I agree! I was worried that I might come across as trolling with my second post, but I feel like we've gotten some really good info out of this thread, and it's certainly something I am interested in trying.
So Kelvin and I are goin' head to head in taureaus at the tellico race... sweet.
Hey Paul, I wish I could be there!
I know what you are saying about slower boats, and the Taureau is the slowest of them all. (With the exception of OC1 playboats.)
Zooms/Preludes etc can be paddled more like canoes and Taureaus/Flys like C1s.
As you can see from this video, I'm in the Taureau (http://vimeo.com/15197013) I am a HUGE fan of driving the boat forwards. I don't think that there is any stern correction in there, with the exception of the little wave. I am just saying that the 2x4 concept is part of a bigger picture. And that sometimes needs to be explained.
whew, that was close, thought i might actually have to put my paddle where my mouth is and race kelvin. I agree everything has it's place.
Everyone should get out and do some slalom, it is a great way to improve your paddling, especially creeking. Yup a paddlepointer is in the works on that too
by the way, for a figure eight move say on flatwater or between eddies their is no ruddering... at least when andrew does it.
ain't louiefest discussions gonna be fun...hope we have time to paddle...
I'm not the strongest paddler but I have had the good fortune to get some instruction from Tom Foster and from Andrew Westwood.
Both were teaching us to use the forward and cross forward as much as possible.
Andrew's 2x4 really helped me build on the strokes I'd learned from Tom.
IMO if I was teaching a talented, athletic beginner I'd be inclined to go right to those techniques. If my beginner was struggling with that I'd fall back on J's and pry's and try to work up to 2 x 4.
try thinking of it the other way around. anyone can do some semblance of a forward stroke and flay away at an offside stroke. causing the boat to move forward. it takes skill and practice to do a pry without dragging the canoe to a halt.
paul
just when ya think ya know something... after exactly 100 yds of creeking at ALF, I was ready to eat my words about not needing a rudder
First time in a L'Edge on a creek and I was ruddering everywhere... good thing Kelvin was't around.
after some discussion amongst us hard core 2x4 proponents, we agreed that a displacement hull like the L'edge, requires some (well...maybe more than some) ruddering to make it behave on a creek. I suppose partly due to it being more awkward to correct offside, being heavier and slower to respond, and needing to be really sure it was going to be on target to avoid nasties.
Now when it comes to paddling fast ie: for slalom, 2 by 4 rules and ruddering is just fixing a mistake
Paul
ps. watch for an ALF re-cap video coming online soon.
