looking for wildwater c-1 skirt

[JFD]

Anyone have a good condition, large tunnel skirt to fit a recent model wildwater C-1? Can't remember the name of the boat that I have (I think it's a Tip-top, or maybe a No-name, or a Bala, it doesn't have any identifying marks on it). The cockpit is fairly large (larger than the standard slalom cockpit) and comes to a point in the front. Hoping to avoid ordering a new skirt if possible. I'll pay shipping to WV. Thanks,
Jay

[edg]

Jay- You've got a Tiptop. Any stretchy standard slalom skirt should work. The key is a bungee-type rand. I've used the standard Rapidstyle c-1 slalom, and an old prototype Seals c-1 slalom and they fit fine. (I'd send one along, but except for my race skirt, mine are more hole, patch and glue than skirt

[bearboater]

gala skirts work well(just the single layer ones, the doubles are way thick., they work better than Sandi skirts. I haven't put a peak skirt on a dr boat...
cheers
-isaac
www.galasportusa.com

[JFD]

Hey Ed and Isaac, thanks for the advice. I've been using an old kayak skirt for it that fits the cockpit well, but the tunnel is too tight to fit over my winter gear. My slalom skirt hasn't been able to fit it. I'm hoping someone out there has one so I don't have to order a brand new one.
The boat has worked out great, it's fun for flatwater training and I'm starting into more class 3 with it. I should have it out on Cheat Canyon sometime soon, but not sure if I'll ever have the guts to go for the upper Yough in this thing. I can turn left real well, but it's scary as hades when I have have to make an unexpected right turn. (It's too bad the wildwater courses are not built like NASCAR tracks.) I'm still misjudging how much boat is behind me and tend to bang the stern on rocks every now and then, but it's holding up well. Thanks again,
Jay

[CosmikDebris]

Jay,
Let me know if you are going to get a new slalom boat, I may be interested in the spring when I get back from the South...The Meadow was fun, we met up with Bryan Kirk and Bryan Jennings and bombed down it at warpspeed...definatly a hair raising adventure. We thought the Gauley was going to be 10g but it turned out to only be about 5. Fun trip...
Take care,
will

[bearboater]

Jay, good luck finding something. i would have sold you my gala skirt, but it comes with the boat i had for sale... also, ask doug ritchie DR coach for the US. or something, I forget his title, but he may have a line on a cheap one for you.

Will, I just ordered a new C1... if you were planning on ordering in the spring, I wouldn't it will take way longer than it should, and the craftsmanship is generally worse. order in fall, or now...

cheers
-isaac

[CosmikDebris]

Isaac, I'm not planning on ordering a new boat, if I was it would have to be a squirtboat...I'm on the used boat train and have never paddled a slalom boat so it would be hard to justify buying a new one, plus I'm going to south america for the winter and don't have the money for it now. If you still have your boat for sale in the spring, I may be interested...
wil

[bearboater]

where in south america? I just returned from Chile, and I think I will be living/training there next winter...
cheers
-isaac

[edg]

Jay- Not skirt related, but turning related. Since it took years for anyone to tell me this, I'll spill what beans I know. You may have figured this out- but here goes. As you've discovered, ww c-1's are a beast to turn towards the on-side. There are two basic techniques (leaving aside switching). First is the J-stroke. I don't think the Tiptop responds especially well to this at my weight (160-165 lbs) and probably less so at yours. It helps to try to get the blade back by the wing. The second is where ww c-1 can get fascinating or obsessive. You are basically constantly focused on looking for micro features to help turn the boat. Even a 6 inch wave is pefect. What I try to do is to spot some feature ahead where I will need to turn. Just as the bow begins to ride up the wave, I (as a righty) push my left knee down and weight my left hip. Then I do a very oblique stroke, reaching under the boat. I picture tring to do a left sweep UNDER the boat. I also picture trying to slap the face of the wave with the left side of the bow. The challenge is trying to commit to this scary offside lean in whitewater. Good luck...edg

[JFD]

Ed,
thanks for the tips. turning that boat is a completely different process than anything I've ever paddled. I've been able to make some J-stroke onside turns when I'm at the crest of a decent size wave, but in smaller waves have to go back to the offside stroke. I think your advice about the deep sweep under the boat and timing it with a wave crest is right on the mark. And my left arm is worthless after 32 years of being totally right-handed, so switching sides hasn't worked so well. It's fun learning how to move this thing around.
jay

[edg]

Jay- Because coaching is so scarce (and take what I say with a grain of salt, I've never really had any) , figuring these boats out is pretty challenging. You start out paddling, and you develop whitewater techniques - a powerful cross-stroke, compound strokes, elegant feathering... Then you get in a ww c-1, which is unstable and won't turn, and you're supposed to drive it through whitewater with forward strokes and leans, and anything else either won't work or is a time error. One thing I didn't convey is that turns or corrections to the on-side are often a sharp "twitch" of the boat to the off-side. Thsi is my current favorite link:

http://fr.youtube.com/watch?v=Tt7sZ5hczvg

From about 1:30 on its shows French c-1's and C-2 on the flat and in whitewater. It's a bit hard to see, but in the whitewater they really twitch the boat under them to keep it on line. ...edg