Freestyle C1 outfitting

Hi again,
Since I have some time today I will post the promised articles... The first on the list is Freestyle seat design.

Firstly before you start the conversion you have to know that there is a simple rule: The better you fit into the boat the less comfort you have and the more difficult is to get into the boat. There are, however, few tips how to break the rule.
Almost everybody knows, how to make a good C1 seat and there are articles on this subject all over the internet. So let me just mention all these little improvements I made to my boat, which finally made it a snug while still keeping the performance.

1. Most saddles the C1 paddlers use have a fixed saddle. That means your back leans on a pile of foam that is stuck into the actual saddle. This is the easy way how to do it.

Picture taken from cboats.net

It has a lot of disadvantages.

1. The knee cups (tunnel design) can´t be deep enough for you to have them in the middle of your thighs, which offers much better control. If they were, you won´t be able to get into the boat because the saddle is fixed...
2. Thus only the like 10-20 cm of your knees are inside the tunnels and this is not enough...
3. Second problem is that if you use the hip belt, which you should, the strap straps you to a fixed saddle, thus transferring the strength you apply on it to the hull only.
4. Your butt tends to go out of its place all the same, if you use the fixed saddle...

The strap setting

My solution is basically that I use almost the same system the kayak paddlers do. I cut the foam pile that supports my back and I use it as a backrest. So the ratchets of the backrest pull against the hip belt thus providing better fit and better strength distribution. Moreover I can get into the boat comfortably and then adjust the ratchets of the backrest.
Thus I get a better fit and comfortable getting in. The kneecups (tunnels) hold my thighs for almost 35 cm so I get better control of the boat...



So this is the basic idea of a freestyle seat. It provides both comfort and performance. The only disadvantage is that there are two more ratchets in the boat, but it is worth it...

So long

Eurocup in Lienz

Hi everybody,
I ve just came byck from the first Eurocup this year and I must first of all say: Where the hell have all of you been?? There were only four C-1 paddlers on the competition. That is a shame!! But nevermind, it was a cool event none the less.
We arrived on Wednesday midnight and from the first moment it was obvious that the competition is once again going to be in a hole... oh my... and I ve been training wave moves all spring... nevermind...
On Thursday we wentsearching other playspots and we found two pretty nice ones: Ainetwelle and Dolomitenwelle. The ideal flow for the Ainet wave is 280 m3/sec and 260 m3/sec for the Dolomiten wave. The Dolomitenwelle is located under the last bridge in Lienz while Ainetwelle is in Ainet village 8km upstream from Lienz (turn left after a wood warehouse to the left of the road).
In Thursday evening there was a welcome party in restaurant Eck with a free meal for all... cool...
Friday was the pre-lims day... Since the canoist were this few there was to be only finals in C-1 category, shame, shame, shame. I went again to Ainet but the waterlevel was too low and the wave was breaking too much. So I went to the Dolomitenwelle. It looked awful from the bank but I went paddling all the same. But it was cool... High wave with a decent foam pile, a green right shoulder and an eddy... Air moves possible!! Only to the left though... So I was paddling for like two hours and then went back to the competition playspot.
In the evening there was an awesome party at the club Wha. The Czech team was more than visible and audible during the party... like always during the Eurocups...
On Saturday there was the men´s quarterfinals and semis. The judges were a bit incompetent, from my point of view, since they seemed to patronize the Adidas team, but the judges changed for the semis and everything was all right... But still, to constantly judge an aerial fisherking entrymove as a bare wavewheel is more than strange. The party in the evening was again awesome and it included a huge meal for everybody. But the prizegiving was a disgrace all over.... It was done in a tiny hall in the pub. The promised prizemoney was given to the first ones in every category but the prizes for everybody else somehow "disappeared" but who am I to judge the organizers... The second and third places were told that the first place should buy them a drink and this was supposed to be a prize... well this stinks...but nevermind...
It was a nice event and although it had its problems I enjoyed it...
Photos are here...

The results:
C1

1. Nico Fayol (France)
2. Lukas Cervinka (CZ)
3. Me (CZ)

K1JW

1. Martina Wegmann (Netherlands)
   
2. Hanka Vackova (CZ)

K1JM

1. Jiri Langer (CZ)

K1M

1. Jon Best (UK)
2. Seppi Strohmeier (GER)
3. Simon Strohmeier (GER)

I will get the rest of the results soon... Sorry to have forgotten them....

So long, and see you on the water...

Training in Prague

Hi,
I ve just quickly stitched up a video from the spots I ve been training at. There is the Kadan hole and a few spots on the Troja slalom course.
The Slovenian championship was great, five days of hanging around.... the spot was painfully shallow so there wasnt much paddling at all.... but the more hanging around hehe...
Tomorrow I am going to Karlovy Vary to participate on an exhibition during a downriver event. I hope it will be great.

As soon as the exam period is over I ll send more articles...

Here is the video: