For the complete recap of all the fun that went down in our event #1 click on the link below to see photos, results, & the rest of the story:

http://worldkayakblogs.com/throwdown/2012/05/18/nolichucky-hometown-throwdown-1/ 

Its Throwdown time in TN!!!  The Nolichucky Hometown Throwdown Event #1 is ON for tomorrow @ high noon at Riverpark Campground!  Registration will start @ 11:00 A.M at the white tent near the river.  The river will be too high for a rodeo, so we’ll do downriver slalom freestyle or a boatercross type event.  The J.A.W. will be on-site with FREE Jackson Kayak demos too!  Come join in on the fun!

Check out the 2012 event series website for complete details:

http://regions.worldkayak.com/tri-cities/2012/04/20/2012-nolichucky-hometown-throwdown-series/

Hope to see you at the Throwdown!

That’s right folks… the Jackson Action Wagon is ready to spread some more Jackson Kayak fun with new designs for 2012!  I went down to the JK factory on Friday (4-6-12) to pick up 10 brand new boats that will be available for free demo through out the 2012 spring and summer paddling season! 

The first stop for the new 2012 J.A.W. Tour will be the Freedom Hall Pool Session in Johnson City, TN this evening (4/10/12) for a FREE demo!  Come out and join the J.A.W. for its first event & check out the new Jackson Kayak Zen designs and outfitting!  

For more information and specs about the new 2012 J.A.W. fleet, check out the J.A.W. webpage @: http://worldkayakblogs.com/wildwildwes/the-jaw/

News from Pilot Collective Media:

Chris Gragtmans is planning a 12 hour distance paddle on the French Broad this spring. We will just say that he’s and absolute animal and may end up taking it all the way to the ocean in those 12 hours. The coolest part of it all, he’s doing it for charity! Here’s his note below, with donation links included! Good luck Chris!!

At the heart of paddle sports, there are paddlers who are passionate about the water sport they love.  Amongst the broad spectrum of paddle sports, quite possibly the most passionate about growing and advancing their sport would be whitewater kayakers. World Kayak is made up of such a group of passionate paddlers who volunteer their time to host events, keep others up to date on current whitewater issues, and even do instruction at local pool sessions.  World Kayak began as a grassroots effort to share the sport of whitewater kayaking with the public. Starting with only 32 events 6 years ago, it has now grown into a 150+ event program while still remaining in touch with its roots. The heart of these events is the Hometown Throwdown. Hometown Throwdowns are fun, easygoing events that help spark interest for those that are new and those that have never tried event style kayaking.

In the six years of growing this grassroots event series, we have added events in additional regions and a points system.  This year we have grown again in the southeast to add Ocoee events!  This gives us a total of 5 event regions & 22 total events in the southeast within a 3 hour or less drive time from each locale: Nantahala, Nolichucky, Ocoee, Pigeon, & the USNWC!  With the convenience of these event locations in close proximity, WORLDKAYAK is proud to announce the inaugural Hometown Throwdown Southeast Championship!

The HTTD Southeast Championship will offer participants the extra opportunity to be in competition at different features, experience multiple disciplines of event style paddling, and have way more fun!!!  We also believe that this will be a great way for participants to meet more paddling friends by traveling around to the different regions to compete (Kind of a “Tour de Southeast” for whitewater)! Not to mention… if you win one of the classes, you will have bragging rights for being one of the Southeast Champions! 

CLICK HERE to download the complete

HTTD Southeast Championship Schedule

***Mark your calendar for the events you want to attend & look for more details coming soon on each event in the WORLDKAYAK Regions website…

Competition Format & Rules

*All competitors who wish to compete in the HTTD Southeast Championship must sign up to GET RANKED ($10.00 donation to World Kayak) on worldkayakblogs.com/throwdown website.

*The HTTD Southeast Championship will use the existing World Kayak Amateur Points System to compute points for each competitor.

*Competitors are to register in ONE of the following 8 classes for the entire Championship Series of events:

K-1 Men’s Novice

K-1 Men’s Intermediate

K-1 Men’s Expert

K-1 Women’s Novice

K-1 Women’s Intermediate

K-1 Women’s Expert

C-1: Single blade paddler (open boat or kayak)

Juniors: Youth kayaker age 17 or below

*Competitors are to select at least TWO events in each of the Nolichucky, Nantahala, USNWC, Ocoee, & Pigeon Event Series to participate in a combined total of TEN events.  Competitors can compete in as many events as he/she wishes in each region’s event series, but only the competitor’s best 2 finishes in each regional event series will count in the Championship Series Points System.

*The final 11th event for the 2012 HTTD Southeast Championship will be the WORLDKAYAK Hometown Throwdown Championship event on Saturday, September 29, 2012.  This event will count for double points in the HTTD Southeast Championship Series Points System!

