The problem with newer paddlers not knowing the basics comes from how they learn the sport, not the kind of craft they paddle. One can learn the basics of whitewater in any currently available plastic closed-deck kayak, and progress to high skill in any such craft. Having taught whitewater for about five years now, I have noticed that the older style dancer/pirouette boats somewhat limit learning because they are less responsive than the new short, flat play boats. Reponsiveness, to both good and bad technique is the key to learning the skills necessary to whitewater kayak. A responsive boat will tell you when something is wrong, and as soon as you start to do things correctly, it will respond positively a little bit sooner than an unresponsive kayak. This helps speed the progress of acquiring skill. Contrary to what the old fogies say, speed is not important in learning whitewater. It IS important in making do-or-die ferries and surfing long fast waves, but how many beginners ever encounter those situations? Something is very wrong if they do. Paddling class II-III rapids does not require speed, but it does require control. A long fast boat is inherently harder to control than a short flat boat. I think it is a very telling statement to notice that this year's hottest beginner boat was last year's hottest rodeo boat. The underlying truth is that it is easier to learn whitewater in a responsive kayak. As far as the new school kayakers who learn to cartwheel before learning eddy turns or perfecting their eskimo roll. Let them have their fun, because the river will soon teach them the necessity of sound paddling technique. The unforgiving River Gods reward hubris with spankings, enforcing humility in all but the most obtuse of conscious paddlers. The only hope is that no permanent injuries will result as part of this process. Unfortunately the exponentially growing popularity of whitewater kayaking statistically ensures that mishaps will more frequently occur. Fortunately, the class II-III river is a fairly benign environment, especially when compared to the harsh Mistress of the Sea. There are lots of reasons why I think learning whitewater is a much safer endeavor than learning sea kayaking, but I'll have to get into that later as necessity of work ends this particular polemic. Cheers, kevin ----------------------------------------------------------------- Kevin Whilden Your Planet Earth kevin_at_yourplanetearth.org http://www.yourplanetearth.org voice: (206) 788-0281 fax: (206) 788-0284 ----------------------------------------------------------------- *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - Any opinions or suggestions expressed here are solely those of the writer(s). You must assume the entire responsibility for reliance upon them. All postings copyright the author. Submissions: PaddleWise_at_PaddleWise.net Subscriptions: PaddleWise-request_at_PaddleWise.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************Received on Wed Feb 28 2001 - 14:44:25 PST
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