Paddling tips, tricks, news and gear reviews from an Unsponsored point of view
Adriene Levknecht is one of the most if not the most talented female white water boaters in the world – World Class Kayak Academy graduate, 2012 Canoe & Kayak Female paddler of the year, Teva Steep Creek Champion 2011, multiple times Green Narrows race winner….the list goes on.
I have found that following Adriene’s rise in the kayak world to be be truly inspirational and I am stoked that Adriene agreed to take part in the Unsponsored 2012 Q&A series. Enjoy!
I’m a big fan of Kenny Mutton’s kayak designs. For a number of years I paddled Prijon kayaks. Kenny is the man behind some of my favourites – the Delirious, Delirium and the Release. Kenny has a wealth of experience paddling, coaching, competing and designing kayaks. It’s fantastic that Kenny has kindly agreed to take part in the Unsponsored 2012 Q&A series.
Tell us a little a bit about you accomplishments in the kayaking world…
I used to be into freestyle paddling and way back in 1997 I placed 3rd at the Worlds. I also won the European Cup in 2000. Since 2005, freestyle in NZ has died away and now I’m into creek boats and extreme races. Sometimes I can still win the local NZ races and I’m keen to make it to some international races in the future. I’ve always been into designing kayaks. I designed a few freestyle boats for Prijon & Bliss-Stick, but in the last few years I’ve put a few freestyle ideas into creek boats/extreme racing boats. One of my latest designs has been the Bliss-stick Tuna, which in its first outing was paddled by Sam Sutton taking out first place at the Sickline World Champs. I have just finished shaping a smaller one, also for Bliss-Stick, which will be out before Christmas in New Zealand.
Bren Orton has broken into the world freestyle scene over the last couple of years with some superb moves and cracking scores. From conversations I have had with mutual friends it is clear that Bren is fully committed to his paddling and being the best he can possibly be. I reckon that Bren is well on his way to being one of the best freestyle paddlers in the world. It is therefore a great honour to have Bren take part in the Unsponsored 2012 Q&A series.
Tell us a little a bit about you accomplishments in the kayaking world.
I’m still young and relatively new to the kayaking world with much still to learn. My accomplishments that mean something to me are being ranked 3rd in the world, becoming Junior European champion and running Hypoxia.
John and Kara Weld are the founders of Immersion Research. I have owned and worn IR kit since around 2000. I firmly believe that IR make some of the best kayaking kit available. Having used the kit for so long it was fantastic to hear that John Weld had agreed to take part in the Unsponsored 2012 Q&A Series.
Tell us a little a bit about you accomplishments in the kayaking world
A brief bio: Started kayaking at age 11 in 1979. Went on to kayak through high school and college, and taught kayaking during the summers. Upon college graduation (English major, of course) I went to a split year of building composite slalom kayaks during the fall and winter (including the C2 that won gold at the Barcelona Olympics) and teaching kayaking during the summer. During that time I was stepping things up with expeditions, and was 2 time Gore Tex Shipton -Tilman Grant winner – once with a trip that crossed Baffin Island by whitewater kayak, and once for crossing Borneo by whitewater kayak. I started IR in my basement on a home sewing machine in 1997. I was making shorts for friends of mine. Within a year it was clear IR was a full time business, and the rest is history.
The Canoe Guru, Eli Helbert, is a 3rd generation canoeist who spends his freetime canoeing into the most pristine and spectacular valleys of the world. Eli has taken top honours at two World Championships, a World Cup and a World Extreme Race as well as numerous National and Regional Canoeing Titles. Eli is also the first OC1 paddler to take part in the Unsponsored Q&A series. It is a great honour to have Eli take part in the Unsponsored 2012 Q&A series.
Tell us a little a bit about your accomplishments in the canoeing/kayaking world.
I won my first World Championship title in whitewater freestyle rodeo in 1999. I defended this title in 2001. I won the World Extreme Race in Tavascan, Spain that same year. I also won the World Cup of Whitewater Freestyle in 2006. I have won numerous US National titles in Open Canoe Slalom and Whitewater Freestyle Rodeo over the past 15 years. I now really enjoy canoeing with my 9 year old daughter, Sage. We will be competing for the US National Open Canoe Jr./Sr. Slalom Title in October.
It looks like this series of Q&As will really build upon those of the 2011 series.
Interviews with some of the worlds top professional boaters, boat designers and kit designers are flooding in. Responses to the Q&A are being collated/formatted and will be ready to post shortly.
The first Q&A for 2012 with Billy Harris is now online.
Q&As with Eli Helbert and John Weld will be published over the next few days. I have several other people lined up to take part in the series. More names will be released over the next week or so.
In July 2012 Billy Harris agreed to take part in the third Unsponsored Q&A series. Billy is a professional kayaker with numerous freestyle wins under his belt, a quick search on Youtube will show the kind of moves that Billy is able to pull off with confidence and ease.
Billy runs his own kayak school and describes himself as “Just a guy who likes to kayak”. Having followed Billy’s paddling exploits over the years it is a great pleasure to have Billy take part in and be the first paddler in the 2012 series.
A number of the worlds best boaters are already lined up to take part in the Unsponsored 2012 Q&A series.
I’m in the process of tweaking the questions from the 2011 series. What would you want to ask?
Ben Brown is truly one of the worlds top white water paddlers. Big water and first descents is what it’s all about. As a professional kayaker Ben gets to live the dream everyday. A quick search of youtube will find video after video of Ben running some awesome rivers, dodging huge stumpers and taking the plunge over some massive drops.
I managed to catch Ben during a rare moment of downtime and asked him if would like to take part in the Unsponsored 2011 Q&A series. Thankfully Ben agreed. Enjoy….
Tell us a little a bit about you accomplishments in the kayaking world…
I have been kayaking full time for the past 11 years and during that period have been fortunate enough to paddle all over the world. The attraction to kayaking to me has always been the exploration aspect of the sport and it has been this that has continued to drive me over the years. I have paddled in over 50 countries and have completed first descents in NZ, Norway, Iceland, Thailand, USA, Canada, Africa and Italy and I am very proud of these accomplishments. However I think what I am most proud of is the fact that I have been able to make a career out of doing what I love the most with by best friends.
I remember meeting Lowri many years ago in the Happy Eater eddy at the Tees barrage with her Dad. Since those early days Lowri has progressed from competing in the largely fun non-competitive PeakUK events to representing the UK on the freestyle kayaking scene. Lowri has achieved both the British and European freestyle championship titles since those early days. It’s fantastic that Lowri has agreed to take part in the Unsponsored 2011 Q&A series.
Still to come over the next few weeks, interviews with
Lowri Davies
Ben Brown
Arnd Schaeftlein
Plus more
The 2011 series looks like it may turn into an early 2012 series!
Jesse Coombs is one of the worlds premiere extreme kayakers. With calm confidence and a friendly smile, Jesse explores the most intriguing and remote corners of the earth. Jesse continually pushes the envelope and continues to chalk up first descent after first descent. Eric Jackson describes Jesse as “a student of life and as humble as anyone can be”, it was this quote that prompted me to ask Jesse if he would like to take part in the 2011 Unsponsored Q&A series. I am really pleased that Jesse agreed!
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