# US National Rafting Championships



## caspermike (Mar 9, 2007)

you should try to get ahold of patrick toft


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## Randaddy (Jun 8, 2007)

I do! I do!


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## teleboater5.13 (Sep 29, 2005)

I would love an opportunity to sit in a raft with a few other ba rafters...although most likely do not have the experience you all have

I just got back from a trip to Costa Rica where I spent 3 or 4 days paddling a river with 2 guys from the Costa Rica National raft team. 

Needless to say these guys were great boaters. Although I have not been boating as long as them, or as you, I can move some water with my paddle and would add very little weight to the boat.


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## Randaddy (Jun 8, 2007)

Sorry Jon. You're too skinny. Better luck next time.


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## WhiteChocolate (May 16, 2008)

i haven't laughed dis hard in a while, they actually have a world championship for rafting?? please. what a waste of taxpayer money supporting a US raft team. hopefully barak chops that funding. i dont pay taxes but if i did i would be super pissed supporting rafters. give that money to the kayak team.


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## teleboater5.13 (Sep 29, 2005)

Randal

You forget that in raft racing it is an advantage not to have a beer belly anchoring down the boat... (high strength to weight ratio)

White chocolate, did you hear about the addition to the raft race this year?? The course will be scatttered with kayakers and for every one that your raft runs over, 15 seconds will be taken off the boats time. Sounds exciting eh?


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## oopsiflipped (May 9, 2006)

Just when i though raft racing couldn't get any sillier....they hold the US Loserships on the Lower Yough and at ASCI (pronounces ass-key, no shit!) hillarious!


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## GoodTimes (Mar 9, 2006)

WhiteChocolate said:


> i haven't laughed dis hard in a while, they actually have a world championship for rafting?? please. what a waste of taxpayer money supporting a US raft team. hopefully barak chops that funding. i dont pay taxes but if i did i would be super pissed supporting rafters. give that money to the kayak team.


You HAVE to be kidding........I'm not going to even waste my time with an in depth response because I know you're not that dumb.

We all love water.....and rapids.....and supporting rivers around the world. Why exactly would you be pissed about supporting fellow river folk??

Dis is crazy yo'


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## Randaddy (Jun 8, 2007)

WhiteChocolate said:


> i haven't laughed dis hard in a while, they actually have a world championship for rafting?? please. what a waste of taxpayer money supporting a US raft team. hopefully barak chops that funding. i dont pay taxes but if i did i would be super pissed supporting rafters. give that money to the kayak team.


WhiteChocolate, don't worry. The sport of rafting won't detract from your mom's hot dog eating championships. Rafting is on ESPN 8, The Ocho. Your mom is on animal planet.


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## Randaddy (Jun 8, 2007)

Oh and Jon, the belly provides major stroke momentum. Welcome back. 

I propose the following R4 team:

Raftus
Grif
WhiteChocolate
yours truly


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## freexbiker (Jul 18, 2005)

I think boofington should be on a team. as long as you guys don't mind the saggyness...


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## raftus (Jul 20, 2005)

I wish there was taxpayer cash going to this deal - but there is none. If you join the team you pay to go to nationals. If you win there you pay your expenses to get to worlds. If you win there you get to drink beer in a foreign country and hit on their women - who will probably have no idea who you are. But you do get bragging rights and a sling to carry your balls around in, oh wait the upper yough part isn't for points, so scratch the sling, you just get bragging rights. And maybe a cool t-shirt. 

P.S. There are several countries that fully fund teams of guys that train for the world's year round. So if you win nationals the next year of your life will be devoted to training so you don't embarrass your home country on the international stage. For the last decade or so the guys at Timberline Tours, aka Behind the Eight Ball, have dominated the national scene and done quite respectably at worlds including at least one Bronze Medal. They are the proverbial high water mark to be beat in the US.


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## class 3 felon (May 14, 2008)

"I wish there was taxpayer cash going to this deal," Raftus

Spoken truely like someone from Boulder!

Maybe we can go to Congress for a whitewater bailout with our old standard floor rafts and buckets and ask for cash for self-bailers.


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## caspermike (Mar 9, 2007)

If you guys are seriously thinking about taking on national championship teams you better get some of the gore boys together..


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## cbieh589 (Mar 4, 2008)

I'm one of the guys running safety on the Upper this year, I'll be sitting at Heinzerling throwing ropes to all you boys that flip on the pillow. Give me a show, I know all the custy's usually do.


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## TakemetotheRiver (Oct 4, 2007)

caspermike said:


> If you guys are seriously thinking about taking on national championship teams you better get some of the gore boys together..


Raftus- I'll join you. Girls raft too- and we already have clean runs on Gore and the Salt going for us.


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## COUNT (Jul 5, 2005)

Clean Salt runs, eh? When did that happen? I heard you had some issues on your second trip last spring so it couldn't have been that one.