*Individual rules and regulations for each event will be explained by the World Kayak Ambassadors on event days.

We hope to see you at the Throwdowns!

HTTD Southeast Championship Coordinator:

Wesley R. Bradley

423-647-1321

wesley@worldkayak.com

Welcome to the 6^th annual World Kayak Hometown Throwdown series.  With grassroots support and community stoke we have grown from a small 32 event series into a 150 plus event series that is hands down the biggest event series in kayaking history.  Thank you for the support! 

We are excited to announce a new addition to our event formats this year.  Over the past 6 seasons we have been hosting both freestyle and slalom survivor events, and for 2012 we are adding creek racing and boatercross in a handful of test locations.  In the interest of keeping things fun and fair for all boaters we are placing a 9’ length restriction on boats for the main event.  This includes all the big sizes of modern creek boats including the Zen 75, Remix 79, and the Everest.  For all you long boat enthusiasts (9’-1” and up) we will run a long boat category as well, after the modern creek boat category is complete. 

This season we are also kicking things up one more notch with the first annual Hometown Throwdown Championship that will be held at the Guest Appreciation Festival (GAF) of the Nantahala Outdoor Center (NOC) near Bryson City, NC.  This will be your chance to strut your stuff on the worlds feature before the international boating community descends on Western North Carolina next year for the Freestyle World Championships.

“Like” Jackson Kayak on Facebook and enter this sweepstake!!

Grand Prize

Round trip airfare to Rock Island, Tennessee to paddle with World Champion Kayaker, Eric Jackson. The grand prize winner will also get to choose a Jackson Kayak of their choice to take home! The Grand Prize winner will be selected from the eligible entrants that won a GoPro camera. Increase your chances of winning a GoPro camera by telling your friends! The more people who list you as their referrer, the more chances you have of winning.

2nd Prize

We’ve partnered with GoPro to give away 10 HERO2 cameras! The first 5 cameras will be given to randomly selected entrants. The remaining 5 cameras will be given to the people that referred the winners. The more people you tell, the more chances you have to win!

Prize Eligibility

Only persons residing in United States who are at least 18 years of age can enter.

 

Sweepstakes Starts

March 06, 2012 @ 06:00 am (PST)

 

Sweepstakes Ends

April 04, 2012 @ 11:59 pm (PDT)

 

Need more Details?

Read the Official Rules

Click on the link below to Enter!

http://apps.facebook.com/sweepstakeshq/contests/200463

Help Secure a Permanent Upper Yough Takeout

A generous land donation has put a permanent, convenient takeout for theUpper Youghwithin paddlers’ reach. However, donations are needed to fully fund this project. American Whitewater is calling on all paddlers to make donations, big and small to secure this access point.

Click the link below for more info and to donate:

http://americanwhitewater.org/content/Wiki/aw:fundraisers:friendsville_upper_yough_parking_fund?

The dates are confirmed for this year’s Tri-Cities Nolichucky Hometown Throwdown Series events.  Mark your calendar to join us for the 2012 event series:

Event #1: May 12, 2012 @ Big Rock, Nolichucky River

Event #2: June 9, 2012 @ Big Rock, Nolichucky River

Event #3: July 14, 2012 @ Big Rock, Nolichucky River

Event #4: August 11, 2012 @ Big Rock, Nolichucky River 

Check out this awesome video coverage from Drew MacCallum the final Nanty HTTD event #5 from last year!!!  Big thanks to Drew for this superb video!

http://www.vimeo.com/27775634 

The Nolichucky events are back with a full series and will be at Big Rock reguardless of river level.  If the level is too high for a freestyle rodeo, we will have a downriver freestyle/slalom event.  The World Kayak Events webpage, sponsor announcement & details will be coming soon, so stay tuned…

In the mean time, check out all the fun we had in the 2011 series by clicking each event title below:

Noli Event #1

Noli Event #2

Nanty Event #3 

Nanty Event #4

Please do not hesitate to contact me if you or your company would like to join in on our event series as a sponsor or volunteer!

Event Series Organizer Contact Info

Organizer: Wesley R. Bradley

Telephone: (423) 647-1321

E-mail: wesley@worldkayak.com

Amanda Marsh from the Johnson City Press dropped in last Tuesday to our Freedom Hall Pool Session to check out what it was all about.  She interviewed several of our local paddlers and shot some video & photos of the action.  The story was published in today’s (12/29/2011) JCP Outdoor section of the paper with several photos and nice write-up.  Check out the on-line edition of the story with a photo and video with this link:

http://www.johnsoncitypress.com/Living/article.php?id=97094 

The Whitewater Grand Prix brings together 25 of the worlds best kayakers for a 6-stage competition on spectacular whitewater across Quebec…

whitewatergrandprix.com

Catch all the incredible action from this year’s past event with the awesome video below!

http://www.vimeo.com/33544238

The Johnson City Press will be at our Freedom Hall Pool Session tomorrow evening (12-20-2011 @ 7:10-9:00 P.M.) to shoot some photos and write up a little story about our weekly event!  Come out to join us for a good showing and get your photo in the paper! :-)  Hope to see you at the pool and Merry Christmas!!!

