C-Forum

Interesting that, in the few C2 heats I was able to access online, I didn't see any cross strokes from the bow paddlers. Is that standard practice, or just the style of the few teams I was able to see? It represents a pretty universal change in slalom C-2 style. In part this is due to the fact that...

Kayaking or canoeing, the key to shoulder health is physical therapy! Strong shoulders will be much harder to dislocate than weak ones, (and unless you already work out, they're probably weak). I didn't know how weak my shoulders were (even though I could climb 5.12 and kayak class IV) until I disl...

Thanks all for the advice, I want to try out both C1 and OC1, but I am intrigued by the kayak conversion idea. This next part will show how sticking to what i like or like cars i paddle/drive them until they are no longer serviceable. I have a Phat and a sleek when the sleek was new in the mid 90s ...

Natalie:

We have to drop-off Kaja at UNC Chapel Hill and Juli at Yale that weekend, so we aren't going to make it this year. Best wishes for a great event!!!

John

If you are very comfortable in the Viper, a Spark might be just the ticket. It will definitely be faster on any upstream move. Never paddled an Ignitor but I'm sure it would be faster still, due to a bit more length and its stiffer composite construction. Actually the Ignitor has enough rocker that...

Bubbling air out your nose does indeed help avoid rinsing out your sinuses when you roll. My three oldest kids found it easier to do this than to wear noseplugs when they were learning to roll, because they were all (or had recently been) competitive swimmers. After doing 100 laps in practice comple...

Bob P., who frequents this board has installed hinged seats and hanging thwarts on several of his boats. If you want to go that route you could look him up and contact him - or wait for him to see your post.

John

Not only is it important to know the boat design in assessing price, but even more important is construction. Often "broken" composite boats can be very easily repaired in a manner that is structurally sound and almost as strong and light as the original layup. While a composite boat with repairs is...

Just to be clear, that was an OC-1 Rave; a C-1 Rave would have had better style.

As noted previously, your boat appears to be similar to a Cudamax from the early 80s. Slalom boats at that point often had a very pointed bow to effectively shorten the portion of the bow in the water while still maintaining required overall boat length. A slightly later evolutionary step (around 19...

I'm only aware of two reliable methods for rolling tandem: 1) One paddler switches sides and both paddlers roll-up on the same side using the standard low-brace canoe roll. 2) One paddler uses the standard low-brace canoe roll, while the other uses a cross-roll (i.e. a cross low-brace roll in which ...

If you want to go DIY, you could also consider buying some dynel sleeve (dynel in tubular form) from a supplier like Sweet Composites and use that to add a layer of composite protection to the shaft. You wouldn't think it from looking at it, by I have gotten an intact dynel sleeve overtop of a wood ...

Awesome! I particularly liked the French upstream near the end of the run.

John

I was a canoe instructor at a boys camp in the Adirondacks summers throughout college. That's also where I was introduced to decked boats, as the camp had a half-dozen kayaks that I was responsible for, so I taught myself to roll one from AMC Whitewater handbook so that I could teach the kids. In gr...

Hey Wayne, what pool were you using? Was that at the Lehigh Valley Canoe Club's annual pool slalom or some other location?

John