C-Forum

Tonight I had my 3rd real pool session in my converted XXX. Belive it or not I have a pretty bombproof roll (in a pool that is) I hit it on the first try about 99% of the time. My problem comes with cartwheeling and stalling, I can double pump and get vertical no problem but cant switch to my stern, any pointers on how to keep it going? I've got a 3 second stall untill I fall over, how do you guys do it? I can't wait untill we thaw out up here in the Adk's so I have a chance to get in some moving water.
Twiggy

I can't figure out how to get from bow to stern station either . From the stern station it's a push stroke to go to the bow. I can stern-squirt & go from stern to bow, but can't get that 3rd end.

I keep watching 'Metal Flakes'. There is one C-1'er in the whole thing . He's doing cartwheels in a real long boat . Even though he's a lefty & I'm a righty I keep watching.

To me, it looks like you need to learn to clean the stern station as there is no stroke to get you there. I may be WAY off base here, but that is the way the guy on the video (he looks like Barry Kennon) makes it look.

I've quit working on cartwheels till the air & water temps get back up. Yeah, yeah, I know I'm a wimp compared to the folks up North . I did have ice in my eyelashes & icecicles on my helmet Sunday afternoon .

Mike W.

Here's some tips that worked for me...

I initiate with a bow smash, back sweep with my paddle, edge the boat hard to my onside and really really commit to getting it down.

Imagine doing a flatspin on a wave. you lead with your head, your shoulders and torso follow, and then the boat comes around.

It's almost identical to cartwheel. I'm a lefty, so i twist my head and shoulders left, to look at my stern, and the boat starts to rotate. I finish my backsweep as the boat starts to cartwheel, and crank my body around, throwing the stern clean. then as the stern is finish, and the bow is coming around, i plant another backsweep.

Edge control is very important, just like in a flat spin, you switch edges as you spin around. I'm edging to my onside when the bow is going down, and offside when the stern is going down. It'll take practise to figure out how much edge you need. too much and you'll go over vertical and fall on your face, too little, and the bow/stern won't dive enough and you'll lose all your momentum, sputtering out and going flat.

Judd

Thanks for your explanation Judd (I have the same problem as Twiggy and Mike W, I just can't get the stern around).
However I have a hard time to visualize exactly what I have to do.
Does anyone have a video or knows a link to one that shows a C1 flatwater cartwheel (a righty would suit me best ).

Thanks!

martin

Here's a couple more tips that helped me (these all came from kalin btw)

It sounds like you can purposely get into a bow stall in your boat... it is possible to start wheeling from a bow stall, but it's going to be harder since you have less balance and less momentum in that position. start your cartwheel the same way you'd initiate your bow stall, but do it more powerfully, so you have more momentum. When you smash the bow down, you have to do it hard enough to take the all the way down and around.

You are throwing the stern clean, and you need lots of torque with your body to do this. Don't wait for the bow to complete it's part of the rotation. As soon as it starts it's rotation (going down), you need to turn your body (remember lead with the head and shoulders) to your onside. If you wait until you are certain the bow is going to go all the way around, your body can't get in position to throw the stern around, and the boat will flatten out or you'll fall over on your face.

When I'm cartwheeling, I slightly transfer my weight back and forwards to help the bow and stern go down. I have a pretty little boat for my weight, you might need to exaggerate this weight transfer to get the bow/stern to dive for you.

It's also way easier to throw low angle cartwheels. Perfectly vertical ones may look awesome, but it's easy to fall over on your head that way. I find something around 45-60 degrees is easiest.

Judd

...there was a video on cboater.com

you can also initiate by a cross deck draw. Give hard edge to your offside and you'll go vertical. This also works to get into a bow stall.

One your bow is going down, you rotate you body to the off side again, which throws your stern down. I think this is an offside cartwheel. (stern onside edge smashes into the water first)

Onside, I do it with the double pump. The key is, as Judd said TO ALWAYS BE AHEAD OF YOUR BOAT. Otherwise, the cartwheel kind of fades out.
So, double pump, then rotate onside shoulder to stern and look at the stern. That smashes the offside stern edge into the water first. Once you face the stars, rotate your onside shoulder to the stern again. Imagine to place the paddel behind you, flat on the waters surface (which needs quite agressive rotation).

The most important thing, from my experience, is the edge transition. This is best learned by the excercise Judd talked about. Sit in the boat, start rotating your onside shoulder to the stern and give an offside edge. Then rotate your onside shoulder to the bow and give an onside edge. A slight weightshift foreward and backward helps. When you do that the right way, you can easily handcartwheel your boat.

Some boats need to be rocked to initiate the ends to dive...
My Delirious cartwheels by itself, no paddle needed (sometimes, in drops, it seems even no paddler is needed...)

To work on the bow stall, I find it very useful to handpaddle first. this way, it is easier to not fall over to the off side (since you have two hands to balance on each side---I KNOW this is not strictly C1 since I use 2 hands )

Chris Joose has a cool article on Cartwheels on his page.

Hope that helps a bit, Jan