With the launch of Dagger’s new Jitsu playboat we wanted to give you some new skills to work on in your shiny new freestyle ripping machines.
Over the course of this year Katya and me will be producing monthly how to videos to help you progress your freestyle skills.
The first one here is on how to do one of our favourite moves: the Phonics Monkey.
What is it?
It’s a 360 degree vertical spin linked into a front loop.
It looks very spectacular, is one of the highest scoring moves and also one of the hardest to master.
How to do it?
Step One: Set Up
Step One: Start up nice and high on the foam pile. Turn the boat so that it’s lined up straight to the oncoming flow. Let yourself drift down towards the seam line with a little bit of edge held on.
Step Two: Initiation
Step Two: Just before you reach seam line reach across the bow with a crossbow stroke to initiate the 360 pirouette.
Step Three: Looking Ahead
Step Three: As soon as you’ve initiated the crossbow pirouette, start looking ahead of the boats rotation.
Step Four: Spotting Upstream & Throwing Loop
Step Four: When you’re getting nice and vertical and your nearing the end of the 360 you want to spot a marker, could be a tree or a slalom pole, anything that is directly upstream of you.
Step Five: The Landing
Step Five: Kicking your Feet Out
Step Five: When you see that marker jump up on your toes into your standard looping position & then kick your feet out straight ahead of you in the direction of that upstream marker. The more aggressive the better at this point.
Get some forwards strokes in to stay in the hole.
How to make sure it scores?
Try to start at a low angle and build up continuously to vertical. Timed correctly this will give you the biggest air and make sure the judges like it.
Make sure you keep the loop nice and straight at the end. (Spot your marker & Kick your feet out in front when you finish the Loop)
Things to watch out for:
Going vertical too soon.
Taking too much speed into the move (that just means you’ll go vertical too soon.)
Reaching out too far on the cross bow. Again this will mean you go vert too soon or hurt your shoulder.
Finally
Get out there and have a go, be patient it will probably be a gradual process mastering this move, but very satisfying when you get it.
It’s been a bit of shock returning to the UK from a sunny Chile in this weather, but this morning I gritted my teeth, donned my mitts and dug out my slalom boat from under the snow…
A few of us have started using Strava to time ourselves on sections of river, it’s great for training or just for getting a bit competitive with your mates. Today it was the Chipper-to-Bala challenge on the Tryweryn. If anything was going to motivate me to paddle fast, it was the fact that it was below freezing!
I was beginning to wonder if I’d gone insane at the put-in, but actually once I got going it was quite a pleasant temperature and kinda good fun! I think the fact I took out in my garden; returning to a nice cup of tea in front of a roaring fire probably made the experience all the better…
So, if you’re up for a challenge then 38 minutes from the Chipper to just above the bridge in Bala is the current time to beat (I suspect Pete Woods in his Dagger Green has already beaten that though). If you Strava, this is the segment: http://app.strava.com/segments/2386051. We use a smartphone in a waterproof case tucked into our buoyancy aid pocket with the Strava app running to record our run.
This last half year with Katya in the UK I wanted to show her as much of the UK’s good bits as I could think of, and also show her where I started kayaking and some of my favourite places in the UK.
We love being out in the wilds, away from cities so I really wanted to go to Scotland with her this time to paddle some of the Classics, see John O’Groats, do some cycling and just see as much of the wild as we could.
Paddling
The main goal of our trip wasn’t really kayaking which was just as well because when we first arrived there was no water at all but the last few days of the trip we were hammered by rain so got to paddle the Etive then met up with Dennis Newton and his creeking camp kids and paddled the Orchy at great levels the next day before heading home.
I enjoy river running for the beauty surrounding it but I don’t desire to push it very far, it’s just not my thing. I’m not really scared of it, or feel out of my skill level, it’s just that it feels that in order to get the same buzz as I do for freestyle i’d have to go pretty crazy and I don’t wish to take those risks. The reward for me isn’t big enough and if I were to hurt myself too much so that I couldn’t do freestyle or the other sports I love i’d really regret it.
That said because it was so beautiful here, I loved the Etive, especially the classic Right Angle drop. The Orchy was actually a really sweet surprise. With the rain we had it was quite like the Nile style of big water. I only wished i was in my playboat as there were some fabulous waves & holes that would of ben great to surf properly…next time I guess.