From the:

I am a proud Jackson Kayak Team Member and excited for JK to win this award!  I also love to paddlingwith both of my Werner Sho Gun & Double Diamond paddles!  Congrats again to both companies for this award from NOC!!

The transformation of the classic surf wave below the NOC is under construction to turn into a world class feature to host the 2013 ICF Canoe Freestyle World Championships!  Check out the web page link below on the World Kayak Nantahala Regional site for a link to the live webcam, info about the project, and periodic photo updates from the locals! 

http://regions.worldkayak.com/nantahala/nantahala-wave/

The greatest show in all of sports has come and gone for another year and this race was full of carnage and fast times!!

Highlight video from Pilot Collective Media!

2011 Green River Narrows Race Results:  All Boats

(http://www.boatingbeta.com/race.cgi?raceid=1&date=2011-11-05)

Another great weekend at the Russell Fork! Here’s the results of this year’s Lord of the Fork Race. The race course was the same as last year, shorter than the old races, from Skunk Beach (below Fist) to Climax, with a water level in the 1070 cfs range. Isaac Levinson and Adriene Levknecht top the list. Isaac edged out a very competitive field for the win, including 2 racers from Europe, or 3 if you count our British friend who has been racing at the RF since the mid-90′s and still placing in the top 5. Adriene set a new course record for the women. We had a mass-start Ironman competition this year (1st run in the long boats, 2nd run in short boats), with Zach Fraysier finishing 1st in a very tight race. Bernie (from Whitewater Warehouse in Dayton, OH) donated a Green Jacket as a raffle prize for all the racers, and Daniel Rucker was the lucky winner of this.
This was the 2nd race in the series for the B.I.G. Cup. Not sure of the exact standings, but I think Andrew Holcombe, Chris Hipgrave, Bryan Kirk, John Grace, Zach Fraysier, and Adriene Levknecht have all competed in the Gauley and RF races and are still in contention for this prize, which will be decided on the Green in a couple of weeks.
See you next year!
Jay

1    Isaac Levinson    Stinger    6:38   
2    Andrew Holcombe    Greenboat    6:42   
3    Eric Deguil    Stinger    6:44   
4    Jason Beakes    Greenboat    6:48   
5    Chris Hipgrave    Greenboat    6:49   
5    Pat Keller    Greenboat    6:49   
7    Bryan Kirk    Tornado    6:50   
8    Dane Jackson    Greenboat    6:53   
9    Chris Gragtmans    Greenboat    7:02   
10    Toby MacDermott    Stinger    7:04   
10    Clay Wright    Stinger    7:04   
12    John Grace    Stinger    7:05   
13    Severin Haberling    Stinger    7:07   
14    Jess Albright    Greenboat    7:10   
15    Zach Fraysier    Greenboat    7:12   
15    David Herman    Greenboat    7:12   
17    Jay Ditty    Stinger C-1    7:13   
18    Eric Chance    Tornado    7:15   
18    Shane Groves    Greenboat    7:15   
20    Andrew Austell    Greenboat    7:16   
20    Snowy Robertson    Greenboat    7:16   
22    Ben Blake    Greenboat    7:23   
22    Adriene Levknecht    Pink Stinger    7:23    K-1 W, course record
24    Stephen McGrady    Greenboat    7:27   
25    Delaney Albright    Greenboat    7:29   
26    Eric Henrickson    Mirage    7:30   
27    Jeff Clewell    Greenboat    7:31   
27    Zach Fraysier    ?    7:31    1st place Ironman
29    Brad McMillan    Greenboat C-1    7:32   
30    Clay Warren    Greenboat    7:36   
31    Chris Gragtmans    Nomad    7:37    2nd place Ironman
32    Kirk Eddlemon    Nomad    7:38   
33    Bett Adams    Greenboat    7:42   
34    Drew Austell    ?    7:46    3rd place Ironman
35    Eric Strittmater    Tornado    7:51   
36    Nick Murphy    Greenboat    7:53   
37    Matt Walker    Response    7:54   
38    Tim Madison    Corsica S    7:55   
39    Eric Henrickson    ?    7:56    4th place Ironman
40    Matt Gossett    Greenboat    7:59   
41    Mark Taylor    RPM    8:00   
42    Cooper Salade    Greenboat    8:06   
43    Van Nall    Dancer    8:14   
43    John Quigley    Greenboat    8:14   
45    Willy Witt    Jefe    8:19   
46    Daniel Rucker    Burn    8:22    Green Jacket winner
47    Jim Gunzz    Greenboat    8:26
48    Tom Daley    Greenboat    8:41
49    Maxwell Posner    Tornado    8:43
50    David Thomas    Greenboat    8:45
51    Jacob Kowaleski    Greenboat    9:02
52    Paul Butler    Burn    9:07
53    Mark Miller    playboat    9:11
54    Dave Allnut    Habitat    9:15
54    Ryan McAvoy    Nomad    9:15
56    Ty Caldwell    Burn    9:16
57    Justin Cullars    Burn    20:05

