ThePADDLER 136
Chris Hobson , Northern Ireland
Phil Watson , England
Surf kayaking is surfing sitting down , and while it is not a mainstream sport , you will often find kayakers testing their skills in the water alongside board surfers at any beach around the UK where waves are ridden . While surf kayaking can be easier to begin than learning to stand on a surfboard ( because you can remain seated as you ride your first waves !), the skills required to conduct the most radical moves can be more complex , and the beatings more severe when things go wrong .
MORE DIFFICULT This is because , unlike board surfers , it is harder for a rider to redistribute their weight while sitting and attached , and it is also much more difficult to duckdive a buoyant kayak under large breaking waves . The skills required to generate speed on a wave , execute radical changes of direction , and navigate a path to the outside waves in large surf are challenging and require large amounts of skill and judgement .
At the World Championship level , contests are regularly held in surf conditions with faces in excess of ten feet where being in the wrong place can have serious consequences for the rider , craft , and equipment . Also , at this level , progression to the later rounds requires mastery of advanced skills such as the execution and completion of aerials where the rider and craft launch high into the air above the crashing lip and regain the wave with a clean landing .
The equipment is also highly specialised , with riders strapped into craft weighing under 7kg made from stiff , high-performance materials such as carbon and hull templates closely resembling surfboards with fins and channels designed to generate maximum speed and release into super radical manoeuvres .
Finally , unlike consistent standing river waves , almost every ocean wave is different , which means that careful wave selection is often crucial . The ability to read the dynamic conditions emerging on any ride can make the difference between success and failure .
WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS 2022 In the autumn of 2022 , we will be bringing the party to north Cornwall in the southwest of England . Bude Canoe Club will host the first World Championships ever to be held in England – although the English have been crowned World Champions on five previous occasions . The contest was originally planned for 2021 , but due to the pandemic will now take place over ten
Tamsin Green , England