Blog Archive

2019-05-01 2019 World R6 Rafting Championships

We have just converged on Tully in northern Queensland, Australia for the 2019 World Rafting Championships. There will be a couple of weeks of training ahead of us as we learn the fast lines on the world famous Tully river. .more...

2017-10-02 2017 World R6 Rafting Championships

After a long flight, and a night in an airport hotel in Osaka, we have made it to Miyoshi city, Japan. Our accommodation overlooks the Yoshino river, and the food is fantastic. more...

2015-11-27 2015 World R6 Rafting Championships

We have arrived! After some lengthy travels for many of us, we are almost all assembled at the venue for the 2015 World Rafting Championships in West Java, Indonesia. Still to arrive are Bill (and most of our paddles), and Jenny our team nurse. All being well, we will see them tomorrow more...

2015-06-07 2015 Canadian R4 Rafting Championships

We again headed over to the Rouge river and New World rafting for a very well organised race. The first day was certainly busy, with the first 3 events all happening in one run down the river. The field was the biggest seen in recent years more...

2014-10-19 2014 World R4 Rafting Championships

On Oct 8th, 2014 I started my journey to the south, escaping the soon to be cold of the north yet again. This time however for a much better reason then usual. Myself and a few other Canadian boys were elected to be the R4 national Canadian team in summer of 2013. We trained hard up 'til the date of departure more...

2013-11-08 2013 World R6 Rafting Championships

We are all now in Rotorua, New Zealand, ready to get some training in for the upcoming World Rafting Championships. The team managed to converge on Okere Falls today for a few familiarisation runs down the Kaituna river. For some of us, it was the first time down, and it really is as good as everyone says! more...

2013-06-10 2013 Canadian R4 Rafting Championships

The first day of the Canadian rafting championships saw some great racing from the ladies teams. The Petawawa river was the venue for the sprint course, down Lovers and Catwalk rapids. Water levels were good, and provided challenging conditions for all the entrants. more...

2012-09-21 2012 Pan-American R6 Rafting Championships

At the end of September we made our way to Quebec to compete in our first international rafting event; the World Cup/Pan-American Championships. This event was not only our first international rafting competition but it would also act as the Canadian Championships, deciding which team would represent Canada at the 2013 World Rafting Championships in New Zealand. more...

2011-06-04 2011 Canadian R4 Rafting Championships

Fresh from our recent success at Hell or High Water 2011, we were determined to do well at the Canadian championships, our aim being to win and thereby qualify for the 2012 R4 worlds. On arriving at the Jaques-Cartier river north of Quebec city we found a quality run of fairly continuous grade 4 water on the Tewkesbury section. more...

2011-05-07 Hell or High Water 2011

The annual Hell or High Water festival is fast becoming an established Ottawa valley boaters favourite. After having had such a great time at last year's event; Hell or High Water 2010, we put in some training in the week leading up to the race - more...

2010-09-02 2010 Canadian R6 Rafting Championships

This is it! After countless early mornings training hard we were on our way. We had arrived in the Saguenay region of Quebec the previous night after a long drive from the Ottawa. Keen to hit the rivers and get some practice in before our first race against the Qubec teams, we drove up to St Stanislas and the Mistassibi. It did not dissapoint - more...

2010-06-08 The Rouge - Seven Sisters

Fresh from our successful run of the Kipawa, we set our sights on the series of drops on the Rouge river in Quebec. As soon as we could get a team together, a check of the levels confirmed that the waterfalls known as the Seven Sisters were all good to go. This time we bought some kayakers with us to run safety cover. more...

2010-05-07 The Kipawa

After having taken delivery of our brand new raft (thanks SOTAR!), we were keen to get out and run some rivers. The only problem - the driest spring and summer in living memory! With our plans for adventures further afield scuppered, we settled upon a low water Kipawa trip. more...

2010-05-01 Hell or High Water 2010

A fresh Mayday weekend in the Ottawa valley - what better opportunity to get out for the first run of the season? We wrapped up warm and headed to the superb Hell or High Water event. This event usually sees the Petawawa river in full spring flow, and this year was no exception. more...

2013 World R6 Rafting Championships

2013-11-08 Arrived in New Zealand

We are all now in Rotorua, New Zealand, ready to get some training in for the upcoming World Rafting Championships. The team managed to converge on Okere Falls today for a few familiarisation runs down the Kaituna river. For some of us, it was the first time down, and it really is as good as everyone says!

We have also been waiting to share this slightly cheesy teaser video for the worlds; enjoy!

Many thanks to Mohaka Rafting for the loan of the raft!

2013-11-09 Mohaka Rafting

Mohaka Rafting rafts the Mohaka and Ngaruroro rivers in Hawke's Bay on the eastern side of the North Island of New Zealand, offering some fantastic trips from a scenic grade 2 float through to exhilarating grade 4-5 runs. Norm the owner has set us up with a raft to train with in the run-up to the forthcoming World Rafting Championships in Rotorua.

Several of us work for Norm, guiding for the New Zealand summer before heading back to Canada. Come and try out some rafting with us if you are in the area.

Many thanks to Mohaka Rafting for the loan of the raft, and logistical support. We have been continuing with training on the Kaituna, the venue for the Sprint and Head to Head events.

2013-11-14 More Training

We have been on the river every day now, getting the lines sorted in different flows. Things are coming together and we have a good plan for almost everything on the sprint and head to head courses.

The slalom course was running for a test event on Sunday, so we headed over to check it out and get a few runs in. Whilst it is certainly not the most exciting piece of whitewater to race on, the organisers managed to set a challenging course and we had a great time.

Sunday was also the day that the Wairoa river was releasing, so after our second run at the slalom course we promptly packed up and headed over to sample some of the best boating the North Island has to offer.

2013-11-20 Last day of Training

We have just finished our last training run, a float down the Kaituna Head to Head course. All is calm and we are ready for the start of racing tomorrow. Meanwhile, here is a little video offering Jon has put together.

2013-11-21 2013 World Champs - Sprint

The sprint race has just concluded - we were the last team to race. Our run went really well, we nailed all our lines and everything went really smoothly. We ended up in second place, behind the local New Zealand team, but just ahead of the Japanese. We are abviously really stoked, and looking forward to the Head to Head race tomorrow!

Photo: Ian Trafford

The other classes were dominated by the New Zealand teams as well, with a first place in the Mens Masters, Ladies Masters, and 3rd in the Ladies Open behind Great Britain and Japan. Full results from the sprint can be found here

Photo: Sierra Stinson

2013-11-22 2013 World Champs - Head to Head

After a great start yesterday, we were in high spirits for this morning's races. We found ourselves up against Chile in our first race, and we knew it would be a tough one - they have always been a strong team in the Head to Head races, winning in Costa Rica in 2011. Although we pushed hard off the start, Chile just managed to get ahead at the first drop, and held the lead from there on. We were snapping at their heels all the way down, and finished just a few seconds behind them.

This put us out of the top 8, and racing for the rest of the day. We were consoled with the news that we got the fastest time of all the teams eliminated that round, and so came away with a 9th place finish.

Photo: Ian Trafford

Lorenzo and the Chilean team eventually won the Open Mens, in a very close race with the Brazilians. The points tally so far can be found here. We are lying 8th/21, and looking forward to the Slalom race tomorrow!

2013-11-23 2013 World Champs - Slalom

The town of Kawarau was certainly out in force to enjoy the slalom races today. The race venue was right next to downtown, with a fairground set up next to the course.

The standard of racing was very high, with many of the European teams showing that this event is their strength. The winners of the Mens open event were Brazil, followed by Japan and the Czech Republic. We put in a couple of good runs which we were fairly happy with, to put us 11th in the slalom event, and 8th overall going into the final event tomorrow; the Downriver race on the Rangitaiki. The points tally so far can be found here.

Photo: Ian Trafford

2013-11-24 2013 World Champs - Downriver

The final event, the downriver race is the most prestigous of them all, and worth the most points. We were racing down the Rangitaiki river, an intricate maze of boulders and overhanging greenery. The racing was technical, with few passing opportunities. The teams started in groups of 4, and we found ourselves starting at the back of the second group, with teams from Slovenia, Russia and the Czech Republic.

Photo: Kailee Marland

We managed to get ahead of the Czech team at the first technical rapid, called Rock A. We managed to briefly overtake the Russian team, but found ourselves passed again by them soon after. The Slovenians were in sight for nearly all of the race, but managed to maintain their lead over the rest of the group. The racing was very close, with less than 2 minutes separating the first 13 teams. We finished 11th, giving us a final overall result of 10th/21!

The final results can be found here. Many thanks to everybody that has been supporting us through our training and racing. We will definitley be back for more next year!