Landscape & Animals
Scottish Animals & Wildlife have to be pretty tough, given the climate & weather, but I think this also gives them a character and personality. We were lucky that we got to see so many wild and also tame animals classic to Scotland on our trip.
We got to socialise with Ponies, Sheep & Highland Cows here, I love seeing them out in the wild heather & fields, I only wish they weren’t going to be eaten! There so beautiful and intelligent creatures, you can really see something in there eyes.
We also got to see Red Squirrels which you don’t often see in England along with many kinds of birds.
Scotland has some very harsh weather and I think this brings out it’s beautiful landscape even more. We got to enjoy the Autumn colours on the trees all around, the towering mountains, barren expanses of heather and the storm battered coasts.
The other aspect that was good was that each night we managed to park up next to some quiet Loch or river and wake up each day to fantastic views of Scottish nature.
I just think of all the places our Van’s been now, it really has seen some fantastic sights in the last 3 years!
John O’Groats
I’d never been there and it’s somewhere I always wanted to go, so with freezing weather and howling winds we got ourselves to the very edge of the UK.
We got to what was signposted as the tip but after checking my map on the iPhone it looked like we needed to venture further so we walked along the coast until we got to the cliffs and lighthouse that mark the true edge.
It’s like another planet there and you could barely stand from the power of the wind, really made you feel invigorated looking out to sea, leaning your full weight into the wind.
Aviemore
I’d actually been here once before; when I was studying Adventure Sports at college we’d had a week long winter mountaineering course here and remembered it as quite spectacular.
We got some good cycling in around the Lochs on the trails here and saw a centre that looked after Reindeer, it caught our eye actually because there was a Red Squirrel eating in front of it.
We found we’d missed the seeing the guided tour to look at them in the hills so decided to hike up one of the mountains looking for the Reindeer herds ourselves. We didn’t find them but the view from the top was worth it anyhow.
Back Home
Luckily for us we live quite close to North Wales and the Lake District so we spent the rest of the Winter exploring & paddling some of my favourite areas and getting to visit the play spots I grew up paddling: the Dee, Tryweryn and a few trips to HPP & Hurley.
Below is just a few un-edited clips of us testing out the Prototype Dagger Jitsu’s
We actually have a pretty sick set up here in the UK to become a top playboater. You only really have to look at our current crop of paddlers to see that though…(Bren, James Weight, James Benns
As well as kayaking I’ve been giving talks to school kids to get them excited and inspired for life in the outdoors, which at first was very nerve racking but actually has been very rewarding and enjoyable. More on the project HERE
Now though the new year has come and I’m looking forward to heading off with Katya for some new adventures and a fresh season of competition!
New to Dagger’s Whitewater boats for 2013 is a whole new outfitting system which goes by the name of Contour Ergo .
You might have heard or seen some noise about it, but here’s a closer look at the technology and innovative new ideas behind the new kit.
There are a lot of different styles of kayak outfitting available, and Mark ‘Snowy’ Robertson (Dagger’s head boat designer) wanted to create a modern outfitting system to compliment Dagger’s new designs that would achieve significant steps forward in safety, comfort, and performance.
In a Creeking seat, designed for steep, technical paddling, safety is a key priority, and the Contour Ergo System has a few features which set new standards for kayak outfitting.
The full plate footrest was invented as a safety feature to prevent a paddler’s feet from slipping past the footrest and becoming trapped in the event of a large piton or impact to the bow.
The Contour Ergo takes this a step further, by offering an automatically expanding footrest with toe cups, which fits the shape of your kayak making it practically impossible for a paddler’s feet to slip past the footrest in an impact. Click on the link here to see how it works:
Other safety features include a newly shaped step out pillar to aid exit in the event of a pin.
Another revolutionary aspect of the Contour Ergo system is the all new leg lifter ratchet. Maintaining effective contact with the thigh braces of a kayak is vital for control, and the leg lifter guarantees both comfort and contact with the seat and thigh braces.
The Contour Ergo System has a durable, high quality finish, and is loaded with storage and attachment points for safety gear and other essential kit. The new system reaches new levels of comfort and adjustability, making you feel more connected and in control than ever before. Don’t just take our word for it though. The new spec boats are in shops now, so get down to your nearest one and check it out!
For 2013 the Contour Ego is available in Jitsus, Mambas, Nomads, Axioms, GTs, and of course the Green boat.
