This last weekend was the 2nd annual Upper Wind Race. It’s a three mile course through the biggest rapids on the Upper Wind. Our cataraft entry with Zach Collier won 1st place and was 56 seconds ahead of the next competitor. Here’s Zach’s report:

“The race was close, but I was much faster this year (and able to win) due to the SOTAR Legend cat tubes and the Matcatr racing frame. The Legend tubes have an upturned bow and stern that ran every drop effortlessly whether I was pushing or pulling. The Madcatr frame has the tunnel that allowed me to straddle rocks I couldn’t have otherwise. Plus the frame weighed only 20 lbs. Last year I lost by 30 seconds and with better gear, this year I won by a minute. Big thanks to SOTAR and Madcatr Creations.”

As you can tell, Zach was more excited about the gear than the race. Big thanks to SOTAR and MadCatr Creations for sponsoring Zach and Team Hardware.

The next race is the Upper Klamath Race on April 18th and 19th.

Our next project is the Guide Shack (code name: x-wing): a two person shelter designed to cover a 16 or 18 foot raft. We took our wing tarp design, cut off the sides and shortened it to 12 feet so it would fit on a variety of boats and be easy to set up. The prototype is being sewn as I write this.

The goal is simplicity. Each end of the tarp will be tied to a raft paddle and then down to a D-ring at the bow and stern of your raft. There will be 2 tie downs on each side that can be strapped to D-rings on the sides of a boat. That’s it! This tarp can easily be set up on land as well by stringing it between 2 solid anchors (trees, rocks, etc).

The guide shack is lighter than regular tents, more durable, it won’t require extra poles or stakes, and is much easier to set up. It will be perfect shelter for the minimalist river guide that needs a solid shelter on a daily basis (i.e. Middle Fork, Rogue, or Grand Canyon guides).