2011 Top Yough Race

Almost 40 kayakers came out on a snowy, chilly April morning to race down Maryland's Top Yough . This was the largest turnout by far for the Isaac Ludwig Memorial Race. This year we had about 250 cfs on the gauge in Oakland. Not as much as previous years, which is reflected in the times. Speaking of times, here is race organizer Jon Harmon announcing them to the crew:
Roger Loughney provided start times for everyone and ran sweep on the race, and Walter Augustine went out in front and recorded everyone's finish time at Suckhole rapid. Thanks Fellas!
Jason Beakes won for the 2nd straight year, and Charley Bartlett won the shortboat class for the 2nd time in 3 years. Jack Ditty was the fastest C-1 as usual. We had a ladies class this year, which was won by Paula Knochel in her inaugural race.
Full spreadsheet of times is at the bottom.

The pre-race HQ and post race party were held at Streams and Dreams rental cottage, which was perfect for getting ready beforehand, and for partying after the race. The cottage is a great location to stay if you wanted to paddle in the area. Sleeps 8+, right at the Top Yough takeout, and close to a whole lot of other boating.
We got to eat great food, and check out several hundred photos of everyone's run at Swallow Falls:
Kayakers Love Pictures

Zach Yomboro shot this video of all the racers on Swallow Falls. Pretty cool, and much appreciated. You can see a mix of lines, with a lot of the longboats choosing to go left of center.



The snow on the course made it extra beautiful out there. Good for snowballs at the finish line too.

Full times for the 2011 race:

Jason Beakes	10:26	Overall Winner
Ben Ledewitz	10:34
Jack Ditty	10:42	Fastest C-1
Jon Harmon	11:01	AwesomeOrganizer
Geoff Calhoun	11:05
Matt Fithian	11:08
Andrew Robinson	11:10
Charley Bartlett	11:45	Fastest Shortboat
Bobby Miller	11:51	#2 Shortboat
Micah Weglinski	11:51
Art Barket	11:52
Travis Coles	12:07
Martin Wick	12:09
Justin Teague	12:10	#3 Shortboat
Randy Greidever	12:16
Blake Huber	12:26
Jeff Blood	12:31
Roger Loughney	12:35
Seth Chapelle	12:37	#2 C-1
Andrew Miller	12:38
Andrew McCauley	12:38
Chris Schwer	12:38
Dave and Rob Fusilli	12:48
Matt Burnstein	12:49
JB Seay	12:56
Nori Onishi	12:57
Matt Sloan	13:04
John Stephens	13:15
Paula Knochel	13:18	Fastest Womens
Sean Chapelle	13:27
Max Harbert	13:39
Chris Heim	13:44
Mackenzie Hatcher	13:49	#2 Womens
Bob Norr	13:56
Nico Zegre	14:02
Laura Lindzey	14:26	#3 Womens

2010 Top Yough Race

Sunday, March 28 just over a dozen boaters got together for the Isaac Ludwig Memorial Race on Maryland's Top Yough.
We had about 550cfs, which made for a very fun race course, and quicker times than last year.
Reigning champion Geoff Calhoun was unable to make the race, so this year Jason Beakes came in and claimed the title and a sweet Limited Edition GreenVest. Geoff also missed out on getting chased again by the angry goose next to the hydro plant, so I took his place as the outlet for the wrath of that particular Branta canadensis.

I really appreciate Jon and Roger getting everybody rounded up for the race, and Thanks to Walter Augustine for timekeeping.

Paddler	Time	Boat	Note
Jason Beakes	8:45	Green Boat	That is Fast
Matt Fithian	9:30	Green Boat
Brian Menzies	9:32	Green Boat
Sam Kane	9:35	Green Boat
Jay Ditty	9:44	Response C-1
Jon Harmon	9:45	Green Boat
Adam Johnson	9:54	Magnum	Fastest shortboat
Charlie Bartlett	10:00	Karnali
Nathan Sass	10:06	Green Boat
Clay Warren	10:23	Green Boat
Nori Onishi	10:39	Jefe	Fastest Asian
JB Seay	10:41	Burn	Slowest Asian
Roger Loughne	10:45	Jefe
Billy Clipper	10:50	Nomad	Handpaddle Champ
Cody Walsh	11:09

2009 Top Yough Race

The Second Annual First Official Isaac Ludwig Memorial Top Yough Race was held on Sunday, April 19.
Geoff Calhoun won, (completing his weekend sweep) followed by Matt Fithian, Matt Walker (pictured above), Jay Ditty (c-1) and Evan Garcia (short boat). Full results and multimedia coverage should be available soon at Immersion Research and/or LVM. Evan, in addition to killing it in his Jefe, gets special note because he had never paddled this river before.


The race was from above Swallow Falls to the bottom of Suckhole rapid, which at race flows (323 cfs) is a 10-13 minute race.

Hanging out after the race.



Nori Onishi and Shawn Yingling entering Swallow Falls.


Much thanks to Roger, John, Walter and Matt for administration and timing for the race- it was good fun and much appreciated guys.

I have few more photos at my picasaweb account. If I hear of more, I'll link to them later.