Is there anything better than the new EC season starting with a new river and a new country placing herself on the EC Competition map? EC Romania 2018 Dracula race, over the weekend of 14th-15th April, brought together twelve teams from Bulgaria, Serbia and Romania, along with 10 kayakers, in Nehoiu city on the Buzau River.
Slalom was the first discipline to run and in the Open Men category team “Vointa Arad” (flat water kayakers) passed the more experienced “MOE“ team and took first place. The two ladies teams from Bulgaria: “Adventure Net – Atom Kozlodui” and “NSA” battled for first and second places, leaving the only Romanian team “Outdoor Events Ladies” in third place.
In Kayak Slalom, Ulise Galu (ROM) took first place in the Men’s category, while Marina Naydenova (BUL) won in the Women’s category.
Sprint was fiercely contested. Open Men’s “MOE” (Mares Outdoor Events raft guides team) found the fastest lines and won, followed closely 0.48 seconds later by “Clinica de Aventura” and “Pustolov Kes” (Serbia). “Vointa Arad”, the flat water kayak and dragon boat European champions came in a surprising 4th place.. Open Women’s Bulgarian teams continued their fight for first and second with “Adventure Net – Atom Kozlodui” taking the win in Sprint followed by Team “NSA”, while “Outdoor Ladies” remained in third place.
Head to Head saw tough fights with clean contacts, but also a drop in water level which made the lines very technical and the battle hard in the finals. “Clinica de Aventura” took first place in the Open Men, followed by “MOE” and “Vointa Arad”. “Outdoor Events Ladies” perfected the line in the final and took first place, followed by “Adventure Net – Atom Kozlodui” and “NSA”.
At the end of the day the Open Men were dominated by “MOE”, followed by “Vointa Arad” with 10 points behind and “Clinica de Aventura” at 15 points behind.
Tight results in the Open Women as well where “NSA” (BUL) led, followed by “Adventure Net-Atom Kozlodui” (BUL) only 6 points away and “Outdoor Events Ladies” further back at 40 points distance.
The day ended beautifully with the Kayak Slalom Award Ceremony and a party with live music, dancing, high spirits and a lot of joy. Not to mention the two birthday celebrations of Emilia Begunova (Bulgaria) and Ciprian Constantineanu (Romania)!
Downriver race on Sunday was 7 km long, estimated at 20-30 minutes. “Vointa Arad” won the Open Men with 25:13.03 followed by “MOE” 16 seconds later and “Clinica de Aventura” 47.15 seconds later.
Open Women saw a lot of action – the three teams paddled the 7 km race as a pack, hunting for the best lines. Just before the last and hardest rapid, “Washing Machine”, team “NSA” (BUL) were in the lead and seemed impossible to pass. “Adventure Net-Atom Kozlodui” (BUL) followed their line closely. Surprising everyone, “NSA” blew a chamber of their raft by hitting a submerged rock which left the two teams fighting for the line. “Outdoor Events Ladies” (ROM) chose a different line which was slower but put the team in a good alignment for the “Washing Machine” – they took the lead and held tight until the finish line, ending the Downriver and the competition in first place.
EC Romania 2018 Dracula Race winners:
Open Men: “CS Vointa Arad” Rafting Team – Babos Claudiu, Eduard Ilea, Dan Vidacs, Fane Milos, Marius Moise, Mihai Munteanu
Open Women: “Outdoor Events Ladies Brasov” Rafting Team – Sinziana Ioan, Ramona Stefan Truta, Larisa Pop, Adriana M. Rotaru, Bianca Aitean, Ioana Daia
Quite remarkable is the presence of the first ever U19 Team in a Romanian competition: CSS GLORIA Arad.
As the EC Romania 2018 Dracula Race was announced as Romania National Selections, the following teams can register for euro and world events in 2018, as follows:
– ERC Slovakia, July 2-7, 2018o Vointa Arad & MOE, OM
o Outdoor Events Ladies, OW
– WRC Argentina, November 4-10, 2018o Vointa Arad, OM
o Outdoor Events Ladies, OW
Details of all race results can be found here.
