 Hotline Blurbs Asheville Gets New Slalom Course Slalom paddlers tired of crowds at the Nantahala Outdoor Center take heart: a new slalom venue recently opened on the French Broad River 10 minutes downstream of Asheville, N.C. "It's always been a place for local boaters to go after work," says Steve Thompson, an Asheville kayak instructor who helped design the course. "The NOC course has really been the only slalom site in the area, so the reception for this new one has been really strong." More than 200 people showed up for the opening ceremonies at the Ledges Park Whitewater Center Nov. 14, including such notables as Scott Shipley, Scott Strausbaugh and Horace Holden. Thompson says the quarter-mile, Olympic-caliber course--built for $30,000 by local contractor and kayak instructor Steve Zarnowski--hopes to host such sanctioned races as the Junior Nationals in the future. "It's been a long, eight-year process," he says. "Different people have carried the torch at different times, and it's all come to reality now." --For more information, e-mail River Link, a non-profit river improvement organization in Asheville, at wwraft@mindspring.com --edb Outfitter Hit Hard by Texas Floods
On Oct. 17-18, up to 20 inches of rain fell in southcentral and eastern Texas, much of it coming in a few hours. Water-surface elevations and streamflow discharges peaked at record or near-record levels in the San Jacinto, San Bernard, Lower Colorado, Lavaca, Guadalupe and San Antonio river basins. Scattered along these waterways were several outfitters forced to brave the storm. None were hit as hard as New Braunfels' Rockin' R River Rides, one of the largest rental liveries in the country. "Our offices, restaurant, boat barn and vehicles are now in the Gulf of Mexico," says company manager Kevin Webb. "We took a huge hit." Located on the banks of the Guadalupe River, Rockin' R runs a fleet of 450 rafts it rents to customers who float an 18-mile section of the river. Half of those rafts, nearly 250 in all, says Webb, were lost in the flood. "We keep everything in a two-story boat barn, and that building had 13 feet of water in it," he says. "Pretty much everything washed away." The trouble started Oct. 17 when Webb went down to the Gruene Bridge at 11 a.m. and saw the river running at about 600 cfs. It then rose 10 feet an hour and hit 30,000 cfs by 1 p.m. According to the United States Geological Survey, the river rose 35 feet and crested at 130,000 cfs, a 100-year high. "It came up so fast we couldn't get anything out," continues Webb. "We moved two vans, a computer and a copier before it hit." Vehicle-wise, the company lost 12 trucks, nine large school buses and 10 mini-bus vans. "It took them and just twisted them around trees," adds Webb. "The next morning the river was back to about 1,200 cfs, but it was Ground Zero everywhere." The company is aiming to be back in operation by March 1. --edb A True Boat Test Sometimes the best feedback comes from the field. In a testament to boat durability that could never be duplicated in a testing facility, England's Guy Baker dropped his Pyranha Acro 275 kayak 1,000 feet into the Humbo Gorge last summer while hiking into Peru's Colca Canyon. According to reports, the kayak slipped from the back of a pack mule and bounced down a 70-degree precipice of scree and rock. It took more than five hours to recover the boat from the gorge, with damage restricted to a few scrapes and two missing end caps. As fate would have it, the rescue and ding-test was in vain: the kayak--loaded with three days' supplies, a digital video camera and a sleeping bag--was lost two days later when Baker swam on a Class V section on the river. --Heather Gunn Water Cycling Association Formed Bystanders passing San Diego's Mission Bay January 22 might have noticed some peculiar, larger-than-normal water bugs skimming across the surface. As part of a press conference announcing the formation of the North American Water Cycling Association, more than 12 manufacturers--including Meyers Boat Co., MicroCAT Marine and Hobie Cat--debuted a new breed of water-cycling craft to the public, giving attendees a chance to pedal rather than paddle across the bay. "Water Cycling provides all the benefits of bicycling without the inherent risks of pedaling on the road," says John Howard, a three-time Olympic bicyclist and partner in HydroCycles Inc., manufacturer of the pedal-powered Wave Walker. "I believe water cycling will be the next big revolution in recreational sport--you don't have to learn any special skills, or be a great athlete to enjoy it." Designs on hand ranged from pedal-powered catamarans to craft resembling compact power boats. --For more information, contact the North American Water Cycling Association at (619) 259-8972. --edb International Rafting Federation Formed If kayakers can get together to create an association like the International Rodeo Committee, it's only natural that rafters could do the same. Following last September's World