Join the World Kayak crew this Saturday, September 24, 2011 @ high noon for the last BIG freestyle event of the season in the southeast!  Registration for the event will be on the old steel bridge of the NOC campus from 10:30-11:30 A.M.  We have a HUGE prize purse to give away to all who participate or volunteer in the event!  Check out all the event details @:

http://regions.worldkayak.com/tri-cities/2011/08/18/noc-gaf-hometown-throwdown/

Hope to see you on the Nantahala!

Join World Kayak at Diagonal Ledges this Saturday (9/17/11 @ 12:00-3:00 P.M.) to be filmed for a FREE & FUN freestyle event with a loaded prize purse!!!  Everyone who  participates in the event will have a chance to win 2010 Jackson Kayak Star!

Check out all the event details @:

http://regions.worldkayak.com/tri-cities/2011/08/18/lower-gauley-hometown-throwdown/

Hope to see you throwing down on the Gauley!

This month’s winner of the Jackson Kayak 2010 All Star is David Goodwin from Blacksburg, VA!  Congratulations David, and thanks for supporting World Kayak!

Thanks to everyone who got registered and supported WK this throwdown season.  Look for more cool contests and river events to come next season.  We will finish off this season with two great events at Gauley Festival.  Our first timers event will be in full effect and we will have a great throwdown on the lower Gauley that will be video judged at the Chaco booth during the festival.  Make sure you sing up to participate for this event, that has the richest prize purse of the season.

Lower Gauley HTTD event info: http://regions.worldkayak.com/tri-cities/2011/08/18/lower-gauley-hometown-throwdown/

World Kayak “Are You Ready for the Gauley” event info: http://regions.worldkayak.com/tri-cities/2011/08/18/are-you-ready-for-the-gauley-yet/

The Jackson Action Wagon has had another great paddling season with free demos & spreading the fun of kayaking!  It is now time to sell the demo boat fleet to make room for next year’s 2012 fleet!

Check out the link below for current stock and prices:

 http://worldkayakblogs.com/wildwildwes/the-jaw/

 All J.A.W. boat purchases include the original outfitting, owner’s manual & swag that comes with a new Jackson Kayak boat purchase.  The boats were primarily used in a pool for instruction and river trip demos.  The boats range from good to very good condition.  I will be happy to send current photos of the boats if requested. 

I will be at Gauley Fest & GAF to deliver boats to those locations.  I can also arrange shipping through Forward Air or FedEx if you desire to pay for that service.  I will accept Visa, MasterCard, Check, or Cash for purchases.

Please do not hesitate to contact me if you are interested in a boat purchase from the J.A.W. fleet.  All boats are sold on a first come, first served basis.

Have a nice day!

Wesley R. Bradley – Contact Me or 423-647-1321

Team APE’s formed together one last time this past Saturday at the NOC for the Canoe Club Challenge slalom event #3 & Southeastern Downriver Race!  The days events were HUGE in attendance by many clubs/teams!!!  Big booming fun was had by all with 435 runs through the slalom course by 130+ paddlers & 99 participates in the downriver race! 

Team APE’s had a total of 14 paddlers support our team in the downriver race & 12 paddlers in the slalom race!  Big thanks to all who came to join Team APE’s!  We came in with another strong 3rd place finish overall in event #3 as a club.  This strong showing helped Team APE’s finish with a solid 3rd place spot on the podium in the series!  We also met our overall goals for the series to beat the CCC!  Rock on Team APE’s!!

Top 3 Club Point Final Series Standings

Georgia Canoe Association – 419

Atlanta Whitewater Club – 400

APE’s – 205

The complete results are in the PDF links below for team and individuals in each event:

SlalomRound 3 Indiviual Class Results

2011 Overall Team Results

2011 Southeatern Downriver Race Results

Big thanks to the NOC’s Charles Conner, Chris Hipgrave & Melissa Pennscott for all their hard work in coordinating these super fun events!  Thanks to Cheryl Killman and the NOC for the photos in this report!  Thank you to Erin Weatherford as a timers for the event!

