44-48 OC1.indd - JamesWeir.net
Transcription
44-48 OC1.indd - JamesWeir.net
Canoeing Article by James Weir, images by Steffi Blochwitz Saddling Up! of the sport and only practiced by the most skilful of paddlers. Many paddlers have been put off OC1 paddling by trying to progress directly to whitewater without proper instruction and thus finding the sport unmanageable. The aim of this article is to give potential OC1 paddlers a few top tips, to get them on the path, and promote the sport for what it truly is, accessible, achievable and enjoyable for all paddlers once you know what you are doing. I am sure many of us would have been put off kayaking were often used as the blind scouts for paddling trips, as their extra height above the water enabled them to see further ahead and pick better lines than the kayakers in the group. Although by no means the most participated in aspect of paddle-sport, there is a small and dedicated band of OC1 paddlers in every county, keen to practice and promote their discipline and their skills. There are many arguments for and against OC1, some say it is a stupid and pointless sport that has no place in paddle-sports, normally these are people who have not tried OC1, or maybe have and could not do it. Others are very proud of their skills and think that OC1 is a combination of many different aspects if our first experience was in a tiny play boat, without any kind of proper instruction and on moving water. So please give OC1 a chance, I promise you, it rocks! The defining features of an OC1 are the foam saddle and the airbags, the way these features are secured into the canoe and customised is one of the keys to successful OC1 paddling. First off let’s start with the airbags, they should be securely fixed into the canoe with deck lashing and straps; the airbags should be fully inflated when paddling to keep as much water out of the canoe as possible. Let out some air from the bags between paddle sessions to reduce the chance of damaging the canoe or the airbags. Next is the saddle, many paddlers claim that The ins and outs of OC1 4 4 CKUK NOVEMBER 2007 The topic of this issue’s literary paddling adventure is to shed some light on the mystery that is OC1. OC1 is a term used to describe an open canoe, for one person, which has been fitted with a foam saddle and airbags, that fill all the empty space from the saddle to the ends of the canoe. OC1 canoes can vary from four metres in length to just two metre long canoes designed specifically for freestyle and playboating. First conceived in the USA by whitewater canoe pioneers who wished to follow in the paddle strokes of their kayaking brethren; OC1 paddlers NOVEMBER 2007 CKUK 4 5 Canoeing trimming the canoe slightly stern heavy is preferable, while others claim slightly bow heavy is better. In reality every canoe is different as is each individual paddler, so the only solution is to experiment yourself; start with the canoe trimmed neutrally and work from there. Most, if not all, OC1’s arrive fitted out from the factory so this will take the worry and confusion out of doing it yourself, all you will have to do is decide how to glue in the foam fittings. One of the first steps to customising your OC1 is to adjust the saddle height, either by adding or removing foam, do so in small steps, so as not to cut away too much foam. TOP TIP The ideal saddle height varies from canoe to canoe, person-to-person, so you must experiment; if the canoe feels unstable the chances are the saddle is too high and if your knees and ankles get very uncomfortable very quickly then the saddle is probably too low. As well as the saddle there are several other fixtures and fitting that will improve your OC1 paddling experience; knee pads, foot rests, hip pads and leg straps. Kneepads will ensure that your knees stay comfy and healthy during your paddling; they should be glued onto the hull of the canoe so your knees are as wide apart as possible, to help increase stability. Many canoes come ready fitted with footrests attached to the saddle, but many paddlers find these uncomfortable and remove them or replace them with pieces of foam glued to the hull. Footrests are by no means essential for successful OC1 paddling and many paddlers manage without, again it’s down to what works for you. For more advanced paddlers the addition of hip pads will improve control over the canoe when rolling and performing more advanced manoeuvres, simply glue blocks of foam to the sidewalls of your canoe and trim for a snug fit. Leg straps are by no means a vital component for OC1 paddling and have put many paddlers off having a go, due to the fear of entrapment, but remember even if there are straps in the canoe you do not have to use them in every situation, if at all. TOP TIP Safety first! Be sure that you can exit the canoe underwater without any difficulties, always use straps with quick release buckles and be sure you can free yourself from the canoe without having to open the buckles, just by wriggling and pushing away from canoe. The other key piece of equipment necessary for an enjoyable OC1 paddling experience is a suitable paddle; the two factors to consider are blade shape and overall paddler length. Most paddles are suitable for OC1 paddling the exception being wooden touring designs such as Ottertails. I’d recommend that you aim to use a paddle with a squarer blade shape and designed for general-purpose use, or specifically for whitewater. The length of the paddle however is a more complex area; shorter is generally better as it makes it easier to transfer the paddle from the onside to offside. I am 1.79 metres tall and use a paddle 1.44 metres long, however the best advice I can give is to experiment, try different paddles and find out which suits you and your style the best. The strokes and skills needed to master OC1 are a combination between traditional open canoe and kayak techniques. The best start is to try out OC1 paddling on a lake or section of flat water, spend some time familiarising yourself with how the canoe moves and where the balance points of the canoe are. Time on flat water is well spent and will increase your chances of successfully mastering moving water skills without spending an excessive amount of time swimming along besides your canoe. There are many strokes that can be used to paddle an OC1 and there is certainly not enough space on these pages to explain all of them in sufficient detail, I will focus instead on techniques that can be 4 6 CKUK NOVEMBER 2007 applied to all strokes to improve them and I hope that with the benefit of good coaching and practice you will be able to apply these for your own benefit. Firstly sit in the canoe and relax, the canoe should be neutrally balanced left and right, sit up straight and adopt a proud posture; chin up, back straight and shoulders back, imagine balancing a book on your head! The first technique to master is paddling the canoe in a controlled straight line; this for many is one of the trickiest skills to master. To paddle forwards reach about one metre forward with your arms and upper body together and place the whole paddle blade in the water keeping the paddle shaft vertical, pull the paddle through the water slowly until it reaches your hip. Then turn your T-grip hand 90-degrees, so you have your thumb pointing up and the paddle blade is slightly behind the body and can be used as a rudder stroke. By pushing the blade away from the canoe you can control the direction of the canoe, the paddle should be parallel to the direction of travel. TOP TIP Be sure you are using the paddle as a rudder and not as a break when controlling the direction of the canoe, although a backwards stroke will correct the direction of the canoe it will also slow the canoe down. By using a rudder stroke you will keep the speed of the canoe and will therefore be a more efficient OC1 paddler. Most basic open canoe and kayak strokes can be transferred to OC1, draw strokes, sweep strokes and bow rudders. The key to successful OC1 paddling to maintain your proud posture and always turn your head to look in the direction you wish to move, this in turn shifts your body and weight position in the canoe to improve your efficiency and technique. Try to learn new strokes slowly and methodically. If you charge in, applying full power straight away errors will occur very quickly, be magnified, and it will make it harder to learn. Slowly but surely is a good rule to apply when learning any new skill, and especially so with OC1. For the more advanced paddler learning effective support strokes and learning to consistently Eskimo roll will be a goal. To explain how to successfully and consistently roll would take another separate article, but luckily I made one earlier and it can be read on the Canoe & Kayak UK website by taking a surf to here - www. canoekayak.co.uk/categories/articleitem.asp?ca te=7&topic=29&item=78 NOVEMBER 2007 CKUK 4 7 Canoeing TOP TIP Fix a throw-line to one or both ends of the canoe to use as a swim line, if you capsize and are unable to roll quickly grab the bag and swim to the nearest side. If you are quick enough you should reach land before the rope runs out and you can quickly and easily pendulum the canoe to the side before jumping back in and trying again. Besides the recreational aspect of OC1 paddling, the sport has evolved over the years to encompass two prominent competitive disciplines; open canoe slalom and OC1 freestyle. Open canoe slalom is the older of the two competitive OC1 disciplines, open canoes were first used in slaloms during the 1930’s in Europe, as the sport progressed the closed cockpit C1 and the C2 craft were developed to allow the canoe paddlers to compete against the kayakers. The sport