Seeing all those cold looking paddling pictures from England in this blog for a while I think it is time to let the spring come in! So let´s start: I was spending five awesome weeks in Corsica coaching kayaking. After having a “low water year” in 2102, the Ile of Beauty rewarded us for coming back each spring with a great amount of water this time. We got numerous runs done which haven´t been run since a while, so even after travelling to Corsica my 6th year in a row I got some little adventure feeling form tiome to time.
Back from the Mediterranean I didn´t stay home for a long time – so I got myself back on the road and headed south again. This time my destination was the beautiful Ticino and Piedmont. Arriving just after some rainy days we found super sweet waterlevels all around and the sky cleared up to bring us another five beatiful paddleing days around the Lago Maggiore.
All photos by Michael Sommerauer, River: Verzasca (SUI)
The first ladies paddle symposium to be held in North Wales was a great success, and Fran Kohn did a fantastic job of organising the event, even booking good weather!
Here’s what Fran had to say:
‘From coaching on the Scottish Ladies Paddle Symposium last year I new we had to have one South of the Border, and no-one else was going to organise one for me, so I thought I might as well do it myself!
The main aim was to have a successful event where Ladies from different disciplines could get together and be in the majority for once! I wanted to provide a space where they could network with each other, build relationships and find some more paddling partners – and get some great professional coaching at the same time!
The Ladies were amazing, there was so much laughing and smiling over the whole weekend and the ladies were so enthusiastic, inspirational and supportive of each other and the event. I cannot wait to get started on organising the next one, we will be listening to all the feedback and making it bigger and better :)’
On offer for the weekend were courses and presentations in Sea kayaking, canoeing, white water, and also rafting! Very highly regarded coaches were on hand to run the courses, which ensured everyone would take away some very valuable skills from the weekend.
Saturday morning the sun was shining and everyone was ready to meet their coaches for a fun day of paddling. With great weather but low water, Some groups visited the Dee, and some headed off to the Tryweryn.
Saturday evening there was a happy vibe when we sat down to dinner. Everyone seemed to have had a very positive day and was excited to find out what everyone had been up to.
After dinner we all got together to listen to a variety of presentations, about various aspects of paddling.
First up was Diane Lee, who explained how she had fallen in love with canoeing after a drastic career change later in life. She made it clear that you can achieve anything if you put your mind to it.
Second was Justine Curvengen, founder of Cackle TV Productions. She treated us to some clips from her videos, which were all excellent. I will certainly be sitting down to watch these! Find out more at cackletv.com.
Paula Volkmer was the third speaker, whose presentation focused on fear and being in control. She explained how some people kayak for the adrenaline rush and others enjoy the feeling of being in control. Her advice for success in whitewater paddling is to focus on the line you want to take and not the thing you are trying to avoid.
Sunday bought with it great weather again, and we were in for an enjoyable day paddling on the Dee.
This event was great to bring ladies together and find new people to paddle with! I’m sure everyone made lots of new friends and will be arranging more paddling trips with them in the future!
All round this event was a great success and I look forward to seeing lots of people again next time around!
Thanks again to Fran Kohn, and to everybody who helped out!
This month i’m going to teach you how to do the McNasty.
It’s a great move, you can start it from many different positions and setups, it’s quick to do, impressive to see and is one of the highest scoring moves.
The technique I’m going to show you here is the most commonly used one and is the one I use nearly all the time.
Step 1: Get yourself into a nice stable side surf.
Step 2: Keep your upstream knee up, hold that edge on, then push off the back face of your paddle and sweep your boat into a back surf.
Step 3: Just before you reach a backsurf, lean forwards and drop your upstream paddle blade into the water and start pulling on the green water.
It’s important not to pause too long in a backsurf or drop your edge here, keep your momentum and keep that edge held on.
Step 4: As your pulling keep looking ahead of the boats rotation. If you have the correct amount of edge you’ll start to go vertical now.
Step 5: Now you should be in a normal looping position. Push down hard on your feet for added pop, jump up and then tuck hard forwards smashing both your paddle blades off the water to push you as high as you can.
Step 6: When your body has gone all the way to the front, snappily open out your body as aggressively as you can & kick your feet out in front of you.
Step 7: Once in a front surf again, do a few quick powerful forward strokes to retain the hole.
Top tips for learning this one:
-Play around with how fast you spin the boat, how much edge you hold on and how long you pause before the loop. Find what works best for your features, boat & style.
-Make sure you spot an upstream marker like a tree or a slalom pole before you throw the loop. This will help you to keep it straight and make it more likely to score.
It’s one of my favourite moves and one of the most fun to do, good luck & get out there and try it.
Sunny spring weather, a fun whitewater course, plenty of exhibitors and exciting side activites drew around 3000 visitors to the XXL Paddelfestival last weekend, making it the biggest kayak and canoe test event in Germany so far.
Before the festival, we at Palm didn’t really know what to expect. Snow and cold winter conditions had been persistent in Germany and no one could tell whether kayakers were prepared for an early start of the season yet. Also, we have had no idea what the event area was like. The course had been built only a few years ago and is located in the, for whitewater paddlers rather remote, town of Markkleeberg just south of Leipzig (Saxony). We went anyway and were curious what would happen. With us, a large number of manufacturers came and brought their latest products along for paddlers to compare and test.
Saturday started cloudy and windy but it soon became apparent that this wouldn’t keep paddlers away. As soon as the turbines started working and the course was openend, the water basin filled up with boats of all sorts in no time. Not only whitewater enthusiasts had come all the way to Markkleeberg. We counted dozens of touring paddlers in sea kayaks, people in open canoes, inflatables and on SUPs. The scenic lake right next to the course provided the perfect testing ground for calm water experts as well as beginners.
While paddlers kept coming, the clouds finally made way for warm sunshine. Everyone was so excited about the great conditions and the large variety of products on offer, that the number of boats on the water rose to an almost worrying amount. A certain queue time to get on the conveyor belt and back to the put in had to be taken into account. This, however, could do no harm to the fun and great time that everyone had.
In the evening, spectators were spoilt with a selection of Big-O kayak movie highlights and a spectacular boater X in the darkness with floodlight illumination. Drinks and stories were shared at the bonfire party, making sure that no one went to bed early.
Sunday brought even more sunshine and, you guessed it already, more people still. In the end the organisers counted a total of 3000 visitors, making the XXL Paddelfestival the biggest canoe and kayak testival in Germany so far.
Highlight of the day was certainly the Palm Junior Trophy, where a dozen kids between 5 and 14 years competed in a fun boater X which was held in the main pool.
The contenders raced in groups of 2 to 4 and had to paddle around big red floatation bags (converted into buoyes) in order to win one of the many prizes supplied by Palm.
No one, of course, missed out and in the end there were smiling faces all-around.
A big thank you goes to the organisers, Horst Fürsattel and the KANU crew, for coming up with such a fantastic event. There will certainly be a second edition next year. So make sure you’ll mark the date in your calendar. It’s definitely worth the trip!
The Palm Spark Suit and why it’s by far my favorite piece of kit.
Just a few short months ago when Palms idea for a new performance orientated dry suit specifically aimed at Freestyle Paddlers first emerged onto the public domain, it was thought to be a huge mistake, mainly due to the lack of latex seals on the ankle and neck gaskets. However over the past winter it has proved itself to be one of the most ground-breaking pieces of kit ever sold.
Over the past few years I have unfortunately collected a reputation as a professional destroyer of kit, however I would like to point out this is not necessarily through misuse but much more to do with overuse of my kit. This is the first dry suit I have ever owned, I’ve tried several over the past few years and have never found one that allowed me enough range of movement, which is why this suit piqued my interest but I must admit I too was completely skeptical as too how this “semi” dry suit would fair.
Predominately being a freestyle kayaker I inevitably spend most of my time immersed in water and as such have always wondered why manufacturers choose to place semi dry seals on kit aimed at freestyle paddlers, I’ve used semi dry seals in the past and have always found that despite being very comfortable they are completely and utterly useless at keeping the user dry.
Which is why I was pleasantly surprised when I came to use the glide skin gaskets that Palm have used, For the first time in using a non latex I actually felt the glide skin gasket form a good seal against my neck, It proved to be truly exceptional at keeping me dry and despite being used twice a day everyday for the past 8 months it still maintains it’s elasticity. It’s far more comfortable than a latex and just as dry, the fact that it doesn’t degrade over time has made me a full convert to the glide skin revolution.
I feel the cut of Palms’ garments has improved drastically over the past year with the new range of kit. And just as with other products throughout the Palm range this suit does not disappoint. A clean cut provides a full range of movement without having excess material flapping around allowing for the most dynamic of freestyle moves to be thrown. The material is reasonably light whilst still maintaining a positive feel that re-assures you that it’s a piece of kit that will be with you for a long time. The zip is hardly noticeable and an added bonus for those that have a slight degree of flexibility, it can be zipped up and down by oneself … who needs friends ?
I haven’t spent a vast amount of time swimming in this suit but when I did I found the neoprene ankle seals to work surprisingly well, provided they where pulled further up the leg, The suit is also available with optional socks which could be worth a look at if you are going to be spending an added amount of time in the water.
Overall I couldn’t be happier with my spark suit. It’s one of the few pieces of kit that has truly stood the test of time with my paddling tendencies and my only hope is that Palm continue their trend for bright colors and add some additional color choices to the spark suit range. Cough Harlequin Cough.
The New Zealand summer has been great!! We have had awesome sunny weather the whole season, but unfortunately most of the rivers were dry.
This year my older sister took the journey oversees to see where I spend my European winter each year. Together with Mike Dawson and Kathrin Bickel we have been exploring the whole of New Zealand in prime conditions. My sister flew back in the beginning of March and since then I have been paddling a fair bit of slalom together with Katrhin and Mike.
Over Easter we raced the NZ Slalom National Champs in Kaweau. Kathrin raced slalom 6 years ago, with the NZ nationals being her last race. This made us both decided to enter and give the race our best shot ;). I had my first slalom experience in 2011 on the Kaituna river here in New Zealand and enjoyed this challenging new discipline. I haven’t been able to practice a lot of slalom since than but I have enjoyed my time in a slalom boat heaps.
The racing over the weekend was great! Both days I had pretty sweet runs, with only a couple touches and little mistakes. On Saturday I ended up in second in the Pre-Nationals and on Sunday I managed to get in third, with seven seconds behind NZ Olympic paddler Luuka Jones in first. Young Australian Kate Eckhardt became second.
Soon I’m heading off for another holiday trip to Vanuatu before the Northern Hampshire racing season starts.