Looking forward to next year’s events in the Jackson Kayak Canoe Club Challenge at the NOC!

Check out this awesome video coverage from Drew MacCallum of Sunday’s final Nanty HTTD event #5!!!  Big thanks to Drew for this superb video!

http://www.vimeo.com/27775634

We closed the 2011 Nolichucky / Nantahala Hometown Throwdown Series this past Sunday evening with the Jackson Kayak raffle drawing.  Congrats to Mitch Odom of Otto, NC as the Team River Runner - Johnson City Chapter Raffle Winner for the Jackson Kayak of his choice!  After a night of sleeping on the wide variety on JK boats to choose from, Mitch has decided to get a Large Elite Rock Star!!

Big thanks to Jackson Kayak for their continued support and sponsorship of the Team River Runner program and our local Johnson City Chapter.  TRRJC rose over $1,000 with this JK raffle to keep their program running and growing!

Our forth event for the 2011 series was another great throwdown time!  Check out the complete results, photos, points series results & report from event #4 @:

http://worldkayakblogs.com/throwdown/2011/08/11/2011-nantahala-hometown-throwdown-event-4/ 

Join us this Sunday, Sunday, Sunday (Aug 14) for 2011 Nantahala Hometown Throwdown Event #5 FINAL at high noon!!!

This month’s winner of the Jackson Kayak 2010 Star is Ryan Duffy from Tinley Park, IL!  Congratulations Ryan, and thanks for supporting World Kayak! 

Don’t forget that we are drawing one winner a month for a 2010 JK Star.  We are giving away one boat per month on 6/1/2011, 7/1/2011, 8/1/2011/, and 9/1/2011.  If you are registered to ”GET RANKED” in the WK HTTD series and you are not already one of our winners, don’t worry you are still in the running for 1 more boat that we are  giving away in the final September drawing.  We look forward to seeing you out on the river!

Thanks to all the great participation in our event series this year, we have a very close competition in all classes for podium finishes going into the final event #5 next month!!! 

We are working hard to have some nice awards and certificates to give to our top 3 in each class.  We will also have our great door prize purse to give away to anyone who participate in the final event #5. 

Check out the complete results & points series standings after event #4 on the Noli/Nanty HTTD Event Series website @:

http://regions.worldkayak.com/tri-cities/2011/04/14/2011-nolichuckynantahala-hometown-throwdown-series/

Complete coverage with photos and report for event #4 will be posted soon on worldkayak.com, so stay tuned… 

Make plans to join us on Sunday, August 14, 2011 at high noon for the final HTTD #5 on the Nantahala River!  CLICK HERE to Register for EVENT #5 @ the NOC!  I hope to see you on the Nanty to throwdown!!

Team APE’s came back together this past Saturday afternoon at the NOC for the Canoe Club Challenge event #2!  Another great time was had by all in attendance and we had a total of 13 paddlers support our team!  Big thanks to Max, Rick, Jeff, Ryan, Jennifer, Mike, Ty, Paul, Tierney, Clay & Ann Marie for joining Team APE’s!  We came in with another strong 3rd place finish overall in event #2 as a club.  Team APE’s has a solid 3rd place spot on the podium currently in the series and we are only 10 runs away from taking 2nd from the AWC!  We also met one of our goals for this series, which was to place above the AWC and CCC in one of the events!  Rock on Team APE’s!!  Let’s keep the strong momentum for the Team going into the final event next month! 

Club Point Results for Event #2

Georgia Canoe Association – 119

Nantahala Racing Club – 51

APE’s – 48

Atlanta Whitewater Club – 46

Carolina Canoe Club – 36

Club Point Current Series Standings

Georgia Canoe Association – 181

Atlanta Whitewater Club – 98

APE’s – 87

Nantahala Racing Club – 64

Carolina Canoe Club – 53

East Tennessee – 9

The complete results are in the PDF link below for team and individuals: 

CLICK HERE for 2011 Jackson Kayak Canoe Club Challenge Event #2 Results

Big thanks to Erin Weatherford as our team timer/coach and for the photos in this report!  Thanks to my lovely wife, Jennifer Bradley, for the coordination on the pedestrian bridge to keep the team running smoothly.  Jen sure did look good running my Villain through the slalom gates

Make plans to join Team APE’s on August 13, 2011for the Jackson Kayak Canoe Club Challenge Event #3 on the Nantahala!  There will be a downriver race & slalom race for this final event!  Stay tuned for more details… Hope to see you on the Nanty to join Team APE’s!!

-Deb Reynolds reporting

Church Hill to Christian’s Bend

This stretch of the Holston River is a great stretch for a both beginner and more advance paddler. The water typical has enough current to allow you to drift and look around at God’s creation but enough water to get a work-out if you want one.  It is one I have traveled several times but every paddle is different and thus worth repeating each year. 

