The pictures from the day are up (at least some of them) at the following
www.boaterphoto.com.
3:00 to 3:15
http://www.boaterphoto.com/gallery/main ... mId=525759
3:30 to 3:45
http://www.boaterphoto.com/gallery/main ... g2_page=15
Mick
3:45 to 4:00
http://www.boaterphoto.com/gallery/main ... g2_page=10
4:45 to 5:00
http://www.boaterphoto.com/gallery/main ... mId=532210
FYI for others I flipped on both runs I took and swam on the second.
Mike, I think Martin aced all his runs. Mick had nice runs (nice to meet Mick too) - at least on the ones we saw / ran with him...had got quite a few more than then we did in - in his OC1 Ovation and C1 Delirious! At the 1.6' level the falls hole is not that bad but can take you "places" if you lose focus!
The upper drops are less forgiving than the falls but provide less of a beatdown if you screw up. The falls themselves are fairly benign at this lower level and only provides a low level beatdown. This, and Valley Falls (WV), are great for first time runs.
There were a number of other OCs and C there and Big Al won the OC race division 2nd year in a row and then did his annual "beside the boat" over the falls run for the crowd! One of the other OC we saw did 1/2 spin on the falls wave then ran it backwards.. on purpose (we think
)! There were some sick boaters there (K, OC, C and IF) and I should have taken more video - next year!
A couple boat reviews from the event: I ran the falls in the Wheel Boy 1st run, the Fink for the 2nd and then paddle Mick's Delirious for giggles on the Loop.
WB - I was extremely please with this little boat and how it punched the stopper waves, it quickly came back on track coming out of holes and boofed nicely going over the falls. It really is a sweet design IMHO.
Fink - I broke 2 rules paddling it...1st I took it over a 18' drop when it was the very first time I was ever in the boat - definitely not out fitted for my size (I think Martin is 6'+ and I am 5'9"). 2nd I lost focus (and the paddle) during the final drop - my bad! I now have a really nice bruise on my right bicep to show where the t-grip was ripped from my hand in a crease... then slapped back at me. Ah the things you learn the hard way. That said the Fink was very forgiving, stable and a heck of a lot faster than I expected it to be. The first 2 drops were just non-events in it. At the last (the falls) I was able to get where I shouldn't have been, way-to-quickly. I was able to recover, but again too quickly, punching the wave (not like Martin's nice controlled stall) and kept on trucking left via a very unplanned route sideways and without a paddle at the end!
The Fink stabilized upside down under the curtain (a fairly dark world with lots of "rain" on above you), then slowly released into the pillow then flow - I then started my "fish count".
It surfs, flat spins and rolls easily, has great stability (primary and secondary), surfaces quickly (when paddled correctly) and boofs nicely (even flopping about in the outfitting I was able to bring the nose up using the thigh straps Martin had in it). One thing I was not use to its size so the high deck and bigger volume took some getting use to - like an open boat - I had to adjust to get any cross stroke action going. Overall I give high marks and really enjoyed paddling it (I think Mick did too on the Loop)!
Delirious - just think slice and dice.
Mick had it nicely converted and it performed nicely as a play boat with nice speed to run for some of the more technical lower volume routes.
Overall a great weekend - maybe well see more folks next year!
Paul C.
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