2007 USA National Wildwater Championships on The Deerfield River

January 24, 2007 -- Charlemont, MA -

Zoar Outdoor, has been awarded the bid for USA Wildwater Nationals on the Deerfield River in Western Massachusetts for August 24-26, 2007. Zoar Outdoor, a local outfitter operating guided raft trips and paddling instruction (www.zoaroutdoor.com) on the river since 1989 will host the race. During the 1990s, Zoar hosted a number of national competitions on the Deerfield River including the Slalom Nationals, Junior Team Trials, Open-Boat Nationals, and the Wildwater Nationals in 1993 and 1995.

Races will be held on two sections of the Deerfield River. The Zoar Gap section provides an easy "classic" wildwater run good for the novice race with primarily class 2 rapids. The class 3 rapid at the end of this run has been the site of past slalom team trials and open boat national championships. The section above this, called the Dryway has been the past site of two wildwater national championships. The Dryway has many technical class 3 and 4 rapids and will be the site of the sprint race.

There will be water releases on the Dryway section on Friday for training and on Saturday and Sunday for race days. The water releases are guaranteed for 4-5 hours per day with a flow of 900 -1100 cfs.

Zoar Outdoor will include classes for Juniors, Masters and Grand Masters levels to encourage more paddlers to participate. Shuttles for race and practice runs will be provided by Zoar Outdoor. The average weather in late August is hot with 80 degrees air temperature and 60 degrees water temperature.

Media Contact:     
Karen Blom /Public Relations
     Ph: 800-532-7483
     fax: 413-337-8436
     email: info@zoaroutdoor.com
     website: www.zoaroutdoor.com