One weekend in mid-October, several of the Pyranha boys and girls headed up to chilly Old Forge, New York, for the final race in the King of New York Series. The water in the Moose River was over twice as high as normal flows, prompting race organizers to move the race to the Lower Moose this year, which was plenty raging for the 1.5 mile stretch of whitewater chosen for the race. The race began above Iron Bridge, with a mass upstream-facing start. Racers had to attain to the top of an island, then turn downstream and haul ass to the finish, located after two long rapids. With almost one quarter of the competitors being women, this race was much better looking than the average whitewater race. Pat Keller took first place as part of his pre-Green Race training program, and was followed by young buck Robert Waldron, a youth recently rescued from impending degeneracy by mentor Geoff Calhoun, who came in hot on his tail. Jared Seiler, defending King, was fourth in. The ladies field was led by Margaret Williams and Erin Savage in long boats; I followed as the first girl in a short boat.
Though the KONY series is traditionally raced primarily in long boats, I couldn’t resist seeing how the Pyranha 9R would hold up in the pack. After a romantic evening getting to know each other on the ride to New York state, I was confident that the 9R would satisfy my need for speed.
The 9R and I spending a quiet night in before the race.
After racing in the 9R, I think I can say with confidence that the ladies will love the 9R. The high-riding bow flies over waves, and it turns on a bow draw as easily as it carves, which is a huge plus for this former slalom racer. It also holds a line though, which is especially impressive for a boat that spins so easily. For a light paddler (115lbs/ 52kg), the 9R feels like it’s hovering slightly above the water, and it punches holes like a dream. In short, this boat is perfect for smaller paddlers: light paddlers can expect to put this boat where they want it easily, and to get some pretty major air off boofs.
To see the 9R in action, check out this little edit I made of Moose Race:
https://vimeo.com/110901807