This Is A Travasty!

[TheKrikkitWars]

I was just talking to a guy I know from the Irish Freestyle Committee who informed me that the OC1 comp being considered for being axed from the next worlds, in order to streamline the event for the benefit of the IOC (olymipics).

Now of course this is all hearsay at this point; especially as the dust has barely settled from Thun (Congratulations to Jeremy on his win!);


The thing that rattled me was that this was based on the critisisim that almost half the field flushed without throwing a recongnised move, and that even Jeremy's winning run was technically drab compared to the Closed Cockpit finals...

From my limited experience of trying to go big in the CU fly; and knowing some of the competitors, I'm willing to surmise that holding the event on such a small flushy feature killed any potential that the OC1 event has as a spectacle; having seen the footage of the '07 worlds event where someone scores a pan am (according to the commentry) and a lot of big aerials are thrown, I'm convinced that OC1 freestyle is a still viable dicipline.

Opinions please.

[RodeoClown]

Can't say I'm surprised. The problem with OC-1 isn't that you can't do the moves. The problem is that there's been a stagnation of design for nearly the past decade. The new rules allow for huge advances in design, and what should be possible in OC, but those haven't really come along on a large scale. So the "good paddlers" have given up OC-1 to focus on C-1. At the same time a lot of the recreational OC-1 paddlers have turned their backs on the discipline as well. The few remaining OC freestylers are passionate about keeping the sport alive, but many are trying to only that, or trying to push the sport in relatively ineffective ways. I don't think we can blame the wave too much in this case. In 2007, on Buseater, they had to do a tie breaker round to pick the 5th boater to take to finals, since there was a 5-way tie with zero points. I hate to sound critical or elitist about this, but if we want to keep the discipline alive, we need to do better.

My goals for this worlds were to win, and to show that there is still potential for OC-1 freestyle to advance. I did both largely through the design of my boat. I'm planning on writing down my design theories (including why you can't turn a kayak into a good OC-1 boat), but that'll have to wait a few days. Look at the results. Odei Arete finished 3rd in OC-1, and 5th in C-1. I was 14th in C-1. By all rights, he should have crushed me in OC-1, but he was paddling a design that's 8 years old, and I was paddling a boat that I designed not specifically for that wave, but to be able to do the modern moves. My next goal is to get the Blackfly into some sort of "large" scale production.

In terms of marketability and keeping in interesting- well, look at the Junior Women. Nouria DOMINATED- 400 points in finals. But the silver medalist came in with 50 points- which would have put her behind both Stephan and me. There's obviously the potential for the Junior women to all have 400 point rides, and there's also the potential to have 400 point rides in OC-1, but I'm not the guy to do it.

I also don't think the K-1 conversions are good for the marketability of the OC-1 class. I think it makes it too close (or at least too close looking) to the C-1 class, and therefore makes it redundant.

So how do we save the OC-1 class?
1) New OC-1 specific designs from the ground up that attract more, and better competitors- increased participation.

2) Increased participation in both competition and recreational use- get more exposure for freestyle OC-1. If I had a dollar for every time I heard someone say "I've never seen a boat like that," I could probably afford an aluminum mold for the Blackfly myself.

3) convince the Freestyle Committee of the ICF to give us "one more chance" in Platting in 2 years. Then get out there, train hard, and make sure that a lot of counties are represented, and we can put on a good show.

I'd hate to see the discipline die off, since I really do enjoy it, and I feel like there are aspects of it that make it more truely "freestyle" than other disciplines- such as it's a lot harder to actually plan a routine, and you have to go with the flow more. But the fact of the matter is that it is dying. We do still have a chance to do something about it.

Jeremy
2009 OC-1 Freestyle World Champion

[Winslett]

Caution, example of "recreational OC-1 paddler turning his back on the discipline."

Dying? Really? Didn't it have to be alive before it could die?

I'm biased against whitewater rodeo/freestyle anyhow. Here is my take: the most successful "extreme freestyle" events are skateboarding, snowboarding, motor-cross, and bmx. Majority of people watching these sports, yet not participating, realize the danger and training needed to not kill yourself. When someone flips a motorcycle upside down 50 feet in the air while flying 50 yards, I get it.

