[I'm aware that this misses out many subtleties, and possibly minor players who deserve some credit, but it's still a pretty big wall of text so forgive me]
To tell a story:
OC1 is a tiny sport, so when the short boat revolution started, and there were new boats left right and center in kayaking, there was but one innovator in canoeing Frankie Hubbard (also designed some kayaks for robson i believe); he died shortly after releasing the CU fly which was the first (and for a long time only) OC1 playboat which could even dream of keeping up with the kayaks...
With his death, the decked disciplines quickly got away from OC1 as the playspots and moves became optimised for shorter and shorter boats and we stayed with the same 7 foot boat-come-chinese pagoda...
and the previously vibrant class stagnated and shrunk until it was just a handful of people; that state of affairs continued for about 5 years.
Enter Jeremy's Blackfly* which has opened up the dying sport to a new generation, and has the potential to bring back the legitimacy you feel is so lacking given the time for the innovