Adventure Race Paddling - New Zealand Kayak Magazine

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Patagonian Lakes in Argentina, the Yellow River and Hydro Dams in China, steep white water descents in France, the hot Mediterranean Sea, Milford Sound in early morning dark, Lake Wakatipu at night into the glowing lights of Queenstown – these are some of the paddling experiences from my 2012 Adventure Racing season with Team Seagate, NZ Adventure Racing team. (Sophie Hart, Chris Forne, Trevor Voyce). Kayaking is one of the three core disciplines in adventure racing, joining hiking and mountain biking. The paddling within an adventure race is dynamic and always presents new challenges. For starters, navigation is required so waterproof maps and a deck compass are needed to make sure checkpoints are reached. The paddling sections are more often than not, ‘dark zones’, which means during the darkness hours, progress on the water is forbidden forcing teams to camp out, either comfortably or miserably, often a result of how much gear a team
is prepared to carry. These dark zones can be very strategic and can have a big outcome on the racing. In the 2002 Southern Traverse our team were forced to stop for nine hours on the Wairau River bank in Marlborough, right beside the road. With only 10 km to paddle the next morning and a big lead already, the race win was ours but we needed to wait until daylight to complete the paddle. We’d just got off the river wondering what we’d do when a passing car spotted us and stopped, it turned out it was a cycling mate of mine who lived locally. He asked if we needed anything. An hour later, we were sitting around a fire, on mattresses, with blankets, drinks and scoffing hot fish and chips. For me the biggest challenge with the paddling in the sport is we nearly always get different boats to paddle. Here at home we all have our favoured craft and equipment, the stuff we like and are used to. However, racing around the world we have to adapt to different craft for every race and sometimes paddles too. Most of the time they are doubles either inflatable or plastic. Some have rudders, some don’t. Some are okay, some aren’t, I’ve never yet raced in a boat I’ve decided to buy. In the 23 years adventure racing has been going, Kiwi teams have built a legacy on being exceptional boaters, with only South African and Australian teams ever threatening to topple that title. There have been a great number of international events won by New Zealand teams who have forged leads with paddle in hand. From my observation, it’s the Kiwis ability to quickly learn the behaviour and performance of the different vessels supplied. Every race I see ultra fit and conditioned paddlers not being able to utilise their power because the skill needed to steer and manoeuvre the boat is lacking, resulting in more energy going into basic steering and minimal energy going into forward gain. Over 800 competitors will vie for places in the 31st Anniversary Speight’s Coast to Coast race on February 8th and 9th 2013. Will you be there? Grade Two certification and brush up courses run through out the year. Contact your nearest Canoe & Kayak Centre for details. 8 ISSUE SIXTY Seven • Christmas 2012 www.kayaknz.co.nz
Page 1: Adventure Race Paddling By Nathan F

Adventure Race Paddling - New Zealand Kayak Magazine

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