Nashville World Kayak Plateau Creek Race Series Results

Update: Canoe&Kayak showing some love!

This past Saturday was the final event of the Nashville World Kayak Plateau Creek Race Series. It was Easter Weekend and a lot of people couldn't make it because they were spending time with family. Philip (Nashville World Kayak Ambassador) would have rescheduled but every weekend in the near future conflicted with other events. Despite the setback, quite a few paddlers were still down, the weather looked good and we decided to give it a go anyway.

My wife Kim and I headed out of Nashville and rendevoused with some of the gang in Cookeville, TN. Too bad it was so early in the morning and the Outdoor Experience wasn't open yet because it's a great outdoor store located there with climbing gear, camping supplies, Jackson Kayak whitewater demo boats and more. Nevertheless our friends Matt and Clint piled into the FJ with Kim, our dog Willow and I and we headed out on the final leg of the journey.

If you have never been to the Big South Fork area before, it's very beautiful. Beautiful and pretty rugged in places. We navigated a bumpy logging type road for quite a while to get to the area where we were having the race. The race was from the Pine Creek put-in, through the Canyon Section and then taking out at the O&W bridge. A good continous 2 mile section of Class II-III beautiful whitewater in gorgeous surroundings. You can view more information on the Big South Fork runs at americanwhitewater.com.

Click to see the gallery

While the boaters suited up, Matt, Clint, Kim, Willow and I scouted out the area around the finish line, which was the bridge. Kim ended up taking shots near water level at it's base, while the rest of us took photos and video from on top of the bridge. The bird's eye view of the boaters ended up turning out very cool.

As for the results, Jason Crummer continued his success in the series, winning the overall title. Because of this, Jason won the grand prize of the series, which was a new Jackson Kayak SUPerCHARGER stand up paddle board! It's a rocking river runnning SUP and I can't get wait to get one soon myself. A super generous prize from Jackson! Check out our coverage of the SUPerCHARGER here.

After the race, my carload and I were not camping like a lot of the rest and we headed back while looking for a place to eat. If you are ever in the Big South Fork Area, you should check out Rugby, TN. It is a restored Victorian village founded in 1880 and is really pretty. We stopped and checked out a trailhead area, took some pictures of the different buildings and then ate at the Harrow Road Cafe. I cannot recommend this place enough. Great historic atmosphere, wonderful menu and some fantastic craft beers. I highly recommend the Skull Spitter. :) A great end to a wonderful day. Check out a few pictures of Rugby, TN at the end of the gallery. 

The Plateau Creek Race Series was a whole lot of fun and a great success. Got to give huge props to Philip and World Kayak for throwing such a cool local event and big thanks to the Outdoor Experience as well who helped out with the events. We here at WeStroke feel really fortunate to be able to be a part of something like this and to help foster even greater enthusiasm in such a great sport.

This may be end of the Creek races but it's definitely not the end of the events! The Rock Island Open at Rock Island State Park is coming and it is going to be awesome. There will be a Boater X race and timed race from the powerhouse to the lake on 2 generators on April 27th at 10am. Then on May 11th there will be a freestyle and down river freestyle competition on one generator at 10am. Stay tuned for more details!

Be sure to check out Philip Byard's post on the event over at worldkayak.com 

Final Series Point Results:

1. Jason Crummer — 520pts

2. Ian Stewart — 500pts

2. Ben Ghertner — 500 pts

3. Will Enochs — 420pts

4.  Jeff Leach — 310pts

5.  David Stenson — 300pts

6. Mikel Carr — 190pts

7. Trent Thibideaux — 180pts

8. Mitch Groothus — 160pts

8. Chelsey Poole — 160pts

9. David Schumacher — 150pts

10. Chris Gibson — 140pts

10. David Evans — 140pts

10. Jordan Greene — 140pts

11. Philip Byard — 130pts

11. Rami Ayoub — 130 pts

Neil Arvidson — 120pts

12. Don Herbert — 120pts

13. Crystal Sunshine — 110pts

13. Sam Gaylord — 110pts

14. Mike Arvidson – 100pts

Oh and don’t let me forget the long boaters!

1. Jim Enochs — 300pts

2. William Taylor — 140pts

2. Mark Kennell — 140pts

3. Bill Taylor — 110pts

3. Brandon Voto — 110pts