MEMORIAL DAY WEEKEND SLALOM CLINIC
Webatuck Craft Village, Wingdale, NY
For many years kccny hosted a memorial day slalom clinic on the Ten Mile River
at Webatuck Craft Village in Wingdale, NY.
We hope to revive a beginner slalom in the future as well as more
advanced competition and still have the gates, bibs and other equipment needed to run a slalom race.
EVENT DESCRIPTION:
This weekend clinic, which is co-organized by KCCNY and the ACA Atlantic Division
Open Canoe Slalom Committee, is intended to introduce novice and intermediate paddlers
to slalom competition as a means to enhance their whitewater skills and assumes
some river paddling competence. Special emphasis is placed on youngsters and women
at this event. The Slalom Clinic/Race will be held held on the Class 1 whitewater
of the Ten Mile River at Webatuck Craft Village, Wingdale, NY.
The competition is divided into novice and expert divisions with the emphasis on
instruction rather than competition. The race is further broken down into classes
that are defined by the number of paddlers (solo or tandem), their sex, their age,
and/or the type and length of their boat. The race will include classes for "recreational"
(REC) whitewater boats, separate from the specialized slalom boat classes. While
a limited number of open and decked slalom boats may be available for participants
to try out, if you have a whitewater boat of any type, please bring it so that there
will be no waiting lines for boats when the clinic is in progress. Be sure to indicate
on the
entry form
the type of boat that you'll be bringing.
Whitewater canoe and kayak slalom is a timed event over a prescribed course, not
unlike ski slalom, but with some notable differences. The gates, which are numbered,
must be run in order. Some of the gates, with green and white poles, require the
paddler to paddle downstream through them, while others, with red and white poles,
require upstream negotiation. The clear gate number shows the side to approach the
gate and the red slashed gate number is the exit side of the gate. It is permissible
to run a gate in a reverse, or stern first, attitude to make the gate easier to
negotiate. In addition to time, penalties are assessed for touching or missing the
gates. These penalties are added to the time in seconds to form a total score for
the run. Both open and closed boats use the better of their two runs for the final
ranking.
Click
here for some "Slalom
Tips" for paddlers new to slalom.
SCHEDULE:
Saturday
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08:00 am to 9:30 am
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Late Registration (& Submission of Waiver Form for On-line Registrants)
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09:30 am to 3:30 pm
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Slalom Clinic (Course Set-Up & Instruction)
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03:30 pm to Dark
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Open Practice
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Sunday
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Dawn to 09:45 am
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Open Practice
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10:00 am to 10:15 am
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Competitor's Meeting
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10:30 am to Conclusion
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Slalom Race
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Immediately after race
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Course Take Down
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After course take down
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Awards
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NOTE: In the event of an unfavorable water level or other conditions precluding
presentation of the Slalom Clinic and Race on the 10 Mile River, the H.A.C.K.S.
Slalom training site on the Housatonic River at Falls Village, CT, is our alternate
location for this event. Check back with this web site throughout the week prior
to the event for notice of any change in location.
REGISTRATION FEES:
Registration fees for the Clinic are per person charges regardless of the number
of race classes entered. Pre-registration fees for entries received by the Wednesday
before the race are fifteen dollars ($15) per person for novices and five dollars
($5) per person for experts (who will be asked to help with clinic instruction).
An additional five dollar ($5) late registration fee will be charged for any entries
received thereafter, including on-site registrations Saturday morning, 8:00 to 9:30 AM.
(NOTE: If you use the optional on-line registration process [see below] prior to
midnight on the Thursday before the clinic, you can avoid paying the ($5) late registration
fee. However, please note that an additional $1.82 processing fee is assessed for
each on-line registration [fee waived for online expert/intstructor registrations].)
ENTRY PROCEDURE:
Mail completed
entry
form and signed ACA waiver, including a check for the correct amount made
payable to:
KCCNY Slalom Clinic Registrar
7 Newbury Place
Huntington, NY 11743-3240
631-351-3099
Entries should be mailed no later than the Saturday one week prior to the event
to ensure receipt prior to the pre-registration deadline. Late entries will be accepted
at the race site from 8:00 to 9:30 AM on Saturday, the first day of the event,
for an additional five dollars ($5) per person.
An optional on-line registration process is available at
http://kccnyslalomclinic.eventbrite.com. For an additional $1.82 processing
fee per registration you can register online up until midnight of the Thursday before
the clinic. If you are unable to mail in your registration in time to make the Wednesday
mail-in deadline, register on-line before midnight Thursday and avoid the additional
$5 late registration fee.
DIRECTIONS:
From the the New York City Area: The race site is located at Webatuck Craft Village
on Route 55 between Route 22 near Wingdale, NY, to the west, and Gaylordsville,
CT, on Route 7 to the east. Use one of several routes to I-287 to the White Plains
area and go north on I-684. I-684 becomes Route 22, about 23 miles north of White
Plains, when it crosses I-84. Proceed north, about another 19 miles, to and through
Wingdale, NY, and turn east on Route 55 and go about 2 1/2 miles to the race site.
From New England: Use Route 7, north from Exit 7 on I-84 for 18 miles, or south
from Exit 2 on the Mass Turnpike, I-90, for south on Route 7 for 49 miles to Gaylordsville,
CT. At Gaylordsville take Route 55 west for about 3 miles to the race site at Webatuck
Craft Village.
At the Race Site: At Webatuck Craft Village, turn north onto Webatuck Road/Dog Tail
Corners Road (County Route 22) into the Craft Village; go across the bridge, past the
furniture showroom and parking lot on the left (16 Dog Tail Corners Road, Wingdale, NY),
then turn left into the driveway just before the sharp right turn (look for a 'Clinic
Camping' sign at this turn). Go to the top of the hill into the Main factory parking
lot, turn left and proceed to the south end of the lot for Clinic parking and
camping. This area is only a short carry for your boat(s) to the river. We ask that
you do NOT unload your boats in the parking areas for the Craft Village businesses
as they are limited and we've agreed not to use them.
Via GPS: "16 Dog Tail Corners Road, Wingdale, NY" is the address of the Hunt Country
Furniture showroom at Webatuck Craft Village. Follow GPS to this address and then use
the "At the Race Site" directions above to find the Clinic parking and camping area.
NOTE: In the event of an unfavorable water level or other conditions precluding
presentation of the Slalom Clinic and Race on the 10 Mile River, the H.A.C.K.S.
Slalom training site on the Housatonic River at Falls Village, CT, is our alternate
location for this event. Check back with this web site throughout the week prior
to the event for notice of any change in location.
AREA SERVICES:
A portable toilet will be available in the
parking lot adjacent to the camping area. The toilets in the Craft Village and factory
buildings will not be available to clinic participants. There are several craft
shops, a gift shop, and our host - Hunt Country Furniture. (NOTE: Buttonwood Cafe,
the restaurant formerly located across the river from the clinic HQ and the rest of the
Craft Village, has closed. The gift shop opposite the Hunt Country Furniture
showroom that subsequently sold sandwiches, pastries, snacks, and hot and cold beverages
is also no longer in operation, so food and beverages must be either brought from home
or purchased off site in one of the surrounding villages.) Van and tent camping is
available at the south end of the upper parking lot near the Hunt furniture factory on
both Friday and Saturday nights. The nearest motel accomodations are the Dutchess Motor
Lodge in Wingdale, NY (www.dutchessmotorlodge.com - 845-823-6400 or 914-525-9276).
There are several small towns within a 5-mile radius that have additional camping,
lodging, and dining amenities. A web search for amenities in the towns of Wingdale,
NY, and Gaylordsville, CT, will show choices for the nearest towns to the west and
east, respectively, but following are a few area restaurants that we know of:
Alfredo's Restaurant & Pizza, 651 Kent Rd., Gaylordsville, CT, 860-355-2448 (7 min.)
Cousin's Bakery, Deli, & Pizza, 1815 Route 22, Wingdale, NY, 845-832-6510 (3 min.)
Big W's Roadside Bar-B-Que, 1475 Route 22, Wingdale, NY, 845-832-6200 (5 min.)
Gaylordsville Diner, 11 George Washington Plaza, Gaylordsville, 860-210-1622 (7 min.)
Peking Kitchen, 4 Merchants Square, Route 22, Wingdale, NY, 845-832-9500 (2 min.)
Post 22, 3161 Route 22, Patterson, NY, 845-878-1011 (15 min.)
CLINIC:
The Clinic on Saturday begins with hands-on learning of how to set-up a slalom
course. After completion of course set-up, instruction on how to paddle a slalom
course will be broken down at the discretion of the organizers into at least three
groups (e.g. kayaks, solo canoes and tandem canoes) and will last about an additional
two hours. Practice on the course during the clinic will be reserved for clinic
participants.
RACE CLASSES:
Classes will be divided into Novice and Expert divisions as required. A paddler
who has finished in either the top three in an NESS class of five or more boats
or the top 50 percent in Slalom Nationals in either open or closed boat will be
considered an expert. The race chairman reserves the right to reassign any competitor
to the other division in order to maintain fair competition. Experts may enter up
to three classes in the race and may be asked to help with instruction in the clinic.
All others may enter two classes in the slalom race and one in the clinic.
OC-1 Short (13') for men, women, masters (40 or over*), and juniors (18 or under*);
OC-1 Medium (15') for men, women, masters, and juniors; OC-2 (15') for men, women,
mixed, masters, cadet/senior, and juniors; C-1 for men, women, masters, juniors,
and cadets (14 and under*); C-2 for men, women, mixed, cadet/senior, masters, juniors,
and cadets, and, K-1 for men, women, masters, juniors, and cadets. Separate REC
classes for recreational whitewater boats of any length will be held in each class
as required. (*Age as of December 31 of the calendar year of competition.)
RACE OPERATIONS:
Open boats will use the 2007 ACA OC Slalom Racing Rules, with 10 penalty seconds
per gate touched and the better of the two runs count for final ranking. Closed
boats will use the 2009 USACK Slalom Racing Rules, with 2 penalty seconds per gate
touched and the better of the two runs for final ranking. Awards will be given to
the top three boats in each class. All competitors will be expected to perform a
work assignment during the race.