newbie slalom canoe wannabe (yikes!)

Emily · Post by **Emily** » Mon Oct 11, 2010 4:31 pm

So, been paddling an Ocoee for a little shy of a year now and would like to, er, expand my repertoire and the slalom canoe world intrigues me quite a bit. Wondering if anyone in the PA/WV/MD area has any boats they'd sell for cheap/loan to a passionate paddler or offer any advice to someone interesting in entering the sport?

Thanks for you advice! Email endeardorff@gmail.com

E.

coloradopaddler · Post by **coloradopaddler** » Mon Oct 11, 2010 4:36 pm

i bet your occoee is faster than my ovation at slalom. if you can't find a better boat just use that one. i was two seconds slower than a race boat in my last slalom race. there is video in the video section, put up by cadster.

Post by **PAC** » Mon Oct 11, 2010 5:36 pm

OC1 & / or C1? I have a full cut Acrobat (squirt boat design that I used racing - its a full cut) that might work for you - particularly if you are smaller in size. Just let me know.
Others might have some full on race C1s local to the area you noted. Bellfonte is this weekend I think (near Penn State) and you might have luck there! Show up and ask around. Folks there are pretty nice about letting folks test out there crafts and its a good technical race corse and not too pushy.
http://www.tusseymountainoutfitters.com ... orm_10.pdf
Racing OC1s seem to be harder to track down but they do show up. Good luck and have fun!

Lengthy · Post by **Lengthy** » Tue Oct 12, 2010 1:50 am

Emily, Pac is correct about Tussey Mountain Outfitters. You should give a call to Ed at TMO(814-355-5690). He usually has a slalom boat or two at the shop and he has a slalom course set up in the creek next to his shop. He's very cool, he'll help you out the best he can.
I would hang on to that ocoee too, It will allow you to progress in whitewater faster.

philcanoe · Post by **philcanoe** » Tue Oct 12, 2010 1:19 pm

ditto on holding onto that Ocoee...

Many OC1 slalom races have multiple classes, so that as long as you can make the scheduled order of events, you can likely race in more than one class. Just think you'll get twice as good - way quicker.