Bank of America US Open
March 22-23, 2008

 Two days of big-time racing at NOC!

Come cheer on the Nantahala Racing Club Rhinos as they fight for spots on the 2008 USA Canoe/Kayak team. Watch world-class paddlers compete in both downriver and slalom competitions in the season’s first major competitive event.

Nantahala Outdoor Center will host the Bank of America US Open at its adventure center on the Nantahala River, Saturday and Sunday, March 22-23. This is the biggest race of USA Canoe/Kayak’s regional Team Trials Qualifiers, and paddlers from across the country will be competing. This is the most critical competitive event prior to the Olympic Team Trails in April.

The race is organized by the Nantahala Racing Club and features two events; whitewater slalom, where competitors race through a series of gates hanging in key locations throughout a rapid, and wildwater racing, where competitors paddle down a section of river in the fastest possible time. Canoe/Kayak Slalom will be held at the Shunyi Olympic Rowing-Canoeing Park in Bejing as part of the Games of the XXIX Olympiad.

In slalom competition, competitors are allowed two runs of the course, which are usually paddled in less than two minutes each. The paddlers negotiate 20 gates—14 downstream gates and 6 upstream gates—incurring two-second penalties for any touch of a gate, and an insurmountable 50-second penalty for displacing a gate by more than 45 degrees, proceeding in the wrong order or passing through upside-down. The competitors’ two times are added together, with the fastest combined time winning the race.

Wildwater racing features both a Sprint competition, where the course is 500-750 meters long, and a Classic competition, which could be up to nine miles long. In wildwater racing, all paddlers compete in one run, head-to-head. Wildwater racing is currently not an Olympic event.

NOC will also host a race dinner March 22 at Relia’s Garden Restaurant. The entire Nantahala adventure center will be open for parking, shopping and dining before and after the race.

Don’t miss this chance to see some Olympic-caliber competition on the Nantahala River. Arrive early to nab a sweet seat by Nantahala Falls and cheer on NRC-Rhino paddlers Scott Mann, Tad Dennis and others!