2010 is here! Ski-ing in the woods is the best bet as the rivers are frozen. Need to plan the summer but just taking a moment to reflect on the womens paddling we did last year. A lot of fun, met some fantastic women paddlers and we pushed ourselves out of our comfort zone, tried new things and faced a lot of fear together.

In 2009 we introduced women only whitewater development coaching, played about with the model and evaluated the impact. Overall women say they love the all girl environment (extra male coaches welcome if there name is Brad!) and find it easier to accept their fears and challenge them amongst others who can cope with tears. The dynamics are awesome! To see a group of women come together aho may never have met develop and bond as a group in just a few days is incredible. Immediately caring and supporting each other and celebrating each others sucess.

Sometimes it does not really feel like coaching, more like guiding their learning in a student centred way.

Using the Findhorn as our training venue is a stunning setting. The variety of conditions on the section means there is challenge for every grade of paddler and sometimes the gods help with water levels too.

Developing leadership skills on the river can be difficult for women, how many of the girls you know will push to lead on a club or social trip? Taking turns to inspect, analyse the water and lead with support from a coach is a development journey. It takes time, sometimes we call it tea and cakes at each rapid, but everyone has the chance to really understandd what is going on and how it will affect them when they are there.

We accept that women are not pretend men and have different styles and pace of learning. It is good to see women in the outdoors taking on more advanced water and leading, we need more though!

If you fancy taking part then perhaps here at Pyranha we can pull something together for the girls, let us know!

The recipe is always the same, no matter what grade we paddle. Equal measures of skill and confidence and a sprinkle of brave dust when required.

Mags

We’re filming some whitewater in Hawaii.  Just landed and are looking for some rains… got some surf in while kickin it.  Dipper Creek update also available on http://www.huckinhuge.com

Despite the bitterly cold whether, I’m sure it must have been -5 on the water! The testing of the New Pyranha Molan continues. The boat has reached it’s 5th incarnation and is now in it finally pre production prototype stage, these boats have shrunk a fair bit as they are the first from the mold and the hull of the boat has been changed a smidgen to allow it to release quicker. But apart from that that what you see here is pretty much how it will look. Over the Christmas period the boat has made it out to most of the popular Thames weirs and has been performing well, the later prototypes have been tested a fair bit on and in holes around the UK & across Europe over the summer but it has been nice to finally get the boat back out on some good waves to see how the modifications that had been implemented over that time would work on a wave, personally I’m pretty happy with how it’s turned out. The Molan is just a bit longer than the new 2010 All Star and you do notice that on a wave. I wouldn’t say that it’s a fast boat, But it sure dose accelerate fast! And the new sharper rails really allow you to drive the boat hard down and across the face a wave and release with razor sharp precision, far far better, easier and cleaner than Pyranha’s of old. The fit and outfitting of the Molan is like you would except from an Anderson & Sheppard suit, clean, smart and very comfortable. All in all things are looking very promising from this little chap. Bring on the production boat.

Last week I was able to get the new Molan out and about.  I fit in the medium Molan very well.  I was able to where shoes in the boat at 6 foot and 170lbs.  The boat was very easy to through around and looped with ease.  I think you all are going to be very excited about this one.  Here is a video I made from the day!

Here are some impressions of my time in Chile. Up to know I travelled from Santiago down to Pucon, and had an awesome time on the chilean  rivers with  friends out of Germany. It was also a great pleasure to meet and join Adria, Leland and Jeff on the Rio Claro. We did a lot of hike in runs, so I was glad to use pyranhas portaging system, but even more glad to hire horses ;-).

Happy Holidays everyone!

Last week Graham Mackereth flew in to the states with the new boat from the UK. My brother Casey and I drew the lucky card to test the boat out first. Yesterday we just got home from a great week of playboating in the new Molan on rivers all across the southeast and the mid-atlantic. Typically I don’t playboat very much, especially in the winter, but I couldn’t resist a chance to hop in this boat despite temperatures in the 20’s and forecasts for snow. The Molan has proven to be everything we hoped for in a playboat – predictable, easy to throw around, loose, easy to take into the air, very forgiving, and most of all, extremely comfortable.

I haven’t been this excited about a new playboat design in years – maybe this boat will get me back in line at the local playspots. Anyway, the new Molan is on its way to shred a playspot near you and I’m back inside out of the cold for a bit!

Enjoy the photos and the video.

Eternity Hole, NC
Photo by Casey Jones

New River Dries, WV
Photo by Casey Jones

Air blunt on the New River Dries
Photo by Casey Jones

Full Molan album at: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=145326&id=500041783&l=a9136a51f8

First Impressions of the Pyranha Molan from Chan Jones on Vimeo.