A “Stellar” Nationals

As competitive paddlers, we’re blessed to have many outstanding races throughout this country, and in fact throughout the world.  Few, however, can mimic the flavor of the USCA Nationals.  Hosted annually, and at a different location each year, this is river racing at its finest.  No matter the location, your river reading skills will be tested, and you’ll likely deal with shallows, deep water, eddies, fast currents (with and against), and choppy water.  There may even be a portage thrown in for grins.  But even more than the river conditions, the Nationals Canoe & Kayak Races creates an environment like no other for the paddle racing enthusiast: 6 straight days of racing, with all manner of water craft, in multiple race formats.  Sprint, biathlon (run/paddle), and marathon racing, with canoes, kayaks, outriggers, and SUP’s, in men, women, and various tandem combinations.  It’s an awesome time!  The Nationals races are nearly always held near a small out-of-the –way town, so it’s as though a massive long boat convention suddenly took over the community.  You see kindred souls with racing boats on top of their vehicles all over the town and passing by on the roads.

http://www.uscanoe.com/USCA_Canoe_Kayak_National_Ch_W54.cfm

For 2015 the USCA Nationals were held on the Allegheny River in Warren, PA.  The scenery was stunning, the river challenging, and the weather beautiful.  Other than the gnats.  I would say we had an over-abundance of gnats, but I don’t think there’s such a thing as a “proper abundance” of gnats.   The course this year was modified into a new, extended 16 mile course.  Prior years at Warren had the race ending at Betts Park, with upstream sections typically around buoys or an island  for a roughly 12 – 13 mile course; this year we went all the way to Buckaloons Recreation Area; 15.2 miles straight through (OC1’s ran straight through), or 16 miles with the upstream leg.  The upstream leg was relatively short, adding roughly .8 miles to the course, and ran between a pair of bridges right across from a prime viewing area in front of the Warren hospital.

This section of the Allegheny River can be treacherously shallow, by which I mean that the river bottom is fairly rocky, and on low water days you have a high likelihood of at least whacking a rudder, if not a bailer or worse.  For the marathon races, the Army Corps of Engineers increases the water release at the dam, bringing water levels up to a reasonable level – but you still have to take some care in your river reading to avoid shallower areas.  Water levels on race days were better this year than in some years, although some rudder bumping was almost inevitable – one of those times I was very glad for the over-stern rudder on my surf ski (installed on my SEL as an option by Stellar)!  As per usual, there were enough shallows, rapids, currents, eddies, etc. to keep most anyone interested – and on their toes, testing their river reading skills.  The current was fast enough in some areas that many of us exceeded 10 mph!   Flame rapids (so called because of its proximity to a flame by an oil refinery), a roughly 50 ft. long section of the course with steep standing waves and a lot of turbulences, strikes fear into the heart of many a competitor, and gives the Warren course something of a bit of notoriety.  For ocean paddlers, waves 12” – 18” tall may sound like child’s play, but the waves on this patch of river are so sharp, dense, and directionally varied that they tend to toss your boat in random directions rather suddenly and disconcertingly (not to mention often flooding open boats).  Many racers found themselves going through the rapids the manly way – i.e. outside the boat!  But if you knew what you were doing, Flame Rapids could be your friend…

Here’s my story:

My wife Julie and I started the Nationals on our best note ever: we actually arrived a day before my first race, set up our trailer in a very nice campground, had the opportunity  to check out everything the next day, got in a good night’s sleep, and got going in a timely manner  for my Friday morning OC-1 race.  Rarely do races run that smoothly for me, but I sure love it when they do!  At any rate, Friday’s 15.2 mile USCA Nationals OC-1 race was a blast! I came in 4th out of 5 in OC-1 Man, but it was a very close race, and I was quite happy with my powerful start and our close run the rest of the race. The first place guy was a 26 year old powerhouse who put a decent lead on the rest of us, but from there the difference between 2nd and 3rd was 1 second, and I was 12 seconds behind third, with the 5th place finisher 1 minute behind me (he bumped his longer rudder quite a bit). We worked together almost the whole race, swapping leads and helping each other figure our way down the course.  Flame Rapids in an OC-1 was an awesome experience; the lead boat of our “gang of 4” had knocked off his bailer in pre-race practice and taped over the hole, so he was trying to hold to the far left as we entered the rapids section, trying to keep out of the bigger waves to minimize water in the boat.  At that point I was fourth in the line, and seeing the rest of the line working towards the left I put on the brakes for a moment (my bow was overlapping the next guys stern on the left side), moved right and headed directly into the middle of the rapids.  Leaning towards the ama (the float) a bit, I hammered the paddle and rocketed through the rapids and around the rest.  Utterly cool!  Of course, they caught up shortly thereafter and we stayed together until the end, but it was fun while it lasted.s and working the river. There’s nothing like blasting through Flame Rapids in an OC-1; forget backing off – just lean into the ama (the float) and put the hammer down!!! I went through the rapids like a rocket!  I was amused at the awards ceremony because I received a “special age recognition” medal for being the first finisher in the 50 – 60 age category. Other than the 26 year old winner, I was the youngest of the group!  Bill Garner knocked his bailer off during pre-race practice; raced with the hole taped over and found it challenging to remove water from the footwell.  Nevertheless he put in a powerful performance.  Our outrigger class consisted of  two Storms, two Scorpius XS’s (one mine), and one Hurricane.  The Storms were faster in the shallows, but the XS’s were faster in the deeper waters. I tried to figure out my GoPro, but ended up not getting any footage of the race, only footage of my face trying to figure out the unit.  Next time.

