Hotline Blurbs Drought Tarnishes Southeast Kayak Series A planned Triple Crown in the Southeast turned into a Triple Frown for event organizers when April's low water forced two of three events to be canceled. Nevertheless, organizers turned competitors' expressions right-side up by holding a modified Edge of the World Triple Crown on the Nolichucky River April 10-11. "We planned to create a Triple Crown, but we could only hold one event because of the drought," says event co-organizer Spencer Cooke. "But we still had a pretty good event." The low flow dilemma wasn't new. The rain-dependent streams of North Carolina and Tennessee have long given organizers conniptions when trying to schedule events. To combat Mother Nature's monkey wrench, Cooke and co-organizer Clem Newbold shifted the Watauga event to Big Rocks hole on the lower Nolichucky, where even though flows were low, competitors' spirits were high. Keeping them that way was a cash purse for the winners. After the Men's finals, West Virginia's B.J. Johnson took home a first-place prize of $280, with the remaining pro finalists splitting $2,000. "I think we started a good thing this year by paying everybody," says Cooke. "Everyone who competed said they would return next year." Bill Mason Canoe Heads to Museum Those wishing to glimpse Bill Mason's treasured red, 16-foot Chestnut Prospector canoe can now do so by visiting the Canadian Canoe Museum in Peterborough, Ontario. "The museum had been asking about it for some time, and all of a sudden we decided it was a good idea," says Mason's daughter, Becky. "I think dad would be very pleased." The museum, which opened in 1997 and now has nearly 600 canoes on display, is also happy with the new display piece. "We're incredibly excited about it," says the museum's marketing coordinator Brittany Cadence, adding that it should help the museum see more than 25,000 visitors in 1999. "We anticipate it will be much like a shrine."
When the inaugural U.S. Kayak Polo National Championships ended April 24 on Georgia's Lake Lanier, a surprise team wound up on the podium, especially for a U.S. national championships: a batch of boaters from New Zealand. "It was our first National Championships so there was no precedent for it," says event organizer Brad Carr, who played on a fourth-place team from Tennessee. "A couple of the Kiwis were from the U.S. and they had some friends passing through, so we let them compete. There was some discussion about letting them enter a U.S. championships, but in the end it turned out good for everyone." In all, 64 people forming 10 teams showed up for the event, which also served as the team selection for the unofficial Pan American Championships held in California in July. Despite the fact that Kiwis stole the limelight in a U.S. Nationals, Carr is pleased with the event. "It went really well," says Carr, who last year assembled the first-ever U.S. National Team to compete in the World Championships in Portugal. "It was a milestone for kayak polo in the U.S.—even with the Kiwis." Park Solicits Sea Kayakers Long the home of sailboats, houseboats and powerboats, Canada's oldest National Park east of the Rocky Mountains is now rolling out the red carpet for kayakers. St. Lawrence Islands National Park management has discovered sea kayaking and already has produced a brochure introducing prime areas for touring and camping. They are also developing a comprehensive "Kayak Guide to the 1000 Islands."
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Kiwis Take U.S. Kayak Polo National Championships?