However, when someone flips a kayak 2 feet in the air, twitches like a fish, I don't get it. No doubt it's cool, and I can't do it. In the sports mentioned above, you land wrong from 50 feet and you break a body part. In whitewater freestyle, you land wrong from 2 feet into water and you get water in your nose. Largely, non-paddler observers don't know what is going on, and they don't care to learn.

The problem with OC-1 freestyle is not the OC-1; it's the freestyle. The event is subjective, and not beautiful to the casual observer; on the other hand, high diving is subjective, yet beautiful. Most folks want a clear cut winner--soccer has goals; swimming, track & field, and downhill skiing have distances and times. Watching freestyle paddling is like watching a 10 second loop for 3 minutes: loop, flip & roll, loop, flip & roll, loop, flip & roll up, flat spin, cartwheel, loop. Nothing separates it as competitive to the casual observer.

You run a 25 foot waterfall, and people get it. Non-kayaking observers understand Gorilla. If people want to see "air" in extreme sports, then give them air. Real air doesn't happen on a wave.

cw

[TheKrikkitWars]

Cool beans Jeremy; If you do start making the Blackfly in Composite or Plastic I'll be very much up for it. I'm looking at making a one-off boat myself; so I'd be extremely interested in reading your design theory.

I'm tempted to go to selection for the 2010 europeans in OC1; However I've not paddled the boat for nearly 6 months as I've been trying to better myself in C1 as an inroad to improving the OC1. I'm also aiming to get enough practice in to get to the '11 worlds; but I'm not in a great position to be doing that unfortunately; let alone rack up a 400 point score (hades Dave won C1 with around 470 points).

@ Winslett thats a bigger problem with freestyle; and is quite likely to be a result of the ICF's gradual attempts to alter the sport to freestyle into the olympics; despite it being a poor choice of olympic sport. IMO

[Craig Smerda]

Organized Rodeo is dead or imo continually dying on the national level here in the US... very much like slalom is. Sure there are some local competitions that do well and get a high level of participation but for the most part... it's fading away. Heck... even at the sucessful events the number of C1's and OC1's versus the number of kayaks is staggering in favor of the kayaks.

Is playboating dead though? I'd say it isn't. There will probably always be paddlers surfing waves or playing in hydraulics... there was long before freestyle events and there will most likely be people doing it long after Rodeo is gone.

The biggest stumbling block (especially but not specifically) to getting people to participate in the C1 and OC1 classes is that most paddlers don't actually enjoy "competing". Allow me to ask this? How many people competed for the OC1 or C1 slots at the US or Canadian team trials this year? In 2005 on the Black there were five of us in OC's and maybe a dozen in C1. In 2007 how many were there?

I playboat a lot more in a C1 than I do in an OC1 these days. A big part of it is the places we are going to play, the sheer size of the features and the moves that can be done. I still like to hop in an OC and mess around... but it isn't the same... similar yes... the same... no.

FWIW... this isn't the first time they have tried getting rid of the OC1 class. Jeremy is correct though... changes were made to the rules a few years ago to open the class up to newer designs and with the hope that bigger and more kayak friendly moves could be accomplished. So far the moves have gotten better... but not more impressive in the eye's of our kayak bretheren. Paul Danks had a great ride that year... but I don't think his point totals would have equaled well in any of the kayak or C1 classes... on Buseater there were some very cool moves... but the same thing... this year Jeremy had good rides again... here's the catch though... a very limited number of people had good rides in the OC class.

So where does it go from here? I really don't know. Will you see me traveling around the country and Canada competing against maybe one or two people if I'm lucky on the "rodeo circut"? Never again is the most likely answer. I haven't in several years... personally speaking I don't see the point in it anymore... my priorities have changed since those times. Are the odd's extremely good though that if there happens to be a good wave or a good hole on a river I'm running I'll be playing my heart out on it or in it... you can bet your a$$ I will be.

I sincerely applaud and thank Jeremy for all his efforts... his hard work and his dedication in the past few years and more importantly on his World Championship victory... and I'd also love to hop in the Blackfly at some point to give it a whirl as I think it's truly another step in the right direction forward for playboating in an open canoe... I'm also glad he took some of the rocker out.

Congratulations Mr. Laucks and thank you to everyone who represented OC's at this years Worlds... even the guy who took out this... http://www.jacksonkayak.com/articles/ar ... =200909061 (look a the first two pictures) Does that really help us advance our cause? What a shame...

The 2005 OC Freestyle National Champion... aka Captain Shuvit

(t.g. for the edit function... posting while working is tough)

[RodeoClown]

I'm not saying that 400 pts is what we have to do, I'm just saying it's possible. My best rides in OC-1 were about equal in points to my best rides in C-1. I'd imagine at some point there would be a divergence between the two, but I'd love to see some of the top C-1ers in a good, modern OC design.

I spent most of my time training for the 07 worlds by paddling C-1. It certainly makes learning the moves easier. This year I basically split time between C-1 and OC-1 leading up to worlds.

@Winslett, I wish I could say this was an argument I've heard before, but it's something I hear from a lot of kayakers as well. Whether or not it holds, it doesn't explain why there have been continued advances and development in freestyle kayaking, but not in freestyle OC. The last plastic Freestyle OC boat, the CU fly, was released for the World's in Graz in 2003. And if this argument does hold, it doesn't explain why the IOC is considering freestyle as an Olympic sport. (don't believe it? The IOC president was in Thun for the Worlds last week.) I don't think the ICF has done much to alter freestyle to make it into more of an Olympic sport. The changes I've seen over the past 5 years or so of competing have been the natural evolution of the sport. Whether or not you think it's a good fit for the Olympics, it would be nice for them to be able to use the multi-million dollar whitewater stadium build for slalom for more than one event at the Olympics.

[Craig Smerda]

Why don't they allow OC slalom at the Olympics?

Back of the bus kids...

[Dooleyoc-1]

if they did allow oc in the olympics Kaz would have more gold than ft knox!

[Dooleyoc-1]

Freestyle is headed the way of slalom. It's getting specialized.

No more regional or local comps. Only national and global. It will be a specialized olympic sport that not very many people outside of the specialized freestyle world will care about.

Probably not a smart move as a sport/industry. Being in the olympics is cool but it was way better for the sport (kayaks and canoes) when there were local rodeos everywhere and participation was up across the board.

I hope they don't kill OC. I would like to compete again at the next worlds if they don't ax it.

[RodeoClown]

even the guy who took out this... http://www.jacksonkayak.com/articles/ar ... =200909061 (look a the first two pictures) Does that really help us advance our cause? What a shame...

That was Vincent Dupont. He was planning on sharing a Salsa with James Weir, but the rules were changed after the last Worlds to not allow boat sharing in the same heat. Since he's sponsored by Esquif, he wanted to be in an Esquif boat, and the Presage was all he could come up with. He did almost manage a shuvit in the semifinals round.

Craig, you make some good points, but I do disagree with you on organized rodeo continually dying. I've spent the past 4 years or so on the "circuit," and have seen participation levels steady, or slowly increasing. It's certainly not what it was back around 2002, but I feel like there is growing momentum. This is true primarily for K-1.

Team trials- for 2007, we had 33 K-1 men, 8 K-1 Women, 18 K-1 JrM, 2 K-1 JrW, 10 C-1, and 1 OC-1. In 2009, it was 29 K-1 men (down 12%), 14 K-1W (up 75%), 14 K-1 JrM (down 23%), 6 K-1 JrW (up 300%), 4 C-1 (down 60%), and 2 OC-1 (up 200%). Overall numbers are 72 vs 69- down 4%. There are obviously other factors influencing turnout, rather than just the overall health of the sport- for example, the cost of going to the 2009 worlds was much higher than 2007, and the feature wasn't as spectacular.

[ezwater]

Regarding the "death" of rodeo or slalom, it is very hard to predict the death of a sport, and a sport is unlikely to die altogether if people like to do what is involved in it.

Competition rowing was in an immense surge of popularity a century ago, with immense crowds, massive betting, professional rowers, etc. For various reasons, it tailed back in popularity, so that by the time I got involved in college, in the 60s, it was a specialty sport of interest mainly to the rowers and to rowing alumni. Yet, because people like to row, and like to compete against one another, it has risen in popularity again, and this in spite of the fact that rowing is much more expensive than whitewater slalom, rodeo, etc.

