Re: [Paddlewise] Chicken Kayak Surf Safety

Yikes,
Never thought I would see the day when Corran got into this list. Although
he did not do the actual posting, he once told me that he has designed a
sea kayak, and the Riot web page has a link to "Sun Touring Kayaks", which
has no information about actual kayaks. Corran is very good paddler who
gives advice in a flamboyant manner, and what he says always has merit,
even it doesn't leave room for other points of view.

What Corran describes is called the Rodeo Roll, because it allows for a
much quicker roll when flipped in a hole. This is because most rodeo
manuevers end up with the paddler leaning back when they aare screwed up,
and rodeo kayakers want to roll as fast as possible when flipped so that
they are not washed out of the hole.  

The rodeo roll is indeed very quick, but using it requires lots and LOTS
of practice because screwing it up frequently results in a shoulder
dislocation. William Nealy shows a picture of this roll used in a shallow
rapid in his book Kayak, so Corran certainly did not invent it. As for its
use in the surf, I would not recommend it to anyone who isn't already good
enough at rolling in general to make their own informed decision. As far
as its use on the river goes, it certainly does have some advantages,
although I prefer a normal roll combined with a helmet that has been
modified to cover as much of my lower skull and neck as possible. A friend
of mine did break his neck while rolling a c-1 in shallow water -- he was
using a small helmet and a PFD with poor back coverage. He wasn't
seriously injured, and still paddles just fine, thank god. 

-- Kevin



	 ___________________                                                            
	/   Kevin Whilden   \
       |Dept. of Geosciences \___
       |University of Washington \
       |kwhilden_at_u.washington.edu| 
        \________________________/                       

On Mon, 21 Sep 1998, Kirk Olsen wrote:

> 
> After a quick dejanews search:
> Someone advocating leaning back versus tucking forward.  FWIW, Corran
> Addison is
> a whitewater rodeo paddler.
> 
> ----------------------------
> Author:   Corran Addison   
> Email: ripint_at_total.net 
> Date: 1997/07/16 
> Forums: rec.boats.paddle  
> 
> ----------------------------------------------------------------------------
> ----
> 
> Paul Skoczylas wrote:
> > 
> > RJD9999 wrote:
> > > This is why lying back toward the rear deck
> > > makes rolling easier
> > 
> > It also exposes your face to the rocks.  Leaning forward is much safer
> > in shallow/rocky water.  (Also, you're in a better position to resume
> > paddling when you come up.)
> 
> OK, lets look at this. Lean back exposes your face. Hummm. A smack in 
> the teeth, maybe a few scars, broken nose. Not much fun. Whats the 
> alternative. Leaning forward. Expose the spint between the top of the 
> life jacket and the helmet - C1 through L5. Can you say Christofer 
> Reeve? Not nearly as appealing as losing a few teeth is it.
> 
> IHO, the last thing you want to do is lean forward in a flip in shallow 
> =water. Leaning back accomplisheds three things. Firstly, it exposes 
> your face rather than your spine to any impacts. Secondly, as you 
> set up to roll from this position, your forearms and paddle shaft 
> natrally get between you and any offensive rocks, and almost always 
> take the blow. Lastly, with your eyes open in this position, you can see 
> the rocks comming, and if necessary, let go of the paddle and fend them 
> off. From the forward lean, your only option is to take what is dealt 
> like a man. That's not so cool.
> > 
> > I learned to roll leaning back, but have since trained myself to come up
> > forward. (And I'm horribly inflexible--on a good day I can maybe reach
> > -with straight legs- a couple of inches past my knees, nowhere near my
> > toes.)
> 
> I role from the back deck to the front deck on a reverse sweep (what 
> people here call the Addison which means about as much as calling a 
> front sweep role the Spellius, but I guess some people do... so 
> anyway...). This is very effective, super fast because ther is no setup 
> - you role from whever you landed - and when you are up, your paddle is 
> natrally in the position to right into a forward stroke, which most of 
> the time is the necessary thing to do.
> 
> Just my 2c worth.
> 
> corran
> 
> 
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