We’ve been receiving deliveries galore to Palm HQ over the Christmas period, and a host of exciting new products are now winging their way to your local shop…
For starters, the revolutionary, innovative, and luxuriously comfortable Contour Ergo outfitting has arrived! Now coming as standard in Jitsus, Nomads, and Mambas.
As well as new boats and outfitting, there’s new soft gear galore, from the stunning new line up of paddle trousers to some refined new touring gear, and our new rafting specific PFD the Highside, we’re really proud to bring something bright and fresh to a paddling shop near you!
Check out the images to see what’s new!
We can’t wait to see all this new gear out on the water, so get down to your local shop to check it out!
Well its time to tell you all the good news now that the mince pies have settled (in our stomachs) and the Christmas decorations have come down. Before Christmas, on a cold weekend at Lee Valley, the National Team Selections took place for Raft Racing. We had a big turn out of teams all as enthusiastic as ever and all competing for the glory of being the Great British Team.
The Mens teams all loving Lee Valley
Each Team competed in the 4 main disciplines; Time-trial, Head to Head, Slalom and Endurance. Each and every team did themselves proud as there was some tough competition.
2 Teams go Head to Head for glory!
Team Palm Ladies Puttin’ it Down!
The event was lent some glamour in the form of Olympic Gold Medalist Etienne Stott designing the slalom course, and we were lucky enough to get a photo with him!!
Ok Ladies you can stop swooning now!
But with the all hard work and training we put inthroughout the year, we kept the top spot and once again secured our title as Team GB! Woop Woop! (Phew!)
SO NOW WE ARE OFF TO NEW ZEALAND IN NOVEMBER AND THE WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS!!
Rafting with style!
The results for selections are:
Sharing the love for Rafting!
Women’s:
Gold: Team Palm maintain their GB Team status
Silver: Welsh Dragons
Bronze: Raft Chicks
Men’s:
Gold: Team PeakUK maintain their GB Team status
Silver: Dark Dog,
Bronze: Amathus
A MASSIVE thank you to Lee Valley and Pas for putting the event on, and a huge thanks to Etienne Stott for the slalom course and his Olympic amazingness. But this event would not have happened if not for the safety guys n’ gals and volunteers who gave up their time and all those who took part. So a very BIG THANKYOU to them.
If you think any of this looks like good fun and you want to get involved get some friends together and get in touch. There are going to be loads of open events in the UK next year!
The 2012 Whitewater Grand Prix has come to an end this week in Chile. A massively huge thanks to Patrick Camblin for his inspiring and ambitious dream and pulling together this fantastic event together with Emily Meredith!! Also shot on the media crew, who did a fantastic job capturing the epicness! In last shot to the most amazing bus driver Carlos, we could not have a Grand Prix without him!
The epic WWGP crew
STAGE 1
The White Water Grand Prix started with an epicly epic first stage on the Rio Gol Gol, 300km south of Pucon. A rain front covered the valley and gave the river a juicy flow! The race course was a 4 to 5 minutes course with 6 main drops followed closely after each other, including a 20-footer closely after the start and ending at Princessa another sick 20-foot waterfall.
Last drop of the Rio Gol Gol race course ‘Princessa’
The day before the race the river came up heaps and the consequences of massing up your lines were getting bigger! Everybody had two race runs spread over two days. After the first stage Mike Dawson (NZL) and Nouria Newman (FRA) came out on top and in the lead for the 2012 White Water Grand Pirx!
Chicks fired up after stage 1!
Videos of stage 1!
STAGE 2
The second stage of the Whitewater Grand Prix was held on an intense course on the Rio Puesco. The rain was still poring down and provided juicy flows in the whole area. This intimidating and technical course challenged all of the competitors and provided a tight race.
Benny Marr (CAN) and Rush Sturges (USA) doing safty at the Rio Puesco stage 2
At the end of the day Eric Deguil (FRA) managed to get the top spot, closely followed by Evan Garcia (USA) and Todd Wells (USA). In the chicks Nouria Newmann (FRA) crushed it again in her second run, taking her second win in the WWGP. I (Martina Wegman) placed second and Katrina van Wijk (CAN) in third.
Nicole Mansfield (USA) styling stage 2, Rio Puesco
Videos of stage 2!
