Wild Water Kayak

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Good Advice

I was called up to the starting position for my Wild Water kayak sprint through the rapid.

I watched Berny, who started before me, plunge into the first drop, then hit the series of waves. Suddenly he capsized and then rolled the kayak up before being capsized again. Swirling current drew him closer to the rock groyne and he was in the hands of the rescue crew.

Berny was desperately trying to stay upright

Good advice I had received the night before from dear friends Matthias and Katrin, immediately came to mind.

“Your minimum goal should be not to drown”

My number was called and given a 5 second countdown. No turning back now, no matter the outcome. “Paddle hard, don’t stop”, Through the drop and into the rapid, slightly off-line, but still powering on. I was through the worst of it and into calmer waters, keeping the power on until I crossed the finish line. Happy not to meet the rescue crew.

I was through the hard part and still upright
Several kayakers watching on from the eddy, just in case rescue was needed

Fellow paddler, Berny and I had entered several events at the Eildon Festival of Paddling in Victoria, Australia. There were two sprint races through the main rapids and on the second run Berny told me he was not going to meet the rescue guys again. Funnily enough he was right, he capsized soon after the first drop and as the rescue guys started to move he rolled back up and immediately powered on, with the crowd cheering and clapping. That was the fastest roll I’ve ever seen him do.

Berny looking good
That’s me heading down the course
Berny looking cool on his second run
I lots precious seconds when I got buried in white water and then spun sideways

So I was beaten again by Berny. We both entered the Packraft Challenge. A single raft race through the same sprint course with 4 rafts at a time challenging for the win. More like a game of bumper boats as we made our way down the course, having to touch a banner placed on a rock at the finish. Not everyone survived the experience, but I took revenge on Berny by bumping him out the way to touch the banner first in our second heat.

That’s me on my test test run
The Packraft race was on
Yes that’s me at the rear in my heat but soon to move up a position as the leader capsized
Not everyone made it through the first drop
Berny running in second place in his heat

There was also a Wild Water K1 paddle for me on the upper section of the course. Having broken my racing paddle earlier I bought myself a brand new one from the Canoes Plus pop up shop. OK, so new paddle, unstable racing kayak was not the best combination, but I stayed upright thankfully. Not the place to go for a swim with lots of holiday campers lining the bank.

A bit wobbly on the Sprint course but still upright

Next morning it was another early start at the 3km Classic Wild Water race. I decided to paddle my more stable, but slower kayak in the 3km of fast flowing water and then through the main rapid section

Berny and I started along with another veteran paddler, but I was soon distanced by both. I concentrated on keeping my technique together and at least looking the part, all the time thinking/hoping that one of them might not make it through the final rapid. The main rapids approached, and I concentrated on keeping a good line through the first drop and held momentum through the waves, but I could see that the other two paddlers had crossed the finish line and I had cemented myself in that last place position again.

Great fun with lots of other paddlers, all of whom were faster than me, But I made it and managed not to drown. Good Advice I thought; Your minimum goal should be don’t drown.

Thanks to all the volunteers who gave up their time and to the Canoes Plus Racing Team for helping Berny and me along the way.

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It’s mid Summer

The wind is swirling around the trees, coming from all directions at once. The heat of the morning causes air currents to rush between the hot land and cool water, giving me a hard time controlling the kayak in the cross winds. Then it increases and turns head on as I cross towards the finish, giving me a final work out.

It started out such a nice morning paddle

It’s mid Summer in southern Australia so you expect hot dry northerly winds to pop up unexpectedly. We get the dry conditions whilst northern Australia get torrential rain, with cyclone Sean threatening the north west coast. I think I choose the dry rather than the wet.

My training session started well with calm conditions and intentions of a 10km steady cadence paddle and finish with short sprints. It’s been 30 odd years since I paddled a K1 race kayak. What was I thinking when I decided to get back into a fast, unstable racer and try Wild Water Kayak Racing ?. The experts say you need to keep active as the years creep up and I’m certainly feeling the activity this morning, with lots of power needed in the sprints as well as core strength to keep this damn thing upright.

Some of the locals came down to investigate as I launched the kayak.

Hey what’s this guy up to ?
Calm conditions early in the session

It was quite calm early in the paddle and I even relaxed a little to take in the scenery. Passing close to the old tower was interesting, however, I hadn’t counted on the swirling current at its base.

The tower has a little lean but the weather vain still works. It has been underwater since 1897 when the small village was flooded to create water storage.

Here’s the Tower before inundation

Training finished

Training finished. So now we can concentrate on coffee and cake and showing off my great heart rate and speed stats from my smart watch. Oh bugger, I pressed the wrong button, again. “Session deleted”. I need glasses !

The only rough water training I’ve had lately is playing around in the surf, which I hope will help me when I hit the rapids later in the year. Here’s a short video of our small surf fun.
Have a great mid Summer day.