Wash Rider Blog — k2
ICF Marathon Classic Series: Descenso Internacional Sella (Spain) 6
This race is absolutely mad. If you ever get the chance, do it. Doesn’t matter if you paddle surfski, K1, canoe. Just do it. This race is a real experience to say the least and as such one that is hard to put into words. The Sella Descent is the biggest race of the Spanish river series and one of the largest kayak races in all of Europe in terms of paddlers, boats and definitely spectators. In this blog we’ll try and give you a sense of what makes the Sella so special and hopefully tempt you into racing it yourself.
ICF Marathon Classic Series: Tour de Gudenaa Marathon (Denmark) 0
Being an amateur paddler is great fun. Like many amateur paddlers I like to get my value out of a race. Some amateur paddlers like to quantify that race value with a positive $/km ratio on race entries, a mate of ours explained when answering why he prefers ultramarathon canoe races over sprints. Applying this logic, the Danish ultra-marathon race the Tour de Gudena delivers excellent value!
ICF Marathon Classic Series: Liffey Descent (Ireland) 3
Using the words of a numerous Liffey paddlers "That's the Liffey!” and what a race it is. With the 2021 edition of the race coming up I thought I’d retrieve the old 2014 GoPro footage of my first attempt on this race and re-watch this superb ICF Marathon Classic Series event. For those unfamiliar, it is a race where the luck of the Irish can help greatly.
Was this the fastest Olympic sprint canoeing ever? 0
Was this the fastest Olympic sprint canoe ever? Now that the boat wash has settled on the regatta course only 3 Olympic Best (OB) times remain of the existing 9 Olympic events. In this blog we’d like to highlight some of the amazing performances of the fastest paddlers setting Olympic Best times in the Tokyo 2020 Olympics.
Portage handles will make you portage like a pro 0
A guide for marathon kayak paddlers to install your own portage handles ready for your next race.
The best way to portage is to portage cleanly. This requires control of your kayak when taking it out of the water, running with it through the portage and placing it into the water at the end of the portage. A clean portage will be a fast portage so to remove the risk of your cockpit edge slipping out of your hand or losing control while excess water moves inside of your kayak during the portage many of the top kayak marathon athletes upgrade their K1’s and K2’s with portage handles. This gives your hand a complete grip to control the kayak and allow you to easily carry the kayak through the portage like a suitcase. The Wash Rider portage handles are also made with an aluminium insert making them stiff to allow you to steer the kayak where you need it when weaving through the pack in a hectic portage.
- Kieran Babich
- Tags: ICF canoe marathon k1 k2 kajak kayak marathon maraton Photos by Carolyn Cooper piraguismo portage racing training
How to install a K1 racing kayak foot pump 0
An essential part of any marathon or river race is a kayak foot pump to keep dry and fast while not sinking through the rapids or water from other paddlers splashing into your cockpit. The hubby style foot pump is a very common style which was first invented by the South African paddler Hubby Sandberg in the 1990's. To complete the installation of a K1 foot pump you can either watch the video on the blog or the written instructions.
- Kieran Babich
- Tags: archicador DIY foot foot pump how to hubby k1 k2 kajak kayak marathon kayaking maraton pump pumpa south africa