Emily Jackson, former Freestyle World Champion and member of the 2012 Olympic Whitewater Slalom Team thinks the enhanced feature on the Nantahala River is ‘awesome,’ and her brother Dane, reigning Whitewater Freestyle World Champion in Open Canoe, C1, Squirt and Jr. Men’s Kayak, scored a whopping 1400+ points at the recent NOC Shootout, first in the series of five USA Freestyle Kayak events this year (results are shown below).
The installation process at this site has been challenged by super narrow windows of time when the regulated river could be dry enough for us to conduct the tuning; contractor equipment malfunction (i.e., huge excavator broken down, mid-stream); and requirement that no work be conducted during the winter/early spring fish spawning period. The prohibition ended April 15.
The very next day the contractor, directed by Lee Liebfarth at the NOC, and Rick McLaughlin jumped into tuning mode and, despite being constrained by limited access (releases were still happening and recent rains kept a fair amount of water in the channel when the river was turned off), had it in great shape for this year’s Shootout a few days later. They worked to direct and focus flow over the stationary WaveShaper and adjust the side water that is amazingly influential on how the feature forms. As Lee sees it, “Right now, the Nantahala hole is the best it has been and is capable of and producing 1,400 point rides. It is not yet perfect, however. The organizing committee is committed to continuing to fine tune the feature until it is the best in the world!”
“The process of creating the new Worlds feature took longer than expected but was completed by the April 21st deadline for the first USA Freestyle kayaking event of the season, the NOC Shootout. This initial tuning process included input from several of the best freestyle kayakers in world, as well as feedback/ideas from many local paddlers.”
Reviewing competition scores illustrates the ‘performance’ capability of the feature, as judging and scoring systems become more consistent from event to event.
Top scores at 2012 feature – Men’s Pro: 1,443 (Dane Jackson), Women’s Pro: 780 (Emily Jackson)
Top scores at 2011 feature – Men’s Pro: 900 (Eric Jackson), Women’s Pro: 584 (Emily Jackson)
Lee suggests we allow the feature to remain the same for a month or so before making further tuning plans. “We’re close,” he notes. “We will just need some fine tuning.”
******
2012 Results: http://www.noc.com/noccom/festivals-a-events/noc-freestyle-shootout/
2011 Results: http://jacksonkayak.com/blog/2011/04/18/noc-freestyle-shootout-final-resuls-and-wrap-up/
| 2012 Shootout Final Results: | |
| K1 Men Pro 1. DANE JACKSON 1443 2. NICK TROUTMAN 1413 3. ERIC JACKSON 1206 4. MICHAEL PATTERSON 1103 5. CLAY WRIGHT 1086 K1 Men Expert K1 Men Junior K1 Men Open |
K1 Women Pro 1. EMILY JACKSON 780 2. HAYEL MILLS 390 3. COURTNEY KERIN 300 4. KATHLEEN LEVITT 280 5. ALEXIS JENINGS 100 K1 Women Junior C1 Men Open OC1 Men Open |
