still much work to be done to dial in the feature in by altering the wave shaper and altering boulders around the feature. However, recent rains have caused high water levels and Duke will have to continue releasing water, preventing work on the wave for the moment. When water levels go back down, engineers will begin tweaking the wave and will be getting feedback from a small committee of World Champion playboaters.
Stephen Wright looping on the wave
When the Water Rises and You Run Out of Daylight…by Kat Levitt
Jackson boater Kat Levitt wrote a really great article about what happens when the creek you are on flashes and you run out of daylight. She shares what she experienced recently when her husband and two other boaters did not return from a trip on the North Chick near Chattanooga. It’s an experience we can all learn from and she has shared some really great insights that we all need to think about.
Take the time to read this one!
When the Water Rises and You Run Out of Daylight…
The Nantahala Wave is ON!
Daniel Dutton surfing the new wave
The Nantahala wave in Wesser, NC “came on” today and boaters came out to test out the new feature, braving freezing cold temperatures to get a surf in.The water release was combined with natural flow from the recent rains, resulting in a feature that is “beefy” and very retentive. Playboaters will like the recovery pool the feature now has. No more rocks right below and a river right eddy that is much easier to catch and not blocked by guard rocks. There is also a new “bonus” wave that has appeared above the feature. There is still some work to be done to “fine tune” the feature in December.
The Nantahala Wave
New smaller wave upstream of the feature
Zach Thomason showing off some new tricks (and a few 'unintendos')
Lee Leibfarth demonstrating the retentiveness of the feature
