Paddling tips, tricks, news and gear reviews from an Unsponsored point of view
The skills section is now back on the site. I am working on the old content, bringing it up to date with photos I have collected over the years. I also have a number of videos that will also be added to the collection.
If would like to contribute please let me know.
A loop is one of these re-discovered moves that has caught the imagination of paddlers and kayak designers the world over. If you imagine a cartwheel in in hole but with no edging of the kayak involved. The kayak cartwheels (loops) end over end with the bow ploughing under the water and throwning the paddler upside down. As this happens the stern of the now upside down boat gets caught by the on coming water resulting in the paddler ending up right on the wave!!
Small boats with plenty of volume help, as does the addition of an overthruster. This prevents volume being lost due to the spraydeck being pushed inside of the kayak. In addition it also prevents the deck imploding which would probably result in a “technical swim”!
Pick a hole that is deep enough to pull the move in. The last thing you need is finding yourself being driven into the river bed. If the stopper has a high pile then this will also make the move easier to initiate. Continue reading
The bow stall is one of these great new moves that has captured the imagination of paddlers the world over. It’s not a dynamic move, no “air” is gained but it shows the paddlers skill and control of the boat. Essentially the bow stall involves balancing the boat on its bow and keeping it in that position using body weight and small paddle adjustments.
A blast is simply a forward or backward surf in a hole or on a wave where the stern or bow of the boat is lifted clear of the water.
Back Blast
To start this move get fairly high up on the pile. This will help you build up some upstream momentum to do the move. Start to slide down the pile and put in a reverse stroke on your downstream side. As the boat spins to face down stream get you weight forward to pull the stern clear of the water and force your bow under the pile. You should be able to steady the boat with small hip movements or with small adjustments with your paddle, which should be in front of you in the water. Continue reading
Air Force 1 is Corran Addison’s third playboating instructional video. Searching for the G spot” and “Reaching the pro state” focused on both wave and flatwater moves, but this time Air Force 1 focuses purely on getting air! This includes the basics right through to the most advanced moves currently being pulled. Continue reading
This is my first review and hopefully not my last, for Phil and all at unsponsored, but my aim is to get straight to the point and make sure everybody knows what my reviews are about, in other words I dont intend to waffle on, I was taught KISS, Keep It Simple Stupid.
The Soca valley is the jewel of Slovenia, with its crystal clear waters and awesome scenery, you’ll be glad you made the trip. The Soca consists of all grades, even up to 6, which your given plenty of warning for on the river so as not to rush. The paddle its self is out of this world, the mountains, the clear water and lush vegitation make it one of the most outstanding rivers around, and when its nice and warm after a rain storm, you get a nice mist on the river which restricts your visability to about 10 ft, which can be scarey, but fun, as you can hear the rapids approaching but you cant see them.
As you see from the map, which has been in my car since July 2001 after we had been to the worlds so excuse the creases,the river is twisting and has a few little becks that are fun to do and are mainly 2-3.The map is free from camp sites and is as accurate as you could want, even for all the islands in the river. The boxs which are green and red are the get in/out points and these are easlly found from the roadside by the nice friendly signs that are situated all along the main road, which is not what you’ll get if you travel further south, roads that is. There are also red ! (I forgot what there called) these are the danger areas on the river.
The camp sites are plenty, we stayed at the main one in Bovec but theres loads all the length of the river, the locals are friendly and can speak English and its also very cheap for food but even cheaper for beer and cigs. I never met anyone else who was English out there as most of them are either German or Slovenian, but as I said there friendly.
If you really want to see the river before you go then try and get a copy of Simon Westgarths video,Genotype, which has a nice selection of all grades on the river.
Hope you have a nice trip- Bigjeff
Grade 1
Rivers with long, flat stretches of slowly moving water with occasional simple rapids, waves low, course easy to steer.
Use: Inland touring, instruction of novices and possibly racing and touring events. In flood conditions these sections are often high volume and the ‘normal’ characteristics are replaced by a much higher graded flow. Trees along the normal channel may create difficulties.
Grade 2
Fairly frequent rapids, usually with moderate regular waves or easy eddies.
Use: Touring for proficient canoeists. Moving water skills required. May be suitable for teaching such skills. White-water races and lower-division slalom competitions. In flood conditions the technical difficulty increases dramatically and the river may only be suitable for proficient canoeists. These sections have a steeper gradient and may include obstructions within the channel. Continue reading
The Zambezi river is one of the top paddling destinations in the world. The class V water in gorges below Victoria falls provides 24km of top notch paddling fun. This is a high volume, pool-drop river with little exposed rock either in the rapids or in the pools below the rapids.
The Zambezi is considered to be at its best at low water levels. The low water season lasts from July to January. At other times the Zambezi is still more than worth a go, but some of the wave trains are washed out.
T he put in for both low and high water runs lies just down stream from the bottom of Victoria falls and is know as the boiling pot. The subsequent rapids down the Bokata gorge are separated by distinct pools of slack water. This has allowed the rapids in the one day run to be individually numbered from 1 -18. Rapids #19 to #25 represent a grade 2/3. Rapid #23 is the last rapid on the “high water” one-day run. Continue reading
Saltburn, or Saltburn-by-the-sea to give it its full title is probably one of the surfing meccas of the North East. It lies just a few miles down coast form the Tees estuary with its large petrochemical and steel works within easy access of the A19 and A174.
A great video from NSR.
I have always used airbags in my boats as they prevent part of the boat filling with water during a capsize. After a recent forced swim I was interested in how heavy my boat was when it was filled with water.
I currently have a couple of liquid logic boats – a Stomper 90 and a Biscuit 65. The Stomper has a volume of 90 gallons or approximately 341 litres. The Biscuit has a volume of 65 gallons or approximately 246 litres.
Here’s the maths –
1 Litre – The space occupied by 1 kg of pure water at the temperature of its maximum density (3.98 °C) under a pressure of 1 atmosphere.
Assuming that my Stomper (all fittings removed) is filled with pure water at 3.98 °C at 1 atmosphere then the mass of the water would be 341 kg! The fittings within the Stomper will of course reduce the volume of water able to occupy the space.
My current set of airbags within the Stomper have a total volume of 60 litres. Therefore they would prevent 60 litres or 60 kg of water to occupy an area within the boat.
So lets assume I have taken a swim and that my Stomper has filled with water (no air pockets left), and as an over estimate lets assume that all of the fittings and the airbags prevent half of the 341 litre volume being filled with water. Therefore the 170.5 litres of water in the boat has a mass of 170.5 kg. This gives a total mass including the actual boat (21 kg) of 191.5 kg. This by any measure is heavy and puts the importance of using airbags into perspective. It also explains why the boat was so heavy when I was hauling it out of the River Tees a few weeks ago!
© 2024 Unsponsored
Theme by Anders Norén — Up ↑
Recent Comments