So, I wouldn't get too confident about predicting the "death" of rodeo or slalom. Both seem to offer experience that is not otherwise available to whitewater paddlers.

[Craig Smerda]

Hey... where's all the OC1 and C1 Worlds pictures and video footage from practice, prelims, semi's and finals on your site Jeremy... or somewhere? Where's the media campaign man? Of course we all have our best rides in practice so that's why I tossed that out there.

[sit's patiently... taps his finger]

BTW... we're all still waiting to see some pictures of Jake Aments boat as well. I've heard about it... but apparently no photographic evidence of it exists? C'mon guys... give us something to peek at?

[Craig Smerda]

even the guy who took out this... http://www.jacksonkayak.com/articles/ar ... =200909061 (look a the first two pictures) Does that really help us advance our cause? What a shame...

That was Vincent Dupont. He was planning on sharing a Salsa with James Weir, but the rules were changed after the last Worlds to not allow boat sharing in the same heat. Since he's sponsored by Esquif, he wanted to be in an Esquif boat, and the Presage was all he could come up with. He did almost manage a shuvit in the semifinals round.

Craig, you make some good points, but I do disagree with you on organized rodeo continually dying. I've spent the past 4 years or so on the "circuit," and have seen participation levels steady, or slowly increasing. It's certainly not what it was back around 2002, but I feel like there is growing momentum. This is true primarily for K-1.

Team trials- for 2007, we had 33 K-1 men, 8 K-1 Women, 18 K-1 JrM, 2 K-1 JrW, 10 C-1, and 1 OC-1. In 2009, it was 29 K-1 men (down 12%), 14 K-1W (up 75%), 14 K-1 JrM (down 23%), 6 K-1 JrW (up 300%), 4 C-1 (down 60%), and 2 OC-1 (up 200%). Overall numbers are 72 vs 69- down 4%. There are obviously other factors influencing turnout, rather than just the overall health of the sport- for example, the cost of going to the 2009 worlds was much higher than 2007, and the feature wasn't as spectacular.

Who came up with that stupid rule? Boat sharing in the OC class is not only half the fun... it's TRADITION!!! Besides getting an OC on an airplane is a lot more hassle than a K1... that's for sure!!! It's really too bad as I'm fairly certain Vincent could have also had some good rides.

I guess we'll have to wait and see where it all goes... kinda sad... but not surprising. Like I said... we'll all keep playing regardless of what they want at their competitions. After they rid themselves of OC1 the C1 class will be next... mark my words.

[Craig Smerda]

Caution, example of "recreational OC-1 paddler turning his back on the discipline."

Dying? Really? Didn't it have to be alive before it could die?

I'm biased against whitewater rodeo/freestyle anyhow. Here is my take: the most successful "extreme freestyle" events are skateboarding, snowboarding, motor-cross, and bmx. Majority of people watching these sports, yet not participating, realize the danger and training needed to not kill yourself. When someone flips a motorcycle upside down 50 feet in the air while flying 50 yards, I get it.

However, when someone flips a kayak 2 feet in the air, twitches like a fish, I don't get it. No doubt it's cool, and I can't do it. In the sports mentioned above, you land wrong from 50 feet and you break a body part. In whitewater freestyle, you land wrong from 2 feet into water and you get water in your nose. Largely, non-paddler observers don't know what is going on, and they don't care to learn.

The problem with OC-1 freestyle is not the OC-1; it's the freestyle. The event is subjective, and not beautiful to the casual observer; on the other hand, high diving is subjective, yet beautiful. Most folks want a clear cut winner--soccer has goals; swimming, track & field, and downhill skiing have distances and times. Watching freestyle paddling is like watching a 10 second loop for 3 minutes: loop, flip & roll, loop, flip & roll, loop, flip & roll up, flat spin, cartwheel, loop. Nothing separates it as competitive to the casual observer.

You run a 25 foot waterfall, and people get it. Non-kayaking observers understand Gorilla. If people want to see "air" in extreme sports, then give them air. Real air doesn't happen on a wave.

cw

said the guy paddling a "rodeo canoe" in his avatar

[Dooleyoc-1]

Yeah, where are the pics and vid of jake's boat? I posted on his facebook wall asking him to see it but no response. I'd love to see what it looks like and hear about how it performed.