Document text
Rafting pals win race using narrower craft Whitewater champions work locally By Mark Freeman Six local rafting friends proved recently that, in the world of whitewater, wider is not necessarily better. By rowing a narrower-than-normal raft, the six-pack of 20-something friends hoped to buy a bit more speed down the upper Colorado River at the risk of flipping more easily along the heavy whitewater course. The plan worked to perfection Aug. 19 when the group gained just enough of a speed advantage to beat the local favorites and win rafting�s national championship for 2000. The group, all tight friends who work for the same Northern California rafting company, won both the sprint and downriver races by a combined 6.5 seconds to capture the Teva Whitewater Rafting Championships in Kremmling, Colo. The races were held in Gore Canyon, a stretch of the upper Colorado about 8,000 feet above sea level and known as sporting some of America�s most troublesome whitewater rapids. "The boat was definitely a factor in our success, especially in the flat water," says team member Scott Eastman, a 24-year-old doctor in Yreka, Calif. "Some of the people are a little bitter that out-of-staters came in and won the event, but we did it." The win also qualifies the team for the world rafting championships next year in Brazil or Turkey, the 2001 Pan-American Games and the Camel Whitewater Challenge set for September 2001 on Zimbabwe�s Zambezi River . "Team California," as they are known, is captained by Ryan Allred, 22, of Ashland. Along with Eastman, it also includes paddlers Todd Clevenger and Greg Smith of Ashland; John Tribble of Talent; Max Pfaffinger of Grass Valley, Calif.; and alternate Davey Grantland of Phoenix. They all work for Adventure Whitewater, guiding clients down the Klamath, Scott and Cal-Salmon rivers. "All of us on the team have been working together for years, and we�re all really good friends," says Clevenger, a 22-year-old pre-med student. "We�ve been talking about how it would be awesome for just us to form a team for these championships. This year, it all came together." And it all came in an unlikely raft. Championship rules dictate rafts of at least 14 feet long and 6 feet wide, but more teams compete in rafts close to 7 feet wide. The extra width normally gives the boats better stability in the Class V rapids that make Colorado�s Gore Canyon a playground for only the most skilled of hard-core rafters. The team chose a 6-foot-wide boat with a tapered bow, built by Sotar of Grants Pass and sold mostly as a fly-fishing boat for rafters in Montana and Wyoming. "The thinner boat was a little bit of a chance," Eastman says, "but it felt more stable to us on our practice runs." The extra speed paid off, gaining Team California a 2-second win in the half-mile sprint and a 4.5-second win in the 6-mile downriver race. "Four seconds isn�t much on a 30-minute course," says Paul Tefft, one of the race�s organizers. "It was a really close race, and it was kind of cool that they pulled it off." Each event had 25 teams from across the United States and Canada. Clevenger expects some of those teams to adopt Team California�s thinner-is-better mantra. "I think it was an advantage overall," Clevenger says. "We were definitely faster in that boat." Obituaries | Sports | Business | Classifieds | Tempo | Prime Times | So Oregon Sites | Outdoor Journal | Subscribe | Contact | Movies | Advertise | Real Estate Showcase | Archive | Editorials | Letters to the editor | Religion | Wake-up Call | NIE | Cyber Chef | Job Network | So Oregon Weather | WSJ Northwest | Forums | AP Wire | AP Money | F.A.Q. | Awards Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. The Community Newspaper Subsidiary of Dow Jones & Co, Inc Copyright �The Mail Tribune 2000, Medford, Oregon USA