Downriver Race Series

[phlyingfish]

With all the Green Race hysteria going on over on BT, and all the shit talking going on here, I figured lets combine the two. A similar thread started on BT, but they can't seem to grasp that the country continues west of the Ohio River and north of the Mason Dixon line.

If a national, or even western, downriver racing tour existed, where would the events be and what is the appropriate level of difficulty?

My opinion is that competitive kayaking would be a whole lot cooler if a class V racing tour existed, and rodeo was just a sideshow. Potential stops: Little White/Green Truss, OBJ, Poudre Narrows, NF Payette, Green Narrows, Bottom Moose, something in Cali (Cherry Creek run?), Great Falls of the Potomac, Russel Fork, Gauely?, Big Timber.

Races exist or have existed on all of these stretches. They have diverse enough flows to allow for a tour to span from spring to fall. Collectively, these runs define American Class V, and would help to ensure that locals can't dominate the whole series. Some of runs mentioned above would be short courses, some long, some in between.

Any thoughts, or are we just gonna call out swimmers and portagers on Big T for the rest of the winter?

[BKC]

I think if we got organized we could make it work. There is already at least one person who is doing the bulk of coordination for each race across the country. Some local ones: Booth for SSV and Evan for the Poudre Narrows. Toepper for OBJ? Homestake and Black Rock. Regardless ... with some strategy, planning it, getting the right people involved ... it could happen.

There are many great options and with the Russell Fork and Green being in October and November ... there is plenty of season to make a complete tour.

Anyone helped coordinate a national one day event style competition before (freestyle)?

I too think that a series or at least some type of coordination of all the Class V races would be great to follow and healthy for the sport.

With all the good chatter on BT about the Green Race, the new long boats in the mix, more people boating, more people competing ... its time!