Steve Horney and Bill Gardnier

Saturday started completely differently from Friday, but the end result of Saturday’s “Miracle Morning”: 1st place, K1 Unlimited Man Senior! The day started with Julie not feeling well and my alarm failing to sound, resulting in my rising 45 minutes later than planned and without my race helper. Needless to say, the morning was a scramble, and having fought a hard 15.2 mile race the prior day in OC-1 Man, I was feeling pretty shot as it was. I even had the passing thought of just backing out, or just taking it easy running my SEL surf ski down the course. But I got going and made it to the start in a reasonable time, though it was kind of a bummer that Julie couldn’t make it.

Hansel Lucas getting the rudder set up on Stellar S2E that he and his son Hansel Lucas III raced.

After the pre-race meeting, while making last minute preparations before launching, I heard a familiar voice close by saying “GOOOO STEVE!!!”  Looking up in astonishment, I beheld in front of me the lovely form of Julie! What the heck?!? Going through my mind was a combination of shock and awe, and a mental question mark of how in the world she made it, as I had the only vehicle we brought. Did she get hold of a Star Trek teleporter? A James Bond Jet Pack? Or did the Lord send an Angel to whisk her to the races? It turns out the latter was closest!

As Julie heard me leave, she started feeling better and felt a longing to be with me at the race, encouraging me.  This is what she came for! She debated trying to do anything, but within her she felt the Lord urging her to get going. Getting ready and packing up rapidly, she raced to the office to see if someone could give her a ride, only to find the office closed. With that door closed (literally), Julie did the next best thing: waved down someone leaving our camping park in a motor home and asked if they could supply a ride to the dam! A nice older Mennonite dairy farmer and his wife, originally planning to head the opposite direction (and low on fuel), instead had compassion on Julie and delivered her to the race, getting her there just in time!

Now with the miraculous appearance of Julie, the race was looking up. Getting on the water, I was surprised to find my kayaking muscles were in fine form, in spite of the weariness of my canoeing muscles. As the gun sounded, I headed out with a good start, thankful to be in the SEL: the stability of this boat kept me running solidly in spite of some very choppy water (lots of boats at the start – and all surf skis except for Mike Herbert’s ICF boat and one Thunderbolt), and the boat was fast! I initially thought I would be keeping it mellow, but I kept feeling better as I went, with every stroke feeling strong, solid, and planted; I kept reeling in boats until there were only two ahead of me.  Super man and former Olympian Mike Herbert, also a Stellar paddler, paddled a smoking fast race and far outran all of us, but unfortunately Mike forgot to make the upriver loop; Mike showed true character, however, in letting the officials know immediately upon finishing and DQ’ing himself.  Quite an example of a good sportsman! Hansel Lucas III, a friend from PA and also a Stellar dealer, paddling an SEI in the new Multi-Sport layup, started ahead of me initially, then fell behind, but caught back up later and we worked the last few miles together with Hansel pulling ahead a short distance at the end. An incredible race!

Hansel at Finish taking 1st Place

Steve Horney and Hansel Lucas III with their medals.

The stability of the SEL really proved valuable at Flame Rapids, which took out the two boats directly ahead of me (I had to really work the rudder to miss the guy immediately in front of me, as he started to move his boat into my path). Lots of choppy water, fast currents, eddies, shallows (with rocks – glad for the over-stern kick-up rudder!) made for a fun and challenging 16 mile course. I really needed to get in some nourishment the last few miles, but couldn’t take the time to eat the energy snack I brought, so I gutted it out. I think I would have been faster if I had an energy gel pack I could have sucked down quickly. Something to work on for next time!  Meanwhile, all I can say it what an amazing day…  I really bonded with the SEL during this race; one of those times I felt fully in control of the boat, and it never let me down – the SEL is a really remarkable surf ski.  I believe Hansel and I were the only Stellar paddlers in the field, so we had a little fun working on overtaking the other brand boats, with both of us ultimately winning our age classes – the first time I’ve won at the Nationals in K-1 Unlimited.  The day had a rough start, a strange twist, and a beautiful ending.  As a man of faith, I know it was the hand of God that got Julie to the race so remarkably, and then strengthened me for the best race of my life.  I have a lot to be thankful for – and particularly for my wife and race supporter who loves me so incredibly!   A great story for the grandkids…

Steve and Julie Horney

Superb photos of the Nationals are posted at: http://www.warrenpictureplace.com/

PS: The 2016 USCA Nationals will be in Northfield, Massachusetts in the deep waters of the Connecticut River with a huge crowd expected so it’s not too early to mark it on your calendar.