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## TakemetotheRiver (Oct 4, 2007)

COUNT said:


> Clean Salt runs, eh? When did that happen? I heard you had some issues on your second trip last spring so it couldn't have been that one.


Didn't we already discuss this? Oh Yeah, we did:
http://www.mountainbuzz.com/forums/f12/need-to-float-something-16944.html

We stayed in the boat and it stayed upright- that constitutes clean for a raft- I didn't say pretty, I just said clean. 

On the 2nd trip I pulled off a perfect sideways "stall" on the Eye part of eye of the needle, held it for a good 20 seconds and still came down right side up, in the boat. What's not clean about that? 

Besides, I was referring to the paddle boat trips Sean and I have done together. Are you in for the Salt or not, Derk?


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## COUNT (Jul 5, 2005)

Dictionary.com says clean is "free from roughness or irregularity" or "free from defects or flaws." Sounds to me like _almost clean_ might be the words you were looking for. I'll stop hassling you when you can show me something that says clean=almost clean. 

When are you guys doing the Salt this year? I'm a maybe right now.

D


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## TakemetotheRiver (Oct 4, 2007)

COUNT said:


> Dictionary.com says clean is "free from roughness or irregularity" or "free from defects or flaws." Sounds to me like _almost clean_ might be the words you were looking for. I'll stop hassling you when you can show me something that says clean=almost clean.
> 
> When are you guys doing the Salt this year? I'm a maybe right now.
> 
> D


See Upper Salt February thread.


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## mania (Oct 21, 2003)

no offense takeme but you are not ready for the national championships. for 1 you gotta quit smoking and hit the gym like raftus there. same goes for the rest of you slacker rafters. oh and there is thing called 'training'. I'm not even ready. if you want our sport to be taken seriously you gotta step it up. 

ps. if you take a giant kool-aid man in a raft too seriously you have additional problems. :mrgreen:


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## TakemetotheRiver (Oct 4, 2007)

mania said:


> no offense takeme but you are not ready for the national championships. for 1 you gotta quit smoking and hit the gym like raftus there. same goes for the rest of you slacker rafters. oh and there is thing called 'training'. I'm not even ready. if you want our sport to be taken seriously you gotta step it up.
> 
> ps. if you take a giant kool-aid man in a raft too seriously you have additional problems. :mrgreen:


Dana- are you saying my raft makes me look fat?

I was more pointing out that girls can do it too since the thread mostly talked about the "boys."


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## UserName (Sep 7, 2007)

There is a womens division.
Either way, to be competitive you absolutely need to train. A lot.


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## mania (Oct 21, 2003)

TakemetotheRiver said:


> are you saying my raft makes me look fat?


ha! funny. rafts and kayaks make women look good - like beer goggles.


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## WhiteChocolate (May 16, 2008)

raftus said:


> For the last decade or so the guys at Timberline Tours, aka Behind the Eight Ball, have dominated the national scene and done quite respectably at worlds including at least one Bronze Medal. They are the proverbial high water mark to be beat in the US.


i saw these pretty boyz at teva vail games, bunch of trustfunders that are too scared to kayak. one dude was in the parking lot before the race putting on axe body spray, i think his name was bongo. still can't believe people take this sport cerealy. however, i ams all for a womens US raft team, i wood pay money to supoprt that


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## GoodTimes (Mar 9, 2006)

mania said:


> ha! funny. rafts and kayaks make women look good - like beer goggles.


I'll second that.....nothing sexier than seein' my woman in her paddling gear.

Raftus.....in all seriousness. I might be interested....I'd join your team. Rafting (and kayaking) all my life. Although it may be hard to give up the "guide stick" (ego thing), I saw you drop DT.......I'll forget Slideways.......and paddle with ya!!!


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## jmack (Jun 3, 2004)

I have a whole workout routine designed to make you a better rafter. It also has the added benefits of making you better looking, smarter, more attractive to the opposite sex, and a general all-around badass. Its called kayaking. You guys should look into it.


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## GoodTimes (Mar 9, 2006)

jmack said:


> I have a whole workout routine designed to make you a better rafter. It also has the added benefits of making you better looking, smarter, more attractive to the opposite sex, and a general all-around badass. Its called kayaking. You guys should look into it.


Hhhahaaahahaa.......or maybe if you're a badass at BOTH.....you can talk shit???? Until then........ZZZZZZZZZZZiiiiiippppppp


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## Randaddy (Jun 8, 2007)

I was more pointing out that girls can do it too since the thread mostly talked about the "boys."[/QUOTE said:


> Alright, here's the team:
> 
> Raftus
> super aqua-feminist Kjirsten
> ...


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## raftus (Jul 20, 2005)

caspermike wrote: If you guys are seriously thinking about taking on national championship teams you better get some of the gore boys together..

Yep, i have 15 or so gore runs now, plus one upper Yough run (the friday race site at nationals)...it is a sweet section. Never made it to the lower Yough from the Gauley, but i hear it is a fun if fairly mellow stretch with one serious death rock.

