Article on demand

Hey,
I was thinking some of you might want another technique article. I ve posted a poll so it s up to you guys.
So long

A friend has died / Zabil se nám kamarád

Dobrý kamarád, Radim "Mamka" Sykora se v sobotu zabil v Tatrách. Byl jedním z nejlepších kajakářů v Old Bastardech (kategorie pro 34 a více- leté). Bude nám chybět, čest jeho památce. RESPECT

ENGLISH

A good friend, Radim Sykora, died on Saturday in the Tatra mountains in Slovakia. He was one of the best freestyle kayakers in the Old Bastards category (34+ years of age). We will remember him.

Radim throwing down at the Czech tour finals

Freaky calendar appearance

Hey,
I just found out that in March all them german kids re gonna get scared seeing their dad`s 2010 whitewater calendar...
Check it out

Mistrovství světa 2009-Thun (Czech version)

Tak největší letošní závod máme za sebou. Na letošním MS se sešli závodníci z 32 zemí světa. Každý z kontinentů byl zastoupen alespoň jednou zemí. Česká výprava se ubytovala v jediném Thunském kempu cca 10 minut autobusem od spotu.
Během treninkového týdne se vždycky celý den čekalo na ten jeden vytoužený třicetiminutový trénink, který byl většinou ve znamení marných pokusů zajet na nevypočitatelné vlně slušnou jízdu. Nicméně během týdne jsme si všichni na spot jakž takž zvykli a někteří šťastlivci i urvali něco pádlování během noci či nad ránem.
Celý závod byl výborně organizován a od čtvrtfinále byly jízdy přenášeny online a na obrazovkách po celém areálu.
Závodní vlna byla tento rok méně stabilní než loni a tak musela kupříkladu celá moje rozjížďka v kvalifikaci cca 30 minut čekat ve vracáku na to až se nám zabalí vlna...:)
V kategorii singlů se celkem sešlo 24 závodníků a do semi postupovalo 10. S Lukášem Červinkou sme si před MS dali předsevzetí, že alespoň jeden z nás se tam dostane. Nakonec se mi povedlo v kvalifikaci zajet silně nadprůměrnou jízdu a díky tomu jsem postoupil z desátého místa. Bohužel na úkor Červajze, který skončil hned za mnou. Nicméně jsme za sebou nechali i několik známých jmen světového freestylu včetně bývalého mistra světa.

V semi se mi už žádná zázračná jízda nevydařila, ale i tak je pro mě 10 místo úspěchem.

Finále singlů můžete shlédnout zde.
Jak uvidíte na videu z finále, singlíři měli opravdu hrozně špatnou vlnu na svoje finále...

Následují pěkné fotky z Thunu a Plattlingu. Díky Petrovi Prauzemu, Míše Mitáčkové a Martině Sádkové.
Závěrem bych ještě rád poděkoval firmě Boatpark za zapůjčení lodi Liquidlogic Biscuit 55, na které jsem úspěšně absolvoval posledních pár závodů.

Loopy na Plátně

Pokus o Pan-am v kvalifikační jízdě

Clean-blunt je jednoznačně nejenom nejzábavnější, ale taky nejfotogeničtější trik.

Czech Championship-Testing the Liquidlogic Biscuit 55

During the Czech Championship I had the oportunity to test the new Liquidlogic freestyle kayak- The Biscuit. I was very curious about this boat. The last playboat LL introduced- Ronin, was quite a failure. I havent paddled it myself but I got lots of negative comments about the boat.
LL designers claim that the Biscuit design involved "harvesting ideas from the past". This is absolutely true. In my opinion Biscuit has all the traditional LL features we ve become used to over the years - the spindisc hull design, the typical LL style rockers etc... The main improvement is that the designers made some crucial changes and effectively minimised the notorious drawbacks of those very same design features. The boat bounces nicely, has a really snappy edge transition and the spins are easier than ever, we appreciated that with the Space Cadet and Vision series. But this time the LL boat does not pay the price of being sluggishly slow and effectively immune to any carving action.
The Biscuit is a suprisingly fast boat especially when put on an edge. When put on edge the boat easily matches the retentivity I got used to with the Project. This is, however, something you got to get used to.
One last thing- Although I weigh 97 kgs, the Biscuit 55 seemed just a little undersize for me. Good thing that the boat is slightly bigger than most of the other playboats on the market
I still have to test the boat in a decent hole but it worked really nicely at our local wave the Czech Champs have been held on.
Check out the pics of my friend Lukas and myself riding the Biscuit.

Eurocup 2009

Setting up the Lunar orbit



Nice small wave in Bratrislava



Lukas Cervinka stylez


Hi
A week ago I came back from the last of the Eurocups.
The Eurocups were quite good. The only drawback was the lack of competitors. This might be due to the inscription fees which were high enough to discourage a lot of paddlers.

The competition in Plattling was impeded by the low water level. The Plattling hole- the venue of the 2010 Worldcup and 2011 World Championship is a superb playspot, but not at 140 cm...
The organisers managed to provide the ugliest T shirt ever... not many people like pink...
The party was awesome though, including the local hip-hop gang of 16 year olds who wanted a brawl and got one in the end. Hilarious.

I was quite surprised to find a decent wave at the slalom course in Bratislava, just above the competition spot, which was not that good. The wave was a good one. Very good for training since you had to get a lot of speed to launch blunts.
I had an oportunity to test a 2007 AllStar as a C1. Frankly, I was amazed the boat behaved so much better than the Project even though it was too small for me.

Finally, the Eurocup in Lienz provided by far the best playspot. The organisation was also the best. I was surprised to see a great audience during the finals. The way to go for sure!!

I dont know if I am going to the last eurocup in Netherlands yet. But I should if I want to win the C1 division... not much competition there though...

Hope to see a lot more other C1ers at the World Champs.

French freestyle spring

Heya,
My stay in Geneva is almost over. I ve been doing some paddling, especially Charnay playspot in Burgundy.
I also went to a French competition in the Pyrenees- the FlipFlap party.
Enjoy the photos and the video.
Video courtesy of Filip Karasek and Yannis. Photos by Jo Suc (flipflap) and Laurent Devigne (Charnay).

Rudolph at the FlipFlap

Me at the awesome wave

Alex Jakette styling a cleanpanam

Arguably one of the best photos I ve seen- Val Corrotte backpanam

JB Bal at Charnay

Laurent Devigne

Backloop at Charnay

see some pictures from Kuchl.............Zoid rocks the wave!!!!

(art des eaux photography by sabrina barm)