Kayak racing made its first appearance as a full-medal sport in the 1936 Olympics in Berlin in the form of 500- and 1000-metre flatwater sprint races. Single flatwater kayaks (K1s) are up to five metres long and weigh only 12 kilograms. It can take up to two years to become totally comfortable paddling one of these boats, which are so narrow that a novice would be hard pressed to take even a single stroke before tipping over.


Other kinds of competitive kayaking


include marathon racing using lightweight kayaks that can be easily portaged, or ocean racing using sit-on-top surf skis, vessels of Polynesian origin that are the choice of Australian lifeguards.These high-perform- ance kayaks are, like Olympic kayaks, designed more for speed than for recre- ational paddling.With boats that are so spe- cialized and difficult to paddle, kayak racing didn’t stand much chance of becoming pop- ular until about 15 years ago when sea kayaking took off in Canada. In sea kayak racing, competitive boating


merges with the world of the recreational paddler. Even so, typical early sea kayak races failed to attract a critical mass of pad- dlers. Bob Vlug, owner of the New Brunswick kayak store Eastern Outdoors,


above: It is hard to get a large lead in ocean kayak racing. Racers follow each other looking for that bit of draft to help give them an edge.


right: How ‘bout some style points? Theme events, like this ‘70s race, are very popular, reminders that winning isn’t everything.


opposite: The popularity of ocean kayak racing has grown immensely over the past five years. In the 90s, 20–30 folks would show up to weekly races on the West Coast. Now participation is in the hundreds.


28 Spring 2003


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35  |  Page 36  |  Page 37  |  Page 38  |  Page 39  |  Page 40  |  Page 41  |  Page 42  |  Page 43  |  Page 44  |  Page 45  |  Page 46  |  Page 47  |  Page 48  |  Page 49  |  Page 50  |  Page 51  |  Page 52