New OC1 Freestyle Boat Rules & Specifications--proposed

[CraigS]

On January 21st 2005 in Penrith Australia the first meeting on Open Canoe regulations since 1996 took place. In attendance where Jeremey Blanchard and Gary Findlay from Australia, Stefan Paetsch, Tobias Huther and Markus Hibel from Germany, James Weir and Jamie Burbeck from Great Britan, Paul Danks and Marc Scriver from Canada, and Craig Smerda and Eli Helbert from the USA. We had several discussions about how an "open canoe" in regards to freestyle should be defined. We decided to meet three days later at the course, take measurements and set standardized regulations from the canoes that we where competeing in at this worlds. The boats that where measured where the Robson CUFly, the Esquif Salsa, and two modified Pyranha Spanishflys. At this second meeting we gained additional representitives Natalie Caulder from New Zealand and Jordi Domengo from Spain. One of the biggest discussions involved the possibility of using sealed bulkheads instead of airbags. We also considered the added cost of sealed bulkheads. We debated comfort and useage of foam in outfitting versus foam used simply to fill the boat for displacement purposes. The group could see where starting with sealed bulkheads could lead to boats being completely filled out. The groups main concern was that the boats shouldn't be viewed as big C1's or "kneel on tops". Most of the decisions where unanimous; the sealed bulkhead being the exception. As a group it was determined that we all enjoyed the challenges and techniques used when a canoe is dry and full of water. There was a great deal of discussion of how much water an Open Canoe should hold. Each competitors boat was measured with the airbags inflated and the paddler in his boat. The lowest amount of volume was around 37 liters and the highest being 68 liters. The group decided that the "box" (center of the boat where the paddle is) dimensions should be the key and what you do with the ends is open for experimentation. The proposed dimensions and rule clarifications being sent to the International Freestyle Committee are:

--One single boat is to be used for the entire competition
--All competitors must wear a bouancy aid (PFD) and helmet
--Competitors must be kneeling and using a single bladed paddle
--Boat must be able to hold 40 litres of water with the paddler kneeling in the boat
--The open depth of the boat must be at least 40cm for a length of 80cm
--The overall open surface area must be at least 3800cm
--Bouancy for the boat ends is to be inflateable (bulkheads not permitted)


It was also proposed that the IFC rules be changed to read:

--The competitor may re-enter the hole/wave as many times as they like during the 45 second time period. In features where it is helpful OC1 competitors may assist each other back up the eddy without penalty.

It was also proposed that if 75% of the OC1 class feels unsafe or unable to perform at a feature they may moveto a more suitable feature, preferably on the same river or as close as possible to the rest of the event. This possibility is to be avoided and used only as a last resort.


If you have any feedback or would care to have your input heard you can reply to this or email me at juskanuit@webtv.net and I will pass it along to the others for you.

Craig Smerda