STAGE 3
River Levels have risen like crazy and the original giant slalom course planned for race 3 was no longer an option. The stage 3 site was set for the Rio Nevados. This is one of the most epic creeks around. Super clean slides drops and boogie water. The course included a sick 15 foot drop into a rowdy slide with a narrow must make slot at the bottom for a fast line.
Chicks results of stage 3
Team Liquid Logic paddler Isaac Levinson (USA) ended up styling the stout course and taking first place ahead of Dane Jackson (USA) with Frenchman Eric Deguil coming in 3rd place. The women were crushing it. Nouria Newman posted a super fast time coming in 1st. I got in 2nd with Katrina Van Wijk in 3rd.
Teva Truck heading to the Futuelafu
Video of stage 3!
STAGE 4
The second to last and last stage of the Whitewater Grand Prix were held on the Fualeufu deep in Patagonia. Both stages where totally different than the previous but equally as epic! Stage four and five were held on a pushy and unpredictable roller-coaster ride down the minefield of massive waves and huge holes.
Anton Imller (SWE) and Eric Deguil (FRA) battling each other in stage 4
Stage four was an exciting boater cross down the infamous Meso y Menos rapid on burly big blue whitewater! The field was stout and the boatercross was definitely a hard race to win! In the end the men final was packed with the current 5 overall leaders of Eric Deguil, Todd Wells, Isaac Levinson, Evan Garcia & Youngster Dane Jackson. It was Dane Jackson who took the win and became a hot contender for winning the 2012 Grand Prix. The chicks’ race was also on fire, with tight lines and tight racing. In the end it was Katrina Van Wijk who took the win, with me in second and Nouria Newmann in third place, but still on the leading score board.
Marcos Gallegos(CHL) and Rush Sturges (USA)
Video of stage 4!
STAGE 5
Tiredness and soar bodies definitely hit some of the competitors after the 4 stages, but couldn’t dampen the spirit as people were super fired up for the last race, stage 5! On an overcast Friday the 2012 Whitewater Grand Prix came to an end in tight to the wire enduro race on a massively high Futaleufu River.
Stage 4 – Big Water BoaterX
The general mood was amping as each paddler knew where they stood and who they had to beat to move up places before the race. This set the scene of a hugely competitive race with numerous mini battles taking place throughout the pack.
Anton Immler spray the top ten men with Champagne
Dane Jackson dominated his way to the finish line to not only claim stage 5 but also to be crowned as the Whitewater Grand Prix Champion for the 2nd consecutive time. Eric Deguil fought hard with Evan Garcia to finish 2nd and 3rd respectively in the race & overall in the standings. Isaac Levinson & Todd Wells rounded out the top 5.
Chicks overal result: 1. Nouria Newmann, 2. Martina Wegman 3. Katrina van Wijk
In the women French flyer Nouria Newman showed why she had won 3 out of the previous 4 stages and fought hard for this stage title and the overall.
With the Youth freestyle series officaly over for the year, We where able to look at the results and pick out some of the most promising youngsters to join us on a weekend of coaching in Nottingham.
We had planned to take the kids on the white water course but unfortunately a freak band of rain forced the course to close over the weekend … luckily however we had an alternate venue to use in the form of Newark Wier.
Newark is a completely unique wave and unlike anything the youth freestylers had surfed before, With a long steep ramp dropping down onto a shallow ledge, it creates an almost completely green wave that is really fast but also quite shallow.
The kids learnt a lot and we had a great time coaching them, I am thoroughly looking forward to seeing them progress over the coming years.
We’re excited to introduce you to our brand new Stikine and Torrent Surface Immersion Suits!
After several years of work and refinement, we’re really pleased to bring the new suits to market, as they’re filled with exciting new innovation and features.
Check out the video below for more details and an overview of the suits, which will be arriving in shops in January!
The Home Internationals were held from Monday the 29th of October to Thursday the 1st of November. Then on the 3rd and 4th of November the British Open was on. Both these events were held in Pembrokeshire.
Monday morning I caught a lift with someone else who was on the England Team and travelled up to Wales. We got into Tenby which was just outside Manorbier, where we were staying and we did a bit of shopping before heading up to Manorbier beach to see what the conditions were like. It was pretty flat so we then retraced our steps and went to the youth hostel where all the teams were staying and the boat check-in was being held. We got our boats checked in and then went in and got comfortable in our rooms. In the evening it was decided who was going to surf when and I was chosen for a heat in the Mens IC class and for the Junior HP. After a very nice and very filling pizza we had a good night’s sleep before getting up and getting to Freshwater West for 8:00.