of open canoe slalom re-emerged during the early 1980’s in the USA and is still going strong. Open canoe slalom is similar to any other kind of slalom, competitors must navigate through a course of gates without touching or missing any, and the winner is the paddler who sets the quickest time without incurring any penalties. There are several different categories in open canoe slalom; the REC, recreational class for paddlers using general purpose commercially available open canoe and the RAC, racing class for paddlers using canoes specially designed for canoe slalom racing, many of these canoes are made from composite material, so they are very light and fast. There’re separate events for OC1 and OC2 canoes and for men’s, ladies, juniors and mixed crews. All classes must confirm to a set of rules governing the shape and weight of the canoes to ensure that the boats used are recognisable as open canoes. Open canoe slalom is a very popular sport in North American with series of competitions each year and a continental championships. Unfortunately the sport has yet to really take off in the rest of the world, possibly due to there being many more active open canoe paddlers in North America than the rest of the world. The only other canoe slalom I am aware of is in Switzerland every September, although this is more of a fun event for competitors in all types of craft. OC1 freestyle is the most well known of the OC1 competitive disciplines, it was first included at the second Rodeo, as it was called then, World Championships in 1993; most competitors used general purpose whitewater canoes and were able to perform big air pop outs and pirouettes to please the crowd. Since then OC1 freestyle has evolved in line with the sport of freestyle and canoes have become progressively shorter and lower volume, modern day freestyle OC1’s have flat hulls, sharp rails and are capable of performing nearly all of the latest freestyle moves that their kayaking cousins can. OC1 paddlers at the 2007 Freestyle World Championships wowed the crowd with air blunts and Pan Ams on the famous, and fearsome Bus Eater Wave in Canada. Canoes used in freestyle competitions must also conform to a strict 4 8 CKUK NOVEMBER 2007 set of rules governing the height of the canoe, the amount of decked area and the amount of foam outfitting. Many paddlers enter the OC1 event just for fun and it has a reputation as a very relaxed event with competitors helping each out and encouraging each other. The easiest way to get involved in OC1 freestyle is to approach a paddler at your local play spot or at a competition, they will undoubtedly be more than happy to explain a bit more about the sport and let you have a go in their canoe. The latest competitive discipline to include OC1 paddlers is extreme racing, a sport that involves paddlers using whitewater canoes to race down challenging rapids. Primarily a kayak dominated sport, a small group of hardcore OC1 paddlers have been entering events and competing against kayakers all over the world. The first Extreme Racing World Championships were held in Spain in 2001 and there was a demonstration class for OC1 paddlers with teams from four countries competing. OC1 paddlers have also competed in the Liquid Life Festival in Scotland and the famous Green Race in America. Extreme racing is a sport that aims to encourage everyday whitewater paddlers to come and take part, hopefully OC1 paddlers will also be encouraged to enter and promote their sport and meet other paddlers. I could go on and on about my favourite discipline in paddle-sport but I think it is best if you are keen, to get out there and have a go yourself. Take on board the tips you have read here and find somebody who really knows what they are talking about to give you some coaching tips. For those of you who have tried but not enjoyed OC1 consider some of the reasons you struggled, was the saddle too high or did you try to progress too quickly onto moving water? For any further questions please feel free to contact me directly or post on the Canoe Kayak UK forum. My last top tip for OC1 boating is this, the more time spent on the flatwater practicing strokes and learning to understand the canoe the better, do not expect just because you can easily paddle your local class three run in your playboat that you can just jump into an OC1 and wiz down no problems. These canoes require respect, as do the paddlers who can use them; ‘Half the paddle, twice the man’ said a very wise chap once. Big Up and Thanks Nookie, Kober, Esquif and Sweet for quality products, Steffi Blochwitz, www.nordlichtphoto.com for photographs, Kanu Schule Versam, and of course, to the Sun for shining. James can be contacted through the team page at www.canoekayak.co.uk/ contributors/ For more features and articles on OC1 and canoeing visit the Features section at www.canoekayak.co.uk