The second event in the Youth freestyle series took us the the Nene whitewater course, in Northampton .

The nene is possibly the smallest course we have in the u.k running on just 2-3 cumecs it funnels it’s way down a series of small ledge holes untill it hits a wooden ramp and the excitement really begins – Pool A consists of a reasonably big pour over and whilst not being famed for it’s freestyle prowess it does dish out a fair few beatings in between moves – great fun to watch.

The event followed the usual Youth freestyle format of some chilled out coaching in the morning, followed by a competition in the afternoon. However due to the weather/easy to swim course/coaches and parents wanting to cool down – the Nene is also host to a search and rescue ball game, a team of 5 kids has to rescue the balls that are being recirculated in the pour over.

The results for the Nene can be found here - http://www.youthfreestyle.co.uk/attachments/article/44/Nene%20Club%20Results%202012b.pdf

Check out the video below,

See you on the water,

Bren

The Boater Chick Festival has come and gone and a recap is in order. This is the first year that Pyranha has been a part of the BCF and I hope to be part of pyranha continuing to sponsor this event. The setup of this festival is a bit different than what I have seen before; everyone camps out and then wakes up in the morning to decide what boating is in their future which can range from a guided river run or various clinics. I was the instructor for the Intro to Playboating clinic. I grabbed the van loaded full of Jeds, Varuns and Shivas and met the ladies at the Tuckaseegee River in North Carolina.

Being my first year, I had no idea what to expect. A few ladies took me up on my offer for a demo and myself and 15 women hit the water to get in some beginning freestyle moves. I was also learning as I’m new to the Jed and this was a great chance for me to really figure out the edges and the balance point of this bad boy. There are no big features on this river and this gave a friendly feel to surfing, spinning, rolling and even a little swimming! At one spot I do believe one of the girls tried a loop for the very first time which is always scary and exciting at the same time.

I could not have been more proud of these women. The standout to me was a woman I got the chance to interact with on the shuttle; she is 69, learning all about her new pink Varun and absolutely being an inspiration to women of all ages. Thanks ladies, I had a blast out there!

Recently the Pyranha Van took two of it’s lady coaches (Me – Fran Kohn and P&H paddler and coach Kate Duffus ) and a load of demo boats and headed up to Bonny Scotland for the (mostly) annual Scottish Women’s Paddling Symposium.

This was only some of the ladies who had signed up for a sunny day of whitewater.

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I was planning on heading west yesterday to catch up with the Colorado tour, but due to some van issues, I’m still at home.  While I wait for parts, I’ve been playing on my backyard run in the Loki, remembering how much fun it is to paddle a slicey boat (though I seem to remember that my feet hurt a lot more in the old boats).  Here’s a little video action.

Recently I have had the luxury paddling the new Pyranha Loki and Varun.  Both boats are so fun and I would suggest everyone try one out.  Down river play has become a new favorite passion of mine.  Huge splats, rock spins, and stern squirts all the way down the river in both boats.  The Loki and Varun surf and play like champs.  Enjoy the video and try one out!

Kindly, Ty Caldwell

After a hard days racing at the Moriston River Race, Fran, Dave and Andy were keen for a couple of days of more chilled out boating and so headed to the Falls of Lora for some salty surf sessions.

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