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The Winter Months

February 10th, 2013 | Posted by nick in EU | General News | Immersion Research | IR | kayak | Union Suit - (0 Comments)
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The winter in Scotland is always an interesting experience. Its usually wet and always cold but there is plenty to be done so-long as you are willing to put up with less than perfect conditions. Before Christmas I was able to take advantage of some wet weather mid week and got out on a high level Nevis, Orchy and Etive. Three of the best of the Scottish classics. We were even lucky enough to catch the Orchy high enough to run the last rarely run drop. Although no one fancied the man line…

Eas Urchaidh, the Falls of Orchy. Photo Paul Maydew

Going for a training session on the the canal next to my house in Edinburgh. Photo Sarah Elven

During my first two years at Edinburgh I ventured down to BUCS Wild Water Racing. From memory it was always freezing cold but fun. Edinburgh had never stood much of a chance and I had always wanted to try and take it a bit more seriously, so this year I decided to learn how to paddle an old racing boat the club owns and recruited half the club to come along in a hope to win some elusive BUCS points. Thanks to recruiting two premier division slalom paddlers we managed to put in a winning run in the team event and we returned to Edinburgh 25 points in hand.

BUCS Wild Water Racing

Mens Team Gold – Struan, Phillip and Me

As the new year came in I ditched the boat in favour of a board and took my union suit to Tignes in the alps for some fun in the snow. We were really lucky with the conditions getting about 40 cm of snow at the end of the week. On the last day of the holiday we found the sweetest run which involved some great, steep powder sections followed by a run through a frozen river bed which was so tight you had to walk through a tunnel at one point.

Making the most of the last day in Tignes. Photo – Dave Mccall

Wearing the Union suit in the mountains. Photo – Dave Mccall

Two weeks ago I got a call through from my friend Dave suggesting the the Ossian adventure might be an option…..this is a two part river trip which requires riding a train with boats the night before and camping before paddling across two lochs and down two rivers to get home. It was a real adventure (especially as the second loch was frozen!) and Ben did a great write up of it here...

Ben at the start of the first Loch

Other than the Ossian trip I haven’t been in a boat much recently as my studies have been getting the better of me, but last weekend I went with the club to compete in a polo competition in Glasgow. Unfortunately I did not and still do not know the rules of polo or really how to play. Thankfully Philip does which meant we got to the quarter finals but alas no further! In honesty I think I was just making up the numbers and I was never really sure which end of the pool I was supposed to be at. I have to admit it is a lot of fun though!

How does this polo thing work anyway? Photo – Amy Morton

Looking forward I am now involved in planning the inaugural British Universities Creek Race with the help of the SCA and my fellow committee members. Its set to be an awesome event and a lot of fun!

Happy Paddling

Nick

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Good outfitting will allow you to be “one with your boat”. This should lead to better control, comfort and you won’t need to use as much energy to move the boat around. I’m guilty of spending too much time on outfitting my boats, so I thought I may as well share some of my techniques.

Every boat manufacturer has different instructions and ways of moving stuff about. I recommend checking out their website and having a search on YouTube for some official instructions before moving things about.

Usually I do things in this order……

 

1. Seat Positioning 

Go for a paddle on flat water in the boat and play about with a few different seat positions. A good starting point is having the boat balanced so each end is an even amount of distance out the water. Most people have their seat in the middle setting but personally I like my seat as far forward as possible. See what works for you.

***TOP TIP! – If you can spare the time and effort you can make your boat last longer by filling the gaps between the kayak’s hull and the seat with foam. This reduces the hull flexing and creating weak spots. To do this effectively, usually you will have to remove the seat from the kayak to let you glue all the extra foam in place. ***

 

2. Seat Height 

By putting extra foam down under the seat you can give yourself more leverage and a more powerful seating position at the expense of a bit of stability. But if you are charging you don’t need to worry about stability. Again, whatever works for you is best.  A starting point for this is having your hips in line with the level of the cockpit rim.

If your seat pad is held down by plastic rivets you may need to go buy some new ones that are longer. These rivets are sold in car shops as rivets for holding on pieces of the car body.

Some brands of boat have flat seats in my opinion so my seat is contoured at the edges using some extra scraps of foam. Best seat I’ve ever had!

The raised areas are shaded

 

3. Thigh braces and knee padding

As a general rule, the closer the thigh braces are to your body, the better fit they will be. So try sliding them away from your knees and further down your thighs. Obviously don’t sacrifice comfort for this cause you will be aching after 30 mins. I also put a few layers of thin foam between my knees and the boat hull for a bit of comfort and impact protection.

 

4. Footrest

Move the plastic plate down as far as you can and build up the gap to your feet with foam for more impact protection and extra buoyancy should you take a swim. A flat footrest is bad; an angled one that your feet can sit on in a natural position nicely is good. A layer of foam with gaps is a good idea as it will compress more easily than the rest of the foam; acting like the crumple zone of a car.

My footrest as well as a carry handle made from webbing stitched into a loop.

 

5. Thigh blocks

To explain them as simply as possible, shaped pieces of foam that holds the underside of your leg. These allow you to edge the boat by lifting one leg AND pushing down with the other leg. This should allow for easier, quicker and less tiring edging. It can be tricky to stick these to the plastic hull, so I’d advise laying down a thin layer of foam that will conform to the round hull first and then stick the main block of foam to that.

I used a piece of sandpaper wrapped round a can to help me get a round shape when I was carving the foam blocks.

                        

           

6. Hip Pads

Not too tight that they cut off the circulation, but snug, work the best. I’ve heard some hip pads work better for womanly shapes if they are backwards but don’t quote me on that. Remember that your hip pads don’t need to sit flat, I have mine angled for comfort. Having them thicker to the back of the hip pad will allow them to sit better on most leg shapes and seating positions.

 

7. Backband

You DON’T need to ratchet yourself in stupidly tight to get a good fit. The backband is designed for support only. I find that an overly tight backband restricts my movement and I can’t boof as well because I can’t transfer weight backwards.

 

8. Airbags

 If you don’t have them you are daft. If you have tonnes of space past your footrest I’d advise an airbag for there too. Tie them in with cord.

 

An extra attachment point I use for keeping my Peli-Case in the boat.

 

A bread knife is good for cutting foam. A surform is good for shaping foam. Solvent Contact adhesive is the only way to stick foam (ask behind the counter at D.I.Y. stores).

Patience is needed! Don’t expect to get a perfect fit first time.

 

 

I like these links. Plenty of good stuff but none of them will be an exact guide for everyone…

http://nomadickayaking.blogspot.com/2009_10_01_archive.html

http://wavesport.ning.com/profiles/blogs/how-to-outfit-your-new-creek

http://www.dagger.com/education_portal/index/learn/outfitting_your_dagger_kayak

http://www.dagger.com/pages/index/customer_service/instructions/bulkhead_adjustment_how_to

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QqyJDXkUoSI

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vyU85lXhgR4

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CFBOKzlHhLw&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jV8k9czGCTY

 

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This autumn i had the best trip to the famous Ötz Valley ever. Even when i didn´t have the chance to participate at the Sick Line Race it was worse to drive 600km each way to the Austrian alps. The weather was so perfect with blue skys and temperatures like in summer time.  We paddled Wellerbrücken, Heilig-Kreutz and the middle Section of Ötz river and had great times on the water.

I will put more photos on the blog in the next days.

Greets Timo

 

 

Moriston 799

 

Every year in Scotland, the SCA (http://canoescotland.org) organises a weekend long paddling festival, the Wet West Paddle Fest. There are 2 dam releases on different rivers scheduled, evening socials, films and talks and a big raffle. All the funds go to maintaining river access in Scotland.


This was really the first time I had been back in the boat since subluxing my shoulder on the Moneydrop in Norway, so I was taking it relatively easy and not going out of my comfort zone. I did manage to get on some quality whitewater though!
A big part of the festival is seeing all the paddlers from Scotland, England and Wales (and some further flung destinations). Our sport is truely great at bringing lots of people together.
I was even lucky enough to pick up a raffle prize. £540 worth of coaching at Glenmore Lodge! I guess I need all the coaching I can get after breaking myself in Norway… ;)

 

 

Thanks to Dr. Peter Murray for photos and Julia Kraut and Cameron Reid for videos!

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Lots of laughs on the first beginner river trip of the year.

A brief history of IR

March 31st, 2011 | Posted by John in General News - (0 Comments)
Screen shot 2011-03-31 at 12.07.00 PM

In case you were wondering. This was made by Super Rep Spencer Cook this winter while he was putting together product videos for us.

The Search is on for an EU Ambassador!

February 22nd, 2011 | Posted by John in EU | General News - (1 Comments)
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IR is now accepting applications for a new European Ambassador for 2011, and applying is fun and easy. Simply send us the link to a Youtube or Vimeo video showing us why you would be a great representative for IR gear. That’s it. The chosen athlete will receive $1500 USD worth of IR gear of their choosing. Interested? Read the rules below:

The 2011 IR EU Ambassador Contest:

  1. Applicants must live in the EU.
  2. The deadline for applications is June 15th
  3. Entires can be submitted as links to youtube or vimeo. Please don’t send us gigantic HD quicktime files, etc.
  4. We will post all videos submitted to our website.
  5. We are looking for someone to help us grow our whitewater brand in the EU- a winning video will show us that you are the right person to do that. Being a really good whitewater kayaker will certainly help your chances, but by no means do you have to be a superstar.
  6. We receive lots and lots of videos of people throwing loops and running waterfalls- you may want to consider that while putting together your entry . We understand that you want to show us what you can do in a boat, but we’re also interested in how you interact with the paddling community. Creativity will get you everywhere.
  7. If you win, all we ask in return is that you make somewhat regular, interesting posts to the .eu website documenting your year.
  8. The terms of the “Ambassadorship” will until June 15th 2012. This is not an on-going sponsorship.
  9. This contest will be judged in connection with Canoe Kayak UK.

Send the youtube or vimeo link or any questions you may have to contest@immersionresearch.com Along with your entry, please include your name, age, where you live, and anything about yourself that we must know that you couldn’t get into your video.

CKS Double D Drysuit Review

February 2nd, 2011 | Posted by John in CKS | General News - (0 Comments)
CKS Double D Drysuit Review

Colorado Kayak Supply has just posted their review on IR’s 2011 Double D Drysuit- click through to read the entire article