We had a completely new crew today with 5 solo kayaks and a canoe.  I left my kayak on my car for the opportunity to canoe with Bill Tindall who lives on this stretch of the Holston River and provided me a personalized tour. We started out about 9:30am with a light rain that eventually disappeared with a temperature in the high 60’s low 70’s. After week of hot humidity, this day was a gift.

This year we saw the results of the storms we have had with many trees on the shore washed away and no signs of beaver slides. Bill took us around every island for the most scenic route, several of which I had not been around before and we skipped by one island as a small sandbar had appeared blocking our way. Spencer was fishing most of the trip and caught and released ~7 fish – a few bass and several small bluegill.   We saw a very small fawn for this time of year on the last island. We also saw blue heron, cormorants, tons of green heron (a first for me), kingfishers, Canadian goose, many wood ducks, turkey buzzards, and LLB’s (little brown birds), catfish, and turtles sunning on rocks. I think many of the group will be back after seeing several fishing spots they want to try. Present were Rick and Denise Wright, Eric and Trish Osborne, Spencer Gilliam, Bill Tindall and myself.

Trip Leader Bill Tindall

Our third event for the 2011 series was the biggest HTTD event ever!  Check out the complete results, photos, points series results & report from event #3 @:

http://worldkayakblogs.com/throwdown/2011/07/13/2011-nantahala-hometown-throwdown-event-3/

Make plans to join us this Sunday (July 17, 2011) at high noon for more HTTD fun on the Nantahala River!  CLICK HERE to Register for EVENT #4 @ the NOC!  I hope to see you on the Nanty to throwdown!!

This month’s winner of the Jackson Kayak 2010 Star is Samantha Collins from Atlanta, GA!  Congratulations Samantha, and thanks for supporting World Kayak! 

Don’t forget that we are drawing one winner a month for a 2010 JK Star.  We are giving away one boat per month on 6/1/2011, 7/1/2011, 8/1/2011/, and 9/1/2011.  If you are registered to ”GET RANKED” in the WK HTTD series and you are not Samantha or Mary, don’t worry you are still in the running for 2 more boats that we are  giving away this summer.  We look forward to seeing you out on the river!

Our second event for the 2011 series was huge in attendance and air!  Check out the complete results, photos, video & report from event #2 @:

http://worldkayakblogs.com/throwdown/2011/06/28/2011-nolichucky-hometown-throwdown-event-2/

Check out this great video from Paul Butler of all the fun we had at Noli HTTD #2 on 6/11/11!  We had 32 participates and good times all around!! 

Join us this Saturday (7-2-11) at the NOC for Nanty HTTD #3 @ 4:30 PM!

Team APE’s came together Saturday afternoon at the NOC for the Canoe Club Challenge!  A great time was had by all in attendance and we had a total of 9 paddlers support our team!  Big thanks to Rick, Whitney, Josh, Andy, Jeff, Jamison, Ryan, & Steve for joining Team APE’s!  We came in 3rd overall out of 6 clubs with a score of 39.  I thought this was a good strong start for the series! 

Club Point Results for Event #1

Georgia Canoe Association – 62

Atlanta Whitewater Club – 52

APE’s – 39

Carolina Canoe Club – 17

Nantahala Racing Club – 13

East Tennessee – 9

The complete results are in the PDF link below for team and individuals: 

CLICK HERE for 2011 NOC Jackson Kayak Canoe Club Challenge Event #1 Results

Make plans to join Team APE’s on July 16, 2011 for Event #2 at the NOC!  Hope to see you on the Nanty!!

Register on-line for Nolichucky Hometown Throwdown #2 @:
http://worldkayakblogs.com/throwdown/register/383/

Event sign-in will be 1:00-2:00 P.M. on Saturday (6/11/2011) at Riverpark Campground – Nolichucky River, TN.

The event kicks off at 2:00 P.M. at Big Rock.

Event Website for all the details: http://regions.worldkayak.com/tri-cities/2011/04/14/2011-nolichuckynantahala-hometown-throwdown-series/  

Paddlers will most likely show up in the late morning to around noon to do some practice rides for the pre show.

The J.A.W. (http://worldkayakblogs.com/wildwildwes/the-jaw/) will be on site with FREE Jackson Kayak demos at Big Rock! 

Our local Johnson City Team River Runner chapter will be on site selling raffle tickets to win a Jackson Kayak boat of choice – http://regions.worldkayak.com/tri-cities/2011/04/15/win-a-jackson-kayak-in-raffle-for-trrjc/!

Did I mention there was a very NICE prize purse to give away for all who participate or volunteer in the event… Thanks to all of our great sponsors!

Come join us for all the whitewater freestyle fun on the Noli!!!

We had record attendance at the cleanup this year! But first let me say and I couldn’t have done it without the support of our club officers Jerry, Cheryl, Wes, Jeff & Scott. All the help with organizing, getting the food, helping to pick up donations and TVA bags was a huge help! At sign-in time there was an overwhelming period of giving out location assignments and organizing clean teams that was very exciting. After getting everyone on their way at all the pacific points of focus I teamed up with a small band of merry volunteers and set off to the Saw Mill put in. The weather was perfect and the water was wonderful!

From this years heavy rains there were a lot of debris piles full of bottles and all sorts of other stuff. We found clothes, boots, cans, pipes, plastic, metal pieces, barbed wire and even a microwave and stuffed animals! What was the name of that doll again Phyllis? Jerry reports that we cleaned up 3 full truck loads of trash with several tires. And Michael took trailer loads of trash too. I also have reports that many of you took your bags directly to the dump so we really got a lot out of the river!

One of the participants that was new to attending the cleanup said. It made her mad to find so much trash carelessly left in the river. That comment reminded me of when we started concentrating on these sections of river. It use to be much, much worse. I can’t explain how bad it was through Bumpass Cove and across from the Saw Mill a decade ago. Heck I can remember there being a mini van in the river that stayed there for two years before the County got it out!

At Chestoa park the Sheriff showed up with manpower to help out too and that was a total surprise! They will definitely get a letter of gratitude from us!

We timed our duties to be finished around 3:00 and were all getting off the river and playing in the hole at the Big Rock about the same time. It’s always such a pleasure to be at the Riverpark Campground. The atmosphere is so festive when the river is right and the boaters are there! Cheryl’s pics reflect the good time had by all! Nancy & Brucie are hero’s to let us have free access to it for the cleanup!

The food was wonderful. Cheryl out did herself with BBQ from the best local restaurant and all the fixins and some WONDERFUL cookies! There wasn’t even crumbs left of those! I made the club style beans we look forward to each year and many others helped with the set up.

The Toluenes band was a big hit too. They were friends of mine from Gatlinburg who are an acoustic duo with really good stage presents and also coming out into the crowd and working it for audience participation. They helped me with giving away all the prizes donated by our sponsors and holding the grand prize for last being a scholarship for a swift water rescue course at Landmark Learning. The winners being a new couple who own property on the river and are boaters too! I won it one year and it is a really good course that’s made me a safer boater!

I want to thank the volunteers from The Carolina Canoe Club, TEHCC, The Chota Club and The Johnson City Team River Runners. This was the first year TRR has participated and they were a big help with parking, driving a trash runner trailer and with shuttling. Not to mention hard working helpers on the river!

Special thanks to Mahoney’s this year too. They were responsible for getting a monetary donation from Columbia Sportswear and then Matched it! It completely covered our food and the band expenses! Then on top of that sent a team to come help with the cleanup!

Thanks to all! But in the grand finale of this report, it was such a pleasure to see so many APE’s come out this year and give their ALL! Our work shows and brings a smile to my face every time I paddle the Nolichucky and see how much better the river is looking!

Debbie’s Noli Cleanup Photos are here: http://community.webshots.com/album/580305480BdlBMP

Cheryl Killman’s Noli Cleanup Photos are here: http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.1909316607325.106123.1074133134&l=28096744f6

Debbie Briscoe

This month’s winner of the Jackson Kayak 2010 Star is Mary Elliott from Reno, NV!  Congratulations Mary, and thanks for supporting World Kayak!  Don’t forget that we are drawing one winner a month for a 2010 JK Star.  We are giving away one boat per month on 6/1/2011, 7/1/2011, 8/1/2011/, and 9/1/2011.  If you are registered to ”GET RANKED” and you are not Mary, don’t worry you are still in the running for 3 more boats that we are  giving away this summer.  We look forward to seeing you out on the river!

ATTENTION PADDLERS!  Don’t forget that you still have time to go to http://worldkayakblogs.com/throwdown/get-ranked/ , and register to GET RANKED for the Hometown Throwdowns this year! Jackson kayak has continued their full commitment to freestyle kayaking by donating four 2010 Star’s to sweeten the pot. The four lucky winners will be drawn from the list of folks that have registered to GET RANKED by 9/1/2011!

I will not be at the Freedom Hall Pool Session tonight (5/31/11) with the Jackson Action Wagon due to a family function.  The J.A.W. will be back in action at next week’s session (6/7/11)

We had our own little version of the Whitewater Grand Prix on the Nolichucky this past Saturday to kick off our event series for 2011!  Their were crashes, swims, great feats and good times, good times!  Check out the complete results, photos, & report from event #1 @:

http://worldkayakblogs.com/throwdown/2011/05/20/2011-nolichucky-hometown-throwdown-event-1-2/

2011 Nolichucky Hometown Throwdown Event #1

Event Registration is 1:00-2:00 P.M. on Saturday at Riverpark Campground – Nolichucky River, TN.