I had a good day, getting 2nd places in both my heats and everybody else also did well so that by the end of the day we were in the lead by about 10 points. This was great as it left us a bit of a margin for the second round. The next day we all headed out to the beach and it was decided that we would move to Manorbier beach but when we got there it was decided that the comp. would be postponed to the following day as the surf was massive and the wind was vey high. Everybody went out for a free surf and got some nice waves, I got an air but unfortunately I didn’t land it – but it felt great! It was hard work so I was glad that they had decided not to run the comp.
Most of us then went back to the youth hostel and had a rest. Some went back to the beach later on as the wind had dropped and apparently had a great time. Almost everybody went out to the cinema that evening to see the new James Bond but a few of us decided to go for a surf. It had dropped off quite a bit but there was still a nice wave and as there was only 4 of us out there it was great. We surfed till after dark and then as I was surfing in on my last wave I made a big mistake. It was so dark that I couldn’t really see how close I was to the beach and the waves were breaking right onto it. I took my last wave and thought that it was going brilliantly and I was just preparing to go for the lip when I realized that there was no water in front of me! I went up with the lip and landed on my face on the beach. Apparently it was hilarious to watch from the beach. Thankfully I wasn’t really hurt and nothing was broken. Just had a bruised lip and a couple of slightly loose teeth!
We went back to the youth hostel and had some dinner. Then the program for the next day was put up on the notice board and I was in the Junior IC class and it was being held at Manorbier beach again which was great as it was only a couple of minutes drive from where we were staying.
When we got down there the next day there was quite a nice wave coming through. All the HP heats were on first so I was on later on in the day. I did a bit of judging and watched until it was time to get down for my heat. The conditions were very interesting but I had a couple of nice waves and got a second place. We all had good results that day and we gained another ten points on Northern Ireland who were in 2nd place meaning we won the Home Internationals with an advantage of 20 points! The prize giving was that evening where everyone got a small trophy and was followed by a Halloween party. It was fun watching some of the Halloween games as well as seeing all the different fancy dresses!
The next day was supposed to be a rest day but because of the forecast and because of the number of people who had entered in the British Open it was decided it wouldn’t be and that we would go straight into the competition.
I was entered in the Junior IC and HP. The Junior HP semi was on fairly early and I didn’t have a good heat. I just didn’t seem to get things right and couldn’t catch any nice waves. I came 3rd which wasn’t quite good enough as I needed either a 1st or a 2nd to get through to the final.
I had a bit of a break before I was on again this time in the Junior IC semi. I did better this time and got a 2nd place meaning I was through to the final which I was really pleased about. Shortly afterwards I had to go out for the Junior HP B final and I got 2nd place in it which meant that I came 6th overall in the Junior HP. Then I had a couple of heats break before going into the Junior IC final. I didn’t feel that I had done brilliantly but I was fairly happy with what I had done – we weren’t going to find out the results until the next evening (Saturday). There were several people who hadn’t yet arrived so they couldn’t do all the heats. We retired to the Youth Hostel and had a shower and a rest, before going out for a team meal in the evening, kindly paid for by Surf Kayak Skills. The next day I wasn’t going to be surfing so I hung around watching the surfing and occasionally helping out with the judging. The Mens IC class and the Masters HP class and the Lady’s HP class were finished that day and we had the prize giving for them and the 2 Junior classes that had been run the day before. that evening. Then after that we had an auction of items that had been donated to raise funds to help get the Welsh Team to the Worlds next year in Australia. We then retired for the night as we had to be at the beach fairly early the next day. We also had to remove all our kit from the Youth Hostel before we left.
The next day started as a rather wet day but with some nice surf. I went out before the heats started to try a new boat and that was my undoing as I bought it several hours later! The final heats were run and we had the prize giving at the beach. I then transferred both my boats and all my kit to someone else’s van for the drive home. It took us about 6 – 7 hours to get back but it wasn’t too bad. We all had a great weekend and it was great to have participated in the Home Internationals and of course to get a 4th place in the Junior IC and a 6th place in the Junior HP.
