SUP Mag UK lo-res free to readers April 2014 lo-res free to read | Page 14

Hurley Weir
The famous Hurly Weir is an amazing
wave on the Thames near Henley – it’s
renowned as the best kayak freestyle
wave in Europe. Anything from 30-60
cubic meters per second of water, surging
through concrete gates, makes for the
perfect nonstop wave.
Hurley Weir has a huge amount of water
moving around, with powerful currents
and big boils. The shape of the Red
Paddle SUP struggled to cross the eddy
line and get me onto the wave when I
first tried. Minimal success, after the first
attempt, although I did get one short
ride, which was enough to inspire me to
take things a bit further.

Better equipped
After a bit more research I found Badfish
SUP – boards designed purely for white
water and river surfing. I managed to get
my hands on one of only two in the
country – a Badfish Mountain Valley
Paddleboard MVP. The Badfish MVP is
shaped more like a kayak and has
loads of volume and amazing secondary
stability. This means: the more you lean
or edge over, the more stable it gets.

I tried it out on my local wave and it was
great, but I still really wanted to conquer
Hurley Weir!

Back to Hurley
It wasn’t long after, I made the drive to
Hurley again. It was the first time the
weir had been an option because of low
water levels. That meant all the kayakers
were there getting their freestyle fix. The
first time I was at Hurley on the Red
Paddle 10.6ft we had it to ourselves, so
all the extra paddlers added pressure. I
had to make a success of it as there were
about 30 folk watching!
I needn’t have worried because the Badfish
MVP paddled like a dream. It crossed over
the eddy line and instantly I was charging
60 tonnes of water per second. I stayed
in place for about five minutes; no hard
turns just gentle trimming and feeling my
way around the wave. Success! I’d got
Hurley Weir truly nailed!
(I have since used my MVP on some
graded rivers – the Tryweryn in North
Wales, the Washburn in Yorkshire and
the Dart in Devon).

HURLEY WEIR
PHOTO BY ANTONY EDMONDS
(HTTP://AEPHOTOS.CO.UK)

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