{"id":15705,"date":"2013-11-06T16:33:46","date_gmt":"2013-11-06T16:33:46","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.pyranha.com\/blog\/?p=15705"},"modified":"2013-11-06T16:33:46","modified_gmt":"2013-11-06T16:33:46","slug":"hammering-down-the-green-race","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.pyranha.com\/blog\/hammering-down-the-green-race\/","title":{"rendered":"Hammering down the Green Race"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Dropping into the crowd off Pencil Sharpener.<\/p>\n

Yes I took the P&H Hammer down the Green. \u00a0Why did I do this? \u00a0Well, mainly because it is the only longboat that I had to use. \u00a0That and after paddling the Hammer a few times I was pretty confident I could make it down the Green just fine. \u00a0Plus, I was number 23 in the race.. MJ!! \u00a0How could anything go wrong?<\/p>\n

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Lining up Gorilla.<\/p>\n

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The P&H Hammer is designed to be a precise wave surfing, rock gardening machine. \u00a0The Freestyle kayak of sea kayaks if you will. \u00a0 With a ton of bow rocker and a nice flat hull, I’m sure it does this quite we’ll. \u00a0Actually I did surf a small wave in the Hammer at the takeout of the Russell Fork river in Kentucky. \u00a0I was amazed that I could flat spin this boat on such a small feature. \u00a0Anyway, the Green race. \u00a0Thankfully I was able to get a few practice runs in the Hammer before the Race. \u00a0The first day I was walking that stout into the Green I will have to admit I was pretty damn scared. \u00a0There where two rapids that concerned me the most. \u00a0The 1st one is the first drop in the race. \u00a0It’s basically a technical move into a 4 foot boof that lands in front of a rock. \u00a0The rapid is called Frankenstein. \u00a0The other main concern of mine is Called ” Go Left”. \u00a0This one is pictured below and maybe you can see why it was of concern to me.<\/p>\n

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Go Left<\/p>\n

After making it through this section of river I was in the clear except for \u00a0Swicks, Chiefs, Gorilla and all those slides below Gorilla. \u00a0The reason these did not bother me as much as Frankenstein and Go Left was because they are pretty forward moving lines. \u00a0Where as Frankenstein and Go Left are pretty technical moves and turning was the biggest challenge here. \u00a0 \u00a0I would say all and all the Hammer did pretty well in the Green Race. \u00a0I had a pretty respected time of 4:43 which put me in 22nd place overall. \u00a0After the first run or two down the river the challenge of this boat on Class 4-5 became really fun for me! \u00a0I would race the Hammer again for sure. \u00a0Doing the Green Race really legitimizes the Hammer as being called a shit running sea kayak……actually I may be the only one that calls it that?<\/p>\n

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