World cup started up last weekend with the first event of the series being held at Rock Island.I arrived on Thursday afternoon for one training session before the competition. I had never been to Rock Island at this level and the feature was very difficult to figure out especially in the 3 rides that I got.  The competition wasn't any different, with most competitors falling off the wave at least once during their 45 second rides.

I got to compete in two classes, C-1 and OC-1, so I had a little more time on the wave than most competitors. I started Fridays competition with a less-than-stellar performance but still made the cut to semifinals from 13 to 10 in C-1. Next was OC-1 and I made the cut again but with a little better results going into finals in second place. For Sundays semifinals I was quite nervous desperately wanting to move on to finals.  I had two rides that I needed to score well on to move on to the final round. My first ride was not perfect but I did manage to score a few points. My second ride was the best I had the whole weekend with an air loop, a roundhouse, and maybe a spin.Unfortunately my one good ride was not enough to make the cut to finals.  

Plugging for the loop

OC-1 finals were awesome! I set the score to beat on my first ride and then upped my score on my second.

With such a stacked heat of excellent open boaters I knew that any of these paddlers were able to beat me at any time. And Jordan Poffenberger did just that on his last ride with an air loop. It was my turn and I knew what I had to do. Visualize, plug the bow strait, flip and set it back down... Game Time, I peel out of the eddy and drop into the hole taking on as little water as possible. There it was, the green water rushing towards me, all i had to do was plug it in strait.            BAM I plugged the bow in and immediately window shaded.  There was no way for me to get another chance air loop so I started into the round houses and spins but flushed before I could get both spins. That was it I had gotten second place! Not to bad for my first international competition!

 World Cup Event #1 at Rock Island was awesome placing top ten in both classes that I competed in. Also I had my first experience in Dagger's new playboat the Jitsu 5.9! This boat is amazingly fast and loose. Loving the boat! Currently I am at the Pigeon river waiting for C-1 prelims. Update will follow soon!

Good Lines,

Brad