Nick Schade wrote: > > I am sure the ACA has no malicious intentions, but I think they could > easily back off on describing whatever it is they are certifying: > "Greenland". Even among Greenlanders I am sure there is disagreement with > regards to what is correct technique. The ACA should be free to "certify" > anything they want, but to set themselves up as authorities of what is > correct "Greenland" techniques is an insult to anyone who is actually from > Greenland. > > Why not call it something else? I doubt "Silly Little Skinny Paddle > Technique" would fly :-), but how about "Freestyle Sea Kayaking". This does > not have the authoritative ring When Folbot came out with its new model of folding single, the Aleut, around 1992 it got some flack from a northern indigineous community, according to Phil Cotton owner of the company. The Aleut, at about 30 inches wide and short and squat, in no way resembled an Aleut traditional kayak. I don't know if the company got any hassle from Greenlanders with its Greenland II double that came out in the around 1990 and had very little "Greenlanderish" about it...it looked like a double Klepper. Nautiraid has a Greenlander model too. It once, in its Mach 1 version, was quite skinny at around 19 inches wide with small cockpit. It is now at Mach III which is 27 inches wide and with a larger cockpit but it still bears the Greenlander name. Dealing with technique that is a strong part of a tradition obviously is even a more sensitive issue and not just because of Greenlanders. Greenland is sexy and various sea kayaking jurisdictions want a stake in it, not just the ACA but also the BCU. Meanwhile, "Euro" seems to have become a derogatory word as in "Oh, you use a Euro paddle." said with great disdain and nose up. The folding kayak realm is much too quiet these days. No one argues about paddling technique for them...there isn't any! You just paddle 'em, period. :-) And even the old aluminum frame vs. wooden frame argument has lost some of its spirit now that both Klepper and Nautiraid, both staunch defenders of wood, have come out with aluminum framed models. ralph diaz ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Ralph Diaz . . . Folding Kayaker newsletter PO Box 0754, New York, NY 10024 Tel: 212-724-5069; E-mail: rdiaz_at_ix.netcom.com "Where's your sea kayak?"----"It's in the bag." ----------------------------------------------------------------------- *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List Submissions: paddlewise_at_lists.intelenet.net Subscriptions: paddlewise-request_at_lists.intelenet.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************Received on Fri Jul 02 1999 - 08:02:40 PDT
This archive was generated by hypermail 2.4.0 : Thu Aug 21 2025 - 16:30:10 PDT