Racing there Saturday and have never been there before.
Does anyone know what the current is like?
Is it negligable, 1/2 MPH, 1 mph ?
Also would like any info about the shoals, such as which side to run avoid scraping rocks, etc.
thanks and Cheers,
JackL
this is the coosa race, right jack?
i did that 3 years ago, i think. it is basically a fairly narrow flatwater river. a few riffles, but nothing significant in terms of obstacles, rapids, etc. if i remember correctly the current was in the 1-2mph range. there were some suckwater stretches, but none too terribly long. there may have been a couple of rocks which were easily avoided. it was acceptably scenic- nothing special, but not an ugly river.
the year i did it it was brutally, brutally hot and still- 90+ at the start. i paddled my (departed) 700 and came in second after a guy in a K1 (laser or delphine). i hung with him for a while, but there was nothing tricky enough to make balance any kind of issue, and i just couldn’t match his boat speed over the long course.
i would bring the fastest, lightest, tippiest, best ventilated boat that you have and basically be prepared to grind for the entire race. and hydrate really, really well before the race.
there was some music and barbecue afterwards in rome- overall a decently fun race.
andrew
Thanks a ton, Andrew!!!
Your info is always right on the money, and I trust your judgment.
I had similar concern about this race. In fact, Jack and I discussed about it last weekend. I have been going back and forth for weeks trying to decide whether to do the race as part of my training with the Nelo. To paddle the Mill in such a flat water did not make sense to my.
Just one more question, is back to hooch doable with an “expensive” carbon k-1? I think you did it back in 05 with your ski. It’s funny that I have done way over 2,000 miles in Lake Lanier since I moved to Alpharetta last year, and I have never paddled the hooch below Bufor dam 
…king of still miss deep blue waters.
Thanks again,
you’re welcome
You could do the Coosa race in your K1. You’ll win by a mile unless Barend shows up… You might be able to do it in your ski if you are careful and put on a small rudder.
The Back to the Hootch is a little bit of a different story. It does go through a stretch of decent rapids, with some big rocks that you would not want to hit in a nice boat. I did it in my 700 that year, and bounced off a few rocks on the way down. Depending on the river flow, it can get a little tricky there- Barend did it one year in a K1, but neither of us is him, right?
There are a couple of easy ways to check out the Hootch course. The easiest is to put in at Azalea drive and then paddle upriver to the rapids. I have never been able to paddle up through them, but you could portage around them if you wanted. You could also set up a shuttle with someone, and put in where the Back to the Hootch starts (I forget the name now). When you get to the rapids, you want to stay pretty far to the left. I’d do it in something plastic the first time, and definitely NOT with a ski with an understern rudder.
There used to be a race on the Azalea stretch, all flatwater, which I did on my ski once. That stretch is fine for skis, although it gets pretty shallow at low water, and I think you have pretty low water from what I hear. It’s all sandy though, so you just have to get out and walk in the water if you ground.
Good luck with your races. There are two fantastic races up here in the summer if you feel like a road trip. Two Harbors, around August 4th is 18 miles on Lake Superior- awesome course, lots of paddlers, many skis. Later in September is the Chicago Shoreline Marathon, 26 miles on the Chicago waterfront. I have an extra Mako XT you can borrow for either one, and we can almost certainly get you something faster if you want it.
Andrew
Also thanks from me Andrew.
Nanci and I will be racing a comp cruiser and I don’t have any spray rails on the bow and wasn’t sure about those shoals.
We trained in a lake today and when the wind and waves kicked up it got me thinking that I should put some on.
Hey Xavier, we did the Hooch last year and I just sent the entry in for it today.
For what it is worth: we raced our 17 foot kevlar Jensen canoe and in the one set of rapids we followed a boat in front of us through, and did some ever so slightly bumping off rocks.
We will be racing the comp cruiser which is a lot less forgiving and keeping our fingers crossed.
I don’t think you will have any problems. Just keep your fingers crossed too.
By the way congrats on your fine battle last week with that ICF tandem kayak.
Cheers,
JackL
Chicago Shoreline Marathon
Andrew,
If you could borrow at least your XT, the Chicago Shoreline Marathon sounds quite interesting to me. I could easily find a fly from ATL to Chicago. We could arrange the details via e-mail.
The same week of Two Harbors, I would be doing the Nationals up there in Indiana - about 50 miles from Chicago. I though for a moment to make a round trip to MN, but it would add up 1,000 miles and 4 races in a 7 days period -I think it would be a bit too much 
Thanks for the offering!
Twelve Mile
Jack,
Thanks, that was an awesome workout for me -well worth the trip! How did the doubles go?
Eh, Yeah
Paddle faster if you hear banjo music.
We did good.
there were only two other boats.
jack
that’s very original
did you think of that all by yourself?
drop me an email
we can definitely come up with a boat for you for CSM
af