Rush Sturges Tribe announces "Big Wave World Championships Of Freestyle Kayaking." We are starting our own World Championships. I am over this argument that we need a "venue for more spectators" or a "feature we can adjust." I've competed at the Worlds for the past 8 years consecutive. I will not be trying out for the team this year...
The best locations always get shut down. Why? For this exact same argument. Unsafe for all the competitors, un predictable, not enough spectators, bad venue etc. Africa didn't even put in a bid because they new it HAD to be in the States...
News flash folks. In order for kayaking to be appealing to the masses, it has to be shown in a light that reflects the true potential of the sport. Regardless of the venue... Don't get me wrong, playing in holes and on small features takes talent, skill, and dedication. It has it's place in the sport, but not at the biggest event in the world... Should the X-Games be held on a little quarter pipe just because most the masses have access to that? Or should it be on a massive ramp or super pipe?
The real issue here is the ICF. And although they are doing a great job, it's too much infrastructure, too much regulation, and not enough focus on the direction freestyle is headed... I understand it has purpose and it should continue, but we need a separate Worlds to highlight the big waves in remote locations...
We gotta take it back underground. Take it to where the sport is going... Where there are dangers involved. Where if you f*** up a blunt you might get trashed in a savage hole like the Cuban or the ledge at Gladiator. I agree Anton. Most non kayakers who watches the World's right now are bored. It's mickey mouse.
The Big Wave Worlds will be shown to kayakers in an online format. There will be beat downs, there will be crashes, there will be MASSIVE air. It will be entertaining and it will be fun.
I hope to see Downriver Freestyle implemented as well. A Downriver Worlds with tricks off a 30-40 ft waterfall would be epic.
There has to be more initiative on all the paddlers parts. If we're going to make this World's happen in Quebec for 2011, we will need lots of help. We're open to ideas and open to a format that's fair for everyone with the ability to paddle these kinds of features.
No it will not be safe for the junior ladies. No there will not be an OC1 category (unless they feel they can surf the feature) Squirt boat will also be eliminated...
Keep it raw. Keep it real. Keep it progressive. Davey and Anton will be head party organizers/regulators...
Let the fire burn...
Good news, at least someone wants us to go play (if we feel like it).
Taking the bull by the horns, I've sent Rush a message asking if they've decided on the feature and if so, what it is.
Joshua Kelly - "More George Smiley than James Bond"
CBoats Moderator - Not necessarily representing the CBoats staff though...(I'll use words like "moderator", "We" and "CBoats" to make it clear when I am)
I wouldn't say he wants us to play so much as he would let us play....
But honestly, I could care less about a freestyle/rodeo event held in some remote corner of the world. I would take a local event with average joe paddlers competing right there with the pro boaters over that in a heartbeat. Even an event I could go watch the pros from shore on some "little feature" would be more interesting than viewing some online broadcast from somewhere in Africa.
Isn't accessibility a good draw for these sports (OC1 and K1)? Why hold an event that people can't go watch and most people would never dream of participating in?
-Anthony
"I'm gonna run this one river left I think.... So far river left, that I'm gonna be on the bank. With my boat on my shoulder."
It is/was on his facebook, I got it through UKRGB.
He's a bit OTT, but I like the idea of just going to where the freestyle is good, and there's a much bigger chance for "the canoesport" to progress on big waves; assuming we can actually get on the wave in the first place.*
*(Which I think is what was meant by that offhand comment and the little bit in the brackets, they don't want people showing up in OC1's for the hades of it like a sideshow, but would welcome them if they actually do something good.)
Joshua Kelly - "More George Smiley than James Bond"
CBoats Moderator - Not necessarily representing the CBoats staff though...(I'll use words like "moderator", "We" and "CBoats" to make it clear when I am)
Unfortunately it contains this gem talking about the "Freeride" event, which shows that not all of "The Tribe" are quite so open minded....
The Tribe Riders wrote:the 2011 Whitewater Freeride Championships will be taking place over 3 weeks next spring. it will be a multi faceted event including wave riding, downriver freestyle, big water racing and more. the event is invitational with 20 top boaters competing alongside 5 wildcards who will be chosen based on submitted internet videos... this has all been in the works for the last few months and we hope to have an event that can be produced and packaged in a way that will attract a broad audience. the list of invited boaters has not been finalized yet but the original list had kayakers from 8 countries represented, chosen on merit.
there will not be any oc1, because 'freestyle' oc1 is a joke. everyone who watches it and most of those who compete in it acknowledge that. canoes are awesome but anyone who thinks they are a desirable craft for 'freestyle' is delusional.... See more
anyway, stakeout is on, hope everyone is out there hitting up high water runs! gotta love the spring
If the particular person I think wrote it, did; I'm regreting not giving him a slap for being a rude, arrogant twat when I first met him.
Joshua Kelly - "More George Smiley than James Bond"
CBoats Moderator - Not necessarily representing the CBoats staff though...(I'll use words like "moderator", "We" and "CBoats" to make it clear when I am)
Don't waste your time... as much as I respect what they do (and these dudes do go huge in all aspects of paddling) they could care less about those beneath them in my opinion... that goes for their own breed as well.
E.J. and a lot of other boaters literally spanked these guys at their own game and on their own turf when they held the Worlds on the "Bus"... I pretty much suspect that the same would happen at Lyon's or anywhere else... what these guys seem to be talking about is dragging in a bigger element of danger... in other words turning it into a "one trick - big contest" that I disagree with in a competition format for paddling. They can have their little 25 man event and the only way people will ever see it is on video... their videos to be exact.
I've thrown my $.02 in on Facebook already, but I'll throw out some more of my thoughts here on our own little corner of the internets.
What those guys are doing- going after the biggest waves and biggest air- is pretty cool. But it's not the be-all-and-end-all of kayaking, or even freestyle paddling that they make it out to be. They say they're all about "progression." To me, that means pushing the limits of what can be done- whether that's your own limits, the limits of any particular feature, the limits of any particular style of paddling, or the limits of what can possibly be done in the sport as a whole. Lugbill's runs at the 89 slalom worlds are as much "progression" as Tyler Bradt running Palouse falls- and 21 years later, are still impressive to watch.
But instead of realize that progression can take on many different forms, they choose to limit their view of it to what they like doing, and belittle everything else. While I respect what they're doing on the water, I could give a rat's @$$ about what their opinions of other aspects of the sport. They're making the same arguments that have been made for AT LEAST the past decade. The Big Gun Show came, was heralded as the way forward for the sport, and disappeared. Even the event they're talking about doing was done- The Big Water Invitational on the Zambezi and in Quebec- in 2001. Does anyone remember that? I'm not saying an event like this doesn't have it's place- it does, and I hope they succeed with it. But I have a hard time buying into the idea that it's the future of the sport, when I've been told that before. It just breaks my little heart to know I won't be getting an invite for their event based on my OC-1 prowess. I might submit a video bid just for laughs if I get bored and there's no paddling to be done, but chances are, I'll have better things to do.
And all the while, we've had rodeo/freestyle World Championships ever other year, and it continues to grow. We now have a World Cup in the off years. While some of the "classic" events have disappeared, we have new events popping up every year, and the vast majority are in "small" features. I don't think that's the be-all-end-all either. I think we need a bit of everything.
Jeremy... it looks like you and I need to get to work on that tandem freestyle back to back OC2 we'd talked about if we wanna wow them enough to let us compete
