Billy Harris grabs the ski handle with his left hand and raises a triumphant fist with the other, smiling at the judges as he ferries onto the Buseater Wave at the World Freestyle Kayak Championships. It’s his fourth ride and the man has no worries. He’s already scored big with a combination of air blunts, back stabs and helixes on his first three rides. He finished the day in second place.
At one of the world’s most dynamic waves, the competitors had plenty to smile about. Every boater in the competition put on a show and had a great time doing it. Nick Troutman was the biggest winner finishing atop the leader board with a score of 185 as the field was cut to 20.
Americans Andrew Holcombe, Eric Jackson, Jay Kincaid and Rush Sturges all moved into the round of 20, finishing third, fourth, ninth and fourteenth respectively. Dustin Urban and Marlow Long both failed to move on.
Also missing the cut was Steve Fisher, who still managed a bread and butter on his last ride. “To put it simply, I choked,” Fisher says.
In the open canoe prelims, Jeremy Laucks threw his open boat around like a kayak, outscoring seventeen of the K-1 competitors. Spain’s Jordi Domenjo finished second while Paul Danks of Canada ended up third. Germany’s Stephan Paetsch took fourth. Laucks’ threw a sick aeriel backstab in practice that was the talk of the day.
The junior men and women start today followed by the women. The men’s quartfinals is in the afternoon.
Day One Results
1. Nick Troutman-Canada
2. Billy Harris-Canada
3. Andrew Holcombe-USA
4. Eric Jackson-USA
5. Anthony Yap-Australia
6. Peter Csonka-Slovakia
7. Maurice Kelleher-Ireland
8. Mathieu Dumoulin-France
9. Jay Kincaid-USA
10. James Bebbington-GBR
11. Tyler Curtis-Canada
12. Simon Stohmeier-Germany
13. Casper van Kalmthout-Netherlands
14. Rush Sturges-USA
15. Richard Chrimes-GBR
16. Neil Gibson-Ireland
17. Remi Wegman-Netherlands
18. Mathieu Coldobella-France
19. Ed Smith-GBR
20. Thomas Kuronen-Finland
OC1
1. Jeremy Laucks-USA
2. Jordi Domenjo Cadefau-Spain
3. Paul Danks-Canada
4. Stephan Paetch-Germany
5. Five way tie for fifth to be decided by one-ride tiebreaker
All finals on Friday