The event kicks off at 2:00 P.M. at Big Rock.

Event Website for all the details: http://regions.worldkayak.com/tri-cities/2011/04/14/2011-nolichuckynantahala-hometown-throwdown-series/  

Folks will most likely show up in the late morning to around noon to do some practice rides for the pre show.

The J.A.W. (http://worldkayakblogs.com/wildwildwes/the-jaw/) will be on site with free Jackson Kayak on river demos at Big Rock! 

Our local Team River Runner chapter will be on site selling raffle tickets to win a JK boat of choice – http://regions.worldkayak.com/tri-cities/2011/04/15/win-a-jackson-kayak-in-raffle-for-trrjc/!

 
Did I mention there was a very NICE prize purse to give away for all who participate or volunteer in the event? Thanks to all of our great sponsors!
 
ATTENTION Competitors: World Kayak is offering a way for you to track your progress as you progress throughout our local Noli/Nanty Throwdown series this year and any other Throwdowns that you attend throughout the season.  It is a simple way for you to ensure your bragging rights over your buddies on the water!  You simply need to go to http://worldkayakblogs.com/throwdown/get-ranked/ ,and follow the directions.  Jackson kayak has continued their full commitment to freestyle kayaking by donating four 2010 star’s to sweeten the pot.  The four lucky winners will be drawn from the list of folks that have registered to be ranked by 9/1/2011.  That way you will have plenty of opportunity to use your new ride this season.  Even if you are not into being ranked think of it as a $10 raffle ticket that gives you a chance to win one of four $1199 boats!  Once you are signed up feel free to visit http://worldkayakblogs.com/throwdown/register/ for a list of upcoming events.  You can register ahead of time online there and help out you local WK ambassador to plan ahead for the event.

We will be using this new registration system to ease the workload of your local ambassador and to produce Throwdown results and standings for the local media.  We will also be working towards local, regional, state-wide/province-wide and national amateur standings.

In addition both the USAFK (Freestyle USA) and the CFKC (Freestyle Canada) are supporting our amateur competitions as partners.  This will be a first step at bringing freestyle kayaking to the modern era and closer towards legitimacy in the eyes of global sports, and yes, the Olympics.  Showing a solid amateur system through to a pro system will go a long way to getting us there and, more importantly, encouraging others to join in on the fun.

Come join us for all the whitewater freestyle fun!!! I hope to see you on the Noli

Stage 4 is looking like it could be very impressive today!

http://www.vimeo.com/23581803

 Wesley R. Bradley will be going live on Tri-Cities Talk Radio Friday morning (5/13/11) on AM 910 WJCW &  AM 1320 WGOC to talk about the 2011 Nolichucky/Nantahala Hometown Throwdown Event #1 & kayaking in our region!  Tune in at 7:45 A.M. to listen on-line from anywhere @ http://www.wjcw.com/ (Click the “Listen Live” button on the home page) or on the radio at the stations noted above locally.

Check out the results, video & current standing after the Time Trail event on the World Kayak Event Coverage website:

http://worldkayakblogs.com/throwdown/2011/05/09/2011-whitewater-grand-prix-%e2%80%93-stage-3-results-video/

Check out the top 5 results & video from the BIG Water Boatercross on the World Kayak Event Coverage website:

http://worldkayakblogs.com/throwdown/2011/05/06/2011-whitewater-grand-prix-%e2%80%93-stage-2-results/

Check out the video coverage & results from the BIG Trick Contest on the World Kayak Event Coverage website:

http://worldkayakblogs.com/throwdown/2011/05/05/2011-whitewater-grand-prix-stage-1-video-coverage/

The first event for our freestyle series kicks off next Saturday (5/14/11) @ 2:00PM!  Make plans to join us at Big Rock  on the Nolichucky for some big booming fun!  Click on the event website link for all the details: http://regions.worldkayak.com/tri-cities/2011/04/14/2011-nolichuckynantahala-hometown-throwdown-series/

Don’t forget to stop by the Team River Runner Johnson City, Tn vendor booth at the events to purchase some raffle tickets to win a Jackson Kayak of your choice & support a great cause!

Click on the banner above for event website info & schedule!  Hope to see you on the Nanty!

A heck of a good time went down this weekend on Watauga Gorge!

Check out the photos and story on the World Kayak Event Coverage website:
http://worldkayakblogs.com/throwdown/2011/04/12/2011-watauga-river-gorge-race-recap/