Wildwater Nationals 2006/07

Here's some pictures from the Wildwater Nationals, all from the "Shark's Tooth" rapid on the Mitta Mitta River. After some races at Eildon on the Goulbourn River at really low levels, it was great to arrive at Dartmouth and find some great flow on the Mitta. Ironically, the flow was courtesy of the drought, as Dartmouth Dam is currently being almost drained and the water being sold to South Australia, who need it desperately. What will Victoria do if it doesn't rain this winter - who knows - we just knew that the river was pumping!!

The Mitta was boily and fast flowing, and Shark's Tooth was the crux move with the three different lines being trialled in practice presenting paddlers with a number of options. Above in the lower pic we have Matt Shaw (TAS) just before being almost back-looped and having a bit of a swim in the classic race courtesy of the nasty hole he is paddling into. Matt recovered well from this experience, coming back to post a couple of gutsy runs the next day to take out the U18 rapid sprint down the same rapid! Good on you Matt! Middle pic above is Dan getting a bit of air in the sprint race, and top pic is myself having a bit of a tussle with the same hole that claimed Matt, also in the sprint race.

For full results, go to:
http://www.derwent.canoe.org.au/default.asp?Page=12070