SOPAC SOMER FEST

There is a play spot in Sopotnica, which is very different to others. This one is probably the only one of its kind because it is all mechanical.

Few years ago the Spindler Family realized they needed a spot for training so the only chance was to build one. I am not going to tell you the history but still it is an awesome story how they managed to build that monster machine for making a nice training spot in the middle of some kind of pool.

Because I had to teach a kayak lesson and we would have liked to take part in two festivals, however, we decided to go for this competition instead of the one in Prague.

We went there from Wednesday onwards because our white water course was closed (still is) for the upcoming slalom worlds.

I need to say, that the organizers were very friendly and tried to make the best of this event. Party every evening, good mood - just awesome.

Paddling the hole was quite difficult because it was a bit flashy. During the competition we did well, in the qualification Nina ended up on place 1 and I won the qualification as well. In the evening there was also a big ramp and a slope-style contest and after that there was an extreme swimming contest to the hole upstream, where the winner won a composite boat!

Feel free to check out the video by Jan Spindler.

On the next day after a nice party the finals took place. Nina had some troubles with sticking some moves so she ended up on a good 2nd place. I won the men’s category because my second best ride was scored better than the one from Jan Spindler and Bartosz Czauderna from Poland made it on the 3rd place. In the C1 category local ambassador and current European Champion Lukas Cervinka won the title.

We had a really nice weekend and we are now ready to roll for some more.


See you,

Peter






Many thanks Jan Spindler for the pictures and the small video of the event.

ARF cup Cunovo

English version

Program:

Friday 23.9.2011

free trainings in afternoon from 4 pm (maybe also sooner ) for paddlers registered over Facebook or registracia@kayak.sk

registration possible till 19pm

Saturday 24.9.

7.30 registration
8.30 Fun Slalom competition ( entry if you don't want to compete in other competition will be 6 eur )
11.00 Freestyle quali + semi / free paddling!
20.00 Awesome party organized by Paddler for also non kayakers with band “Con Spirito”

Sunday, 25.9.2011
8.30 Kayak Cross + Freestyle finals
14.00 price giving
free whitewater course paddling till 19.00

Entry fee:
15 EUR – ARFC Freestyle, Fun, Cross, Party and camping
6 EUR – Fun, Cross, Party and camping
Party 0 EUR
Paddling on the course will be possible just with bib number , deposit for number will be 10 eur.

Party with action for free!

More info at

http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=126214564112496

Slovakian version

Predbežný program s orientačnými časmi:

Piatok, 23.9.2011
8.00 voľné tréningu už od rána pre tých, čo sa zaregistrujú včas cez facebook alebo na registrácia@kayak.sk
15.00 registrácia a voľné tréningy.
19.00 prerušenie registrácie a koniec tréningov

Sobota, 24.9.2011
7.30 registrácia
8.30 Fun Slalom pretek
11.00 Freestyle kvalifikácie a semifinále, možné voľné jazdenie na kanáli!!!
20.00 Párty pre priateľov a kajakárov s koncertom “Con Spirito”

Nedeľa, 25.9.2011
8.30 Kayak Cross pretek a Freestyle finále
14.00 vyhlásenie výsledkov
voľné jazdenie možné až do 19.00

Štartovné:
15 EUR – ARFC Freestyle, Fun, Cross, Party and camping
6 EUR – Fun, Cross, Party and camping
Party 0 EUR
Jazdenie na kanáli bude možné iba so štartovým číslom, ktoré dostanete pri registrácii. Záloha za štartovné číslo je 10 EUR.

Párty s akciami a nápojmi zdarma!

Viac info pripravujeme.

Pozri http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=126214564112496

DEVILS EXTREME RACE – LIPNO

The region around Lipno’s dam is well known as a Czech holiday destination. It offers plenty of activities such as biking, swimming, hiking, canoeing and it is close to the Austrian border so you can go whitewater rafting or canoeing to the Inn River. But not so many people know that Lipno is the best Czech whitewater river. The dam is holding the water so most of the year this river is dry. Once a year when it’s possible to kayak the dam releases water. It is the biggest Czech whitewater festival and you can meet there everyone who has a raft, kayak or canoe at home. You can just relax and enjoy the river or you can take part in events like whitewater slalom, rafting or extreme kayaking.

Peter and me participated in the Devils Extreme Race this year. My first time on this awesome river was last year and I was really looking forward to kayaking there again.

It was as good as I remembered it from 2010. We ran it a few times on Friday. Saturday we spent the day at the race course. There we met our team mates and friends, Sam Sutton and Markus Hummel. It was quite a big and international event so you could meet many excellent paddlers from all around the world. The race started from the ramp and the course was segmented the following way: 500m for slalom and kayak cross, 1000m for sprint and 5000m for team race.

Girls only had to paddle 500m so it was much easier for us than for men. This competition is not like the others, there are many kayakers all the way down so you need to paddle between them. It happens sometimes that they paddle into you or you can’t get into the eddy, where the banner is to touch because it is full of paddlers.

This can sometimes drive you crazy, especially when you lose your leading position because of this, but on the other hand this is what it’s all about.

The river flows just 3 days a year so everyone wants to be there and enjoy this awesome river so you can’t be angry about it. You can feel the good vibrations from the smiling paddlers and it makes you happy, too. So it doesn’t matter whether you succeed in the race or you miss the gates, you are smiling anyway.

Sunday was the last day. Peter had a team race with two other Slovakian guys. It took about 12 minutes to paddle the whole course that went through the rapid “Bloody Hands”, which we used for portage. It is not very difficult but it is so narrow that if you can’t follow the proper line you’ll injure your hands very easily.

I think our Slovakian Team ended up just 4 seconds behind the New Zealand Team that finished as 3rd.

This was like a warm up before the adidas Sickline Extreme Kayak World Championship, which we are really looking forward to.

Check out the video by Peter Kaspar.

So see you,

Nina