Rafting Championships in Costa Rica, inflatable aficionados worldwide did just that, banding together to form the International Rafting Federation (IRF), based in Cape Town, South Africa. "It will become the governing body for rafting competitions worldwide," says IRF administrator Sue Liell-Cook. "Its aim is to develop the sport of rafting to the benefit of all involved, while not getting caught up with bureaucracy." Bureaucracy, however, comes with the territory. As one of its first orders of business, IRF released its official IRF Racing Rules, an eight-page document outlining international race categories, competition schedules and qualifications. And, of course, administrators will have to contend with more than 20 teams of rafters--all speaking different languages--planning to attend upcoming World Championships. --The 1999 Camel Whitewater Challenge (CWWC) will be held Aug. 15-21 on South Africa's Orange River; the 2000 CWWC will be held the last two weeks of February, 1999, on Chile's Rio Futaleufu. For more information, call (800) 467-6827 or visit http://members.aol.com/intraftfed. --edb Dagger Endurance Grant Seeks Applicants Harriman, Tenn.'s Dagger introduces the world's first paddling-specific endurance grant, offered to support exploration of ocean and river via kayak and canoe. The $5,000 grant will be awarded in June and applications are due by May 1, 1999. Qualified applicants should visit dagger.com for a Grant Application and detailed listing of rules and qualifications. "The grants will be awarded to modern day explorers who have a taste for adventure and a talent for organization," says sponsorship program manager Mike Steck. "The purpose of the grant is to help people paddle in places they would otherwise only dream about." Info.: www.dagger.com , (423) 882-0404 --ahb An Olympic Course Preview The 2000 Olympic Whitewater course in Sydney, Australia, will be 975 feet long, 26-46 feet wide and include a conveyor belt to transport racers back to the start. If George Jetson were a
kayaker, he would feel right at home on the new 2000
Olympic Whitewater Course under construction in
Australia. Housed at the International Regatta Centre
west of Sydney, the course is only the second slalom site
in the world--joining Barcelona, Spain's La seu d'
Urgell--to have a mechanical conveyer belt, connected by
ponds at each end of the course, to ferry racers back to
the start. "I think the competitors will really like
it," says U.S. Canoe and Kayak Team spokesperson
Lisa Fish. "They won't even have to get out of their
boats--they can paddle right onto the conveyor and get
shuttled back up." Upon completion, the course will
fall 18 feet in its 975-foot length, and will be between
26-46 feet wide with artificial beaches. Course designers
will place boulders at will to create race features. The
icing on the artificial cake are six three-foot-diameter
water pumps located adjacent to the tail pond that will
re-circulate 565 cfs back to the head pond to create the
course's current. WWOC Championship Grants Available Having trouble finding financing to attend the Whitewater Open Canoe National Championships (WWOC) in Colorado this July? Help is on the way. The Whitewater Open Canoe Committee of the American Canoe Association (ACA) is offering $2,000 in grants to ACA Paddle America Clubs, paddling schools and college/university canoe and outing clubs to help cover travel expenses to the event. "We're just trying to help paddling and college clubs and youth attend the event," says WWOC National Chair Kirk Havens. "It's a win-win for everyone." For information, contact Havens at (804) 684-7386 or (804) 785-2107, or email kirk@vims.edu. --edb Thinking Ahead Wondering when the Saiko
whitewater playboat is planning to be released by
Montreal, Quebec's Riot Kayaks? Keep your helmet on.
Marking one of the most foresighted production schedules
in paddlesports history, company co-founder Corran
Addison recently blanketed the market with a press
release announcing the debut date for the kayak to be
12:01 a.m., Jan. 1, 2000. "Can you think of a better
way to define a new millennium than with the most
radically advanced kayak ever conceived?" he asks.
"The 20th century is not capable of handling
it." Travel Discounts for Paddlers If international expeditions and competitions have left you cash-poor, look into the new Fitness Travel Card (FTC) discount card which, among other things, offers a 50 percent discount on canoe and kayak passage on airlines for boat-toting paddlers. For a $74.95 annual fee, FTC members receive unlimited access to RacePlanner.com, the largest race information and registration website; members also can book travel reservations directly through the FTC Ticketing Desk. Continental, TWA and Delta airlines, as well as Alamo and Avis car rentals and over 10,000 hotels all provide additional benefits to paddling cardholders. Visit www.fitnesstravel.com for more information.--ahb
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