The Race Start after passing under Guys Ford Bridge

Photo by:  William Mauney Photography

This past Saturday one of my favorite events of the year went down on the Watauga River Gorge.  This is a really fun race, because of the friendly lazed nature of the event and the crazy mass start boater cross format!  Not to mention the race is held on the best piece of class IV whitewater on the planet!!  The river level was near perfect for the race at around 350 CFS.  Lots of good fast times were had by the racers and we did have a few swims for the crowd pleaser!  Top honors went to Andrew Holcomb this year as the race champion.  He won with a commanding lead at the finish below Stateline Falls (4 miles downstream from the start)!

Check out this nice video edit from William Mauney, featuring Jon Edwards in his Karma UL, for some race action and top 5 results:

[vimeo width=”550″ height=”309″]http://vimeo.com/95678207[/vimeo]

I did not have my best race day for sure, but I will mark it down as a learning experience and keep practicing.  I still had a really good time though and was thankful to finish the race without swimming!  I also enjoyed hanging out with all the other racers during the day!  Race day tip: Don’t eat one of the giant awesome hamburgers at the gas station put-in 45 minutes before the race start.  You will be paddling heavy and slower!!

Not my best line off Stateline Falls, but my Karma UL sure does look pretty!

Photo by:  William Mauney Photography