C-Forum

Isaac, the Loco holds up really well. I had to put on the odd small patch, due to my clumsiness, but the boat is a LOT stronger than what one might think. I have had id on runs that are definitely not slalom boat friendly, and it's survived it all.
I just LOVE the way it handles big water. It's so stable, lets me get away with almost anythig and allows me to really concentrate on my strokes and my lines. one of the best boats in my quiver, for sure.

TGG!

hi

the Eiskanal does not have pump facilities, it depends on the waters of the Lech river (or rather on how much the responsible authorities let go trough) and usually is constantly running except a few weeks of the year when repairs are done or in winter

@ bearboater: I won't be at the world cup series, since a place for Women C1 is not provsisioned in German Ranking. So due to current rules of the German Canoe Federation I can't acces to German Ranking list and am not allowed to compete for the world cup. I hope for next year to get acces to some competitions.......

Martin,
glad to hear you are still enjoying the LOCO, it's a great river runner actually. it has almost too much hull speed, and doesn't turn well enough for the courses we set now. I realized on my last few races as I had to spin, and cost me 3-4 seconds over most other people... but it's hard to beat for going down a river, and surfing, and messing about...

Insolence:
it's too bad that germany has not allocated a c1w spot, we have c1w in our selection, however, none of them came close to percentage this year, but they may be at worlds, i am not sure. compared to every other c1w ours are not good at all... roz lawrence from aus, is pretty amazing...


the deal on boreal designs as described by nate davis:
they have the molds, but have only made like 5-6 boats for a club who pre-ordered. it's always cheaper to make more than one. he said that if he wanted another boat, the mold could be moved from quebec(boreal is in QC) back to ottowa where tom lives, and then he could possibly get a boat. but the design is kind of outdated, and the absolute was just not very good. it had no speed...

hm, I've never seen one of the US girls paddling. Just watched the Aussies on youtube, they really paddle fantastic!

But I am probably a lot worse than your ladies, since I paddle for only 4 years now at all - without years of slalom kayaking background as many other ladies have - with 2 years under bad conditions and without any coach (It's a freestyle kayaker who teached me paddling ) - but taking part in the whole thing alone would be terrific

what other countries do have C1 women? I only know about US, Australia and Netherlands (only 1, a very nice girl my age)


but the industry reacts, on the vajda website I have seen a women specific C1, the Lady wizard.......looks lovely, I would be interested on how it performs

Insolence,

If you haven't seen it there is also some C1W footage here http://www.slalomtroja.cz/
from the Prague ICF Canoe Slalom World Ranking Race.

i was hoping that link would never come up... that was an embarrassing race. getting super sick, and then racing doesn't work very well...
basically every other girl that trains-mildly is better than ours. it's a bumber. But as far as i know, none of them are on a real time training schedule...
later
-ids

bearboater wrote: the LOCO...has almost too much hull speed, and doesn't turn well enough for the courses we set now. I realized on my last few races as I had to spin, and cost me 3-4 seconds over most other people...

Sounds like you need a new race boat! Then you can sell me your LOCO. With the Open Boat Nationals coming up, there is even a easy way to get the boat back to my end of the country. (Hint, Hint).

John

i actually am picking up a new boat in augsburg on the 26th. maybe we should talk.
my email is bearboateratgmaildotcom
I'll need the boat until the 24th, and I am in NC at the moment, but traveling to MT shortly.

So Isaac, are all the people you have seen successfully paddling the Martikan as small as the designer? Since it's such a narrow and unstable boat it makes me wonder whether any larger paddlers have had any luck with it.

for a taller and so heavier paddler it might be difficult
- one should have a try, since there are always exceptions. I once had seen a man, 2m tall, paddling a delirious from prijon and performing perfectly


as far as the other latest fancy thing in boat design is concerned,
yesterday I had a testride with the new lady lizard from vajida - very responsive, very fast and turns well. It's shape isn't any different from the men's model (at least so a guy from the vajida staff there told me), but less voluminous, built for small and lightweight paddlers. There are two versions, S from 45-55 kg and M for 55-56 kg. I had the M version and I weigh 53. It was very easy to handle. Compared to my current Galasport C1 from 2007 it wasn't as radical as I had expected, but for sure a good boat.

yeah, basically the most successful folks in the martikan, are his same build. they are making a larger size for the first time this year. for up to 80kg, but the design doesn't really seam to work that well for those kind of folks. for a while there, the trend in all boat design was narrower, well, still is kind of, the vajda boats have been getting narrower, everyone except for gala went narrower. CRC, Vajda, winner pro, plasteks, everyone...
I can't wait for my supremo. i have been roofing for the past week in MT, and not had enough energy to train well, and i finally got a nice river run in yesterday...
it seems like the lady lizard is a cut down supremo, they have the same, or similar topdeck at least...

word on the street from the Vajda rep Michal Staniszewski is that the stryolight boats are 1450-1500. not so hot of a deal...
-ids

Well that kinda sucks. Defeats the idea of an entry level priced slalom boat. Vajda still has the price at 490 Euros/$700. Is double the price from import and shipping fees? Seems a little crazy!