TakeMeToTheRiver - There is a killer women's team based in Vail - you might think about putting one together yourself, but nationals and worlds are same sex teams only, but I would love to have you in my boat if they introduce a co-ed competition.

Mania and Username are right - you gotta train for this, raft guiding as a commercial guide is a okay base, but the down river is similar to a 5 or 10 k running race - and you need to be able to paddle strong the entire time. Without specialized training you don't stand a chance. They make rowing machines (ergrometers) specifically with paddles instead of rowing handles for this kind of training. But a normal one can be bastardized easily.

GoodTimes - thank you for your niceties - but I f'ed up the line in slideways - I squared us up for the hole above the auto-boof 7'er, but we need to hit it with right hand angle to make the line - even if that meant surfing a bit, and we probably should of tried to start further left with more right momentum - the line there is really tight, but it is there. At least once we put back on we cleaned the rest of the rapid from the spot of the flip. Hopefully I will get redemption this summer. As far as giving up the guide stick - the R4 format, especially in the salmon, works best with 4 guides in the boat working towards the same line - small corrections from everyone are often needed to make the moves. You really want 4 people that are at least class III/IV guides and one or more class V guides.


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## GoodTimes (Mar 9, 2006)

raftus said:


> GoodTimes - thank you for your niceties - but I f'ed up the line in slideways - I squared us up for the hole above the auto-boof 7'er, but we need to hit it with right hand angle to make the line - even if that meant surfing a bit, and we probably should of tried to start further left with more right momentum - the line there is really tight, but it is there. At least once we put back on we cleaned the rest of the rapid from the spot of the flip. Hopefully I will get redemption this summer. As far as giving up the guide stick - the R4 format, especially in the salmon, works best with 4 guides in the boat working towards the same line - small corrections from everyone are often needed to make the moves. You really want 4 people that are at least class III/IV guides and one or more class V guides.


Just giving you a little crap......I was actually pretty impressed. Slideways is TTTTIIIIIGGGHHHTTTT.....if you totally cleaned it I would have been amazed. Maybe next year eh?

No, I'm familiar with R4 methods.......everyone in the boat has to understand which stroke to use and when and in unison. Some of the coolest moves I've seen in a raft were when draw strokes were used to pull the boat right/left rather than having to turn and forward/back. Cool stuff if everyone knows what they're doing.


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## oopsiflipped (May 9, 2006)

what do you need a class V guide for Sean? I thought the upper Yough race was just for funsies? the lower is class II and dimple is only serious if you just drove over from pittsburg and rented a raft.

i really enjoyed watching the races on the sf payette last year. i make fun of raft racing alot, but watching eightball paddle is pretty effin cool. i have the video of worlds from WV and it is one of my all time favs.

holding this years nationals on a class II run and at the US's 2nd best man made whitewater park is so incredibly lame, even for raft racing.


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## CUkayakGirl (Mar 31, 2005)

jmack said:


> I have a whole workout routine designed to make you a better rafter. It also has the added benefits of making you better looking, smarter, more attractive to the opposite sex, and a general all-around badass. Its called kayaking. You guys should look into it.


Spoken like a true kayaker! 

But, I don't know Mack...Raftus has some nice arms. He R-1 Maria and I all the way down Westwater with a beer in his hand. Thats is HOT!

Raftus, I would be on the team if I could... I am probably stronger than most of the boys 

White Chocolate...I'd pay money to see you swim...oh wait, you do that everytime you hit the water!


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## Randaddy (Jun 8, 2007)

Kayakgirl, I thought WhiteChocolate was your sweet urban lover. Are things not going well? Didn't he take you to a rhyme off in the ghetto and show you how smooth he is?


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## CUkayakGirl (Mar 31, 2005)

Oh, ha, Randaddy, you worry to much! You know that thread was a joke right? I was being facetious.


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## raftus (Jul 20, 2005)

oopsiflipped said:


> what do you need a class V guide for Sean? I thought the upper Yough race was just for funsies? the lower is class II and dimple is only serious if you just drove over from pittsburg and rented a raft.


Hey Oops - you just want good guides so you can be on the really fast lines, that and in the salmon course they usually set up some very difficult moves. I've done the slalom at the nationals a couple times and it has been tough. When the 8 Ball guys set it up below Kirschbaums on Gore - people were missing gates left and right. Class IV/V moves with class II/III consequences, but the time penalties add up quick. A lot of the moves require anticipation, the right momentum, and great timing - especially some of the upstream gates. Really raft slalom is a great way to become a better guide, look at the kayakers that come out of slamon racing - they are generally sick creek boaters and class V paddlers.


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## Randaddy (Jun 8, 2007)

CUkayakGirl said:


> Oh, ha, Randaddy, you worry to much! You know that thread was a joke right? I was being facetious.


Does that mean I still have a chance?


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## ski_kayak365 (Dec 7, 2003)

No one has a chance, now that she's over the whitecholocate, we're all just too petty for her hardcore skills.


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