BCU Whitewater Safety and Rescue Course on the 27th and 28th of November 2013. course costs £150 for more info or to book a place email chris@chrisbraincoaching.com
BCU Whitewater Safety and Rescue Course 27th and 28th November 2013
White water safety and rescue course date added for November
New date added for BCU white water safety and rescue course on 27th and 28th of November 2013 course costs £150 for more info email chris@chrisbraincoaching.com
Combined FSRT and 2 star weekend
What an amazing weekend we just had! Another freak weekend for warm weather, who would have thought you would get sunbunt cheeks at the end of September in the UK??
I love delivering the BCU's foundation Safety and rescue course, as it is great to work with paddlers to gain a solid base when it comes to rescue skills in paddling. An FSRT is always a jam packed course, but combining it with a 2 star assessment over 2 days makes for a fantastic course. With plenty of opportunities for real situations and lots of time spent in and out of boats it really is a hands on practical weekend.
I would highly recommend doing an FSRT course over 2 days and combining it with either a 2 star assessment or 2 star training. If you would like more information about this or would like to discuss the possibility of doing this either with your club or group please contact me on chris@chrisbraincoaching.com
Check out a few snaps from the weekend
Pyranha Fest 2013
With the weather man promising a freak heat wave in North Wales, it seemed like the weekend of the 22nd of september was then perfect time for the annual Pyranha Fest! Kayakers from across the country descended onto north Wales, with a promise of boating, competitions, coaching and of course partying!
Plenty of demo boats available, along with the new Mark 3 Burn!
Over the weekend I delivered 2 freestyle based sessions, focusing on introducing playboating moves in a dynamic river environment. Freestyle can be a superb way to develop your river paddling, and simply being able to surf a wave confidently or turn around in a hole can make a massive difference to your confidence on the river. With some pretty epics surfs and swims had throughout the sessions, it was safe to say that everyone left with a smile on their face and also something to work on.
Keeping us motivated while we paddle at the cafe wave with some rocking tunes!
One of the hottest arrivals at the event over the weekend was the chance to demo one of the new mark 3 Burns. With all of the demo burns being out over the weekend and with me coaching over the Saturday and Sunday it was a real mission to actually manage to get out in the water on one! Once I finally managed to get into one and get on the water, to say I was excited was an understatement.
For me one of the biggest things in how a boat paddles is the sitting position and how that feels. In the new burn this feels just right, with a great height and width for your knees and the seat height feeling good too. In the prototype demo there was also a foam insert which went under the seat to raise your legs and offer a better fit. This really worked well for me and meant I had much better connectivity with the boat, (Im assured this seating adjustment will make its way into production. Once out and onto the water it was instantly recognisable that a huge amount of thought and time had gone into the latest version of Pyranha's iconic boat. I love the redesigned bow rocker which feels like it just floats over the top of the waves nicely and any waves that do drop on top of it resurface nicely due to the peaked deck profile. The boat seems to really stomp into eddys and lands well from boofs, being manageable and controllable throughout.
The boat is also narrower than previously, which means that edge to edge transitions feel much more dynamic and the boat seems even more nimble than before because of this. The front edges help the boat to carve nice and smoothly and the reduced stern edges make sure that it doesnt trip over on the way into eddys. Initial results are promising seem promising!
The increase in volume on the medium sized version for me is welcome too. I am certainly on the (ahem) larger side of medium and felt like in the last burn the medium was a bit too small, but the large a bit too big. The medium now feels like the right size volume for a river boat and had no problem with me and my kit inside. On a fully loaded or high volume trip, I would be really keen to see how the new large size handles though. With the reduction in width it could easily compare to the Pyranha Everest. Safe to say the new burn is sure to be a huge hit and I cant wait to get hold of mine when they finally come out.
Boater charge through on the boater cross
Throughout the weekend there were several competitions including the retro freestyle, extreme slalom and also the fiercely competed boatercross. Competitiors had to sprint down from below the ski jump, down to a must catch eddy at the cafe wave to touch a spray deck (held down expertly by Rick Atkinson) and then fly down to the finish at the NRA bridge. With fun and smiles on everyones face and some real carnage in the half way eddy, it was a great competition!
Carnage in the must make eddy!
So overall a fantastic weekend, with some great boating, coaching, competitions, lectures and of course partying at the campsite in Bala. Bring on the new burn, bring on some more great paddling and bring on Pyranha fest 2014!
Upcoming paddlesport and first aid courses
I have the following courses coming up before the end of the year
BCU WWSR - 7th and 8th October 2013 - Llangollen - £150 - 3 places left
BCU 3 star WW kayak assessment - 14th October 2013 - river Leven - £50 - 1 place left
BCU 3 star WW kayak assessment - 15th October 2013 - river Leven - £50 - 4 places left
BCU 4 Star WW Kayak training - 25th and 26th November 2013 - North Wales - £150 - 4 places left
REC 16 Hour First aid course - 7th and 8th December 2013 - Burrs Activity Centre, Bury - £120
If you would like to book onto one of the courses you can visit http://www.chrisbraincoaching.com/booking/
or if you would like to email me please contact me on chris@chrisbraincoaching.com
Pyranha Fest 2013 is coming!
On the 21st and 22nd of September the Pyranha fest will be coming to Bala. The event promises to be amazing with tons of demo boats, competitions, coaching and of course some partying! I will be there running some coaching courses during the weekend and will be on the water boating as much as possible.
WIll you be there??
Check it out at www.pyranhafest.com
BCU WWSR on the 7th and 8th October in North Wales
I have a BCU WWSR course running in North Wales on the 7th and 8th of October costing £150 for the 2 day course. The course will be led by Darren Joy and also myself. If you would like to find out more information or to book a place please email me at chris@chrisbraincoaching.com
BCU 3 Star White Water Kayak Assessment in the Lake District 14th October
I will be running a BCU 3 star white water kayak assessment in the Lake District on the 14th of October and there are still 3 places available. The assessment costs £50
If you would like more information or to book a place please email chris@chrisbraincoaching.com
GB Freestyle Team Training
With the world championships at NOC in America coming up fast the GB freestyle team took to the water for a final training session. Throughout the weekend the team was working on piecing together their competition rides and putting some final work into making sure that their moves score.
Training consisted of working all the top moves
such as space godzillas, McNasty’s, Phonix Monkeys and lunar orbits. Many
of the team were also practicing some of the entry moves they intend to do at
the comp . Once warmed up we started putting moves together trying to
link them in blocks of 3 so that the routine is easy to remember and has a high
scoring sequence. Team training isn’t always super serious though, we also
ran a fun copycat style session where you have to attempt the same move as the
last paddler and then add on your own move for the next paddler to try.
With the standard so high, there really were some amazing combinations pulled
off!
The team is very strong this year and we really are
in the running to bring home medals in all the different freestyle
disciplines. Brandon Hepburn and Bren Orton will be out there rocking
their carbon Jed’s and working the hole as best they can to pull off some high
scores. The Jed should really excel in a hole like this, being able to
pull off all the latest hole moves quickly and fluidly. You simply just
have to watch some of the team paddlers moving this boat around a hole or wave
to realise how good the design really is.
With many competitors already out in the US practicing at NOC we really should see some incredible rides and some really amazing routines during the comp.
If you havent seen it yet, check out this video of Brandon and Bren training in Nottingham.
For more info on the world champs visit www.freestylekayaking2013.com
Thanks to Sal Montgomery for the photos and Bren and Brandon for the video.