Master Of Water 2008Â….Very impressed!
This story all started when I received an E-mail from Sammy at Pyranha, The mail read something like “Hi Guys there is a competition in Sweden with a great party! Is anyone free to go?”
It took me precisely 3 seconds to decide yeah IÂ’m up for that! And so a few weeks later I found myself sitting on a plane flying to Sweden, when on the plane I did think to my self really I should have organised myself better! I was on a plane to Sweden; I didnÂ’t know where I was flying to! And when I arrived in Sweden I had now idea where I was going too! And also I had no idea who I was meeting, when I landed in the place which I had no idea where it was! But luckily for me the man I was set to meet was the Legend in his own life time James Venimore, James owns and runs Kajaktiv, SwedenÂ’s largest kayak importer/distributor and has covered more miles in a kayak than maybe anyone else IÂ’ve ever met before.
The reason for me being in Sweden was to compete in the Kajaktiv Master Of Water Contest 2008 (sponsored by Pyranha!) The basic idea behind this event is a lot like the old PeakUK challenge. There are 3 events, First a boater X , Second a Speeder race down a set course against the clock, and third a good old Freestyle blast! The rapid the event was held on is near the village of Dala-Floda and for this type event was perfect nothing to hard but a good length and plenty of different lines to pick and choose from. The Boater X was up first and was the event I was keen to do well in, unfortunately all the local seamed to have done a lot more training for the event than I had! I can honestly say IÂ’ve never been so worn out, after a lot of pushing and jostling and a good dollop of English cheeky good luck I found myself in the 4 man final. Man it was tight right up to the point I capsized and couldnÂ’t roll!!!!! Some big time carping ensued and finally I managed to get the burn the right way up and make it to the finish! In 4th. Hats off to Julian from France who won the race, Super fast! Next was the Speeder race. 4 Pyranha speeders had been race readied the day before by myself and James and one at a time they were raced at high speed down the course, the run only took 1-2 minuets but it was great fun and paddling the boats down a good class 3 rapid quite different than anything I had done before . In Sweden Multisport paddling is very popular and the good guys took the rapid apart totally have a look at the results to see where I came think it was 10th or maybe 7th not sure.
Last up and with more lactic build up in my musicals then ever before was the Freestyle the hole was a bit on the shallow side and not that powerful, but you seamed to be able to stick most moves init. I was actually getting some really good rides, good entry move into few ends into clean ends, blunt left right, front loop back loop. But then in my scored runs I remembered why I leave freestyle to JB and Pringle. I was pretty poor! The Rev was great though. Really happy with that little boat.
At the end of the event I think I finished somewhere around the top, But kayaking was the real winner!!!!!!! No no, the event is really good. All the people at Kajaktiv are super positive and the event ran like clock work, next years event is looking to be even bigger and better so keep an eye on there web site or ours! And if you need a hand getting out there give us a bell and IÂ’m sure we can help!
Oh IÂ’ve forgot to say about the festival that is running as the comp is on too! Basically itÂ’s very different to anything you have at a UK comp but itÂ’s so much more and fits the atmosphere so well. Your have to go out and sample it for yourselves. Plus a few last things: Sweden really not that pricey! Take away the air fair and to be fair that was less than it would take me to drive to Devon. It dose not cost a lot to live I spent less there over a weekend than I would in the UK. And finally if you want a really good destination to paddle some good rivers nice class 3-4 nothing to full on give Kajaktiv a bell they do some really good courses and there very cheap I would say. Oh and lets not forget the Hot Tub!
Pictures By: James Venimore