The Yukon Canoe and Kayak Club’s Paddlefest 2006 took over the river on Sunday, with paddlers competing in freestyle, and slalom and speed races.
Here are the top finishers:
Freestyle
The senior freestyle category was very competitive with five paddlers and few points separating the winners. This group performed full front loops, linked cartwheels and back loops.
1st Brendan Zrum, 90
2nd Derrick Law, 83.5
3rd Sam Penner, 83
4th Olivier Roy-Jauvin, 80
5th Lawrence Brennan, 79.5
(Lawrence Brennan, Olivier Roy-Jauvin and Brendan Zrum competed in senior category, although they are junior age.)
Junior freestyle
1st Jason Zrum, 194
2nd Quinn Dennehy, 129
3rd Joel Brennan, 98
4th Carson Close, 60
Freestyle canoe
1st Steve Hahn, 68
2nd Mike Terlesky, 55
3rd Violet Van Hees, 53
4th Connor Oliver-Beebe,
Joel Brennan, 51
Slalom
The slalom course once again proved to be very challenging. Racers had to kayak from the fish ladder to the finish line near the Rotary Centennial Bridge, passing through a series of seven gates. Missing or hitting a gate resulted in a time penalty.
The course was pushy with big water and forced the kayakers to use their skills and technique to the best of their ability.
Thomas De Jager showed his competitors how it’s done, finishing the course in a blazing speed of 1:27 with no penalties, compared to the rest of the crew who took approximately 2:08 to finish.
Senior slalom
1st Thomas De Jager
2nd Brendan Zrum
3rd Olivier-Roy Jauvin
(Honourable mention goes to Erin Oliver-Beebe and Carson Close, and Geo Bourcier and Thomas Fulop, for attempting the slalom in a two-person duckie.)
Junior slalom
1st Connor Olivier-Beebe
2nd Quinn Dennehy
3rd Jason Zrum
Corporate Raft Race
1st Icycle Sports
2nd Up North Adventures
3rd Tatenshini Expediting
4th EMS