C-Forum

Well I went to the lake last night and tried learning backdeck rolls a la Kent Ford 'C-challenge' style. After 3-4 tries I had it down pretty solid. I just fell over towards my offside stern onto the paddle and then rotated underwater into a lowbrace while sweeping forward. Its just as simple as that. I must say it is a fast roll and all one continuous motion. The first few trys were especially interesting because I came up in sort of an inverted stern squirt (I'm paddling a c-force) and I sensed some potential there for some sort of party trick in the future.

What I could not figure out was how to apply this roll into a 'real-life' application. I couldn't figure out how to get the backdeck roll to work from say a failed stern squirt or cartwheel. When I tried I just ended up flailing around underwater until I gave up and went to my normal rolling position.

Is there some sort of underwater set up for the roll that I am missing because other than purposely falling toward my offside stern there was no magic happening last night?

Thanks, Dave

works great (with some practice) when you starting flipping on your off side. Keep trying it, soon you would find that as you accidently flip to the off side (catch an edge, whatever), you'll throw yourself back for the backdeck roll. Also works pretty smoothly with over vertical cartwheels for recovery.

Gotta agree, once I am fully up side down with no rolling momemtum, I will often switch back to the regular roll.

I've found that, unlike kayaks, the back deck roll is a remarkably fast, efficient, and relatively safe roll while playboating. The main reason why the back deck roll is "safer" in a c-boat is that the intial body position is exactly the same as a normal low brace roll, simpry with a differnt body/boat relationship. My normal manner for executing a backdeck roll while engaged in such frivolous pursuits is, first, to recognize that I am going over, and to immediately transition into a backdeck sequence. If you'd like to try practicing a backdeck roll with no momentum, give this a shot: flip tp your offside on your stern, but don't roll immediately. Wait for your body to start floating to the surface. At that point you are already in a low brace. Your body is facing down and your arms are in a low brace position. The only difference here between your normal roll and your sparkly new backdeck roll is your position in relation to your boat. So feel for this postion; don't go too fast. At this point all you need do is rotate to the side and engage your hipsnap. I've found that slowing down and feeling for the position of your body, paddle and boat is essential for perfect, clean, bombproof rolls. Hope this helps.
One Love,
Chris

I went back to the lake last night and worked on the back deck roll some more. I was able to slow it down and figure out the 'real deal' so to speak. I can't say I got a truely 0 momentum back deck roll (maybe 1 of 20 tried) but I think it was a start. I was not able to work on transitioning to the back deck from cartwheels or stern squirts. The water was very choppy and made it hard to initiate anything. I'd did get to work on wave wheels though. Timing is everything.

Mine is very quick, I can do it faster than any kayaker's roll, and as fast as the best c1ers around here. I use it ALL the time when playboating, since I have a great on side brace, so I only roll offside. IN hellhole the other day I raced over to the left (my onside) wall, bounced off of it and flipped to my offside. With the air from the bounce some people watching said it looked just like a donkey flip...
Tim

Hey jdschall. This is Chris who suggested slowin' down your roll when practicin' that backdeck roll. I just saw that you're from Chapel Hill. I'm from Durham, originally, though I'm at school up here in TN right now. I don't know many boaters down in the piedmont, so I was thinkin' that if the Haw or the Little is runnin' next time I come home maybe we'd be able to hook-up and do some boatin'. I'm usually amped to go when I'm home, but I got no one to go with. I guess you read this board pretty often, so if I'm home maybe I'll leave you a post or somethin'.
One Love,
Chris

Chris,

Thanks for the tip... Yeah anytime you're around look me up. The Little is one of my favorite runs and I live 10 minutes from the Haw. Where are you in TN? Funny - I grew up in Knoxville and my parents live on the Plateau now. When I go home I almost never have any one to boat with either. Maybe I'll look you up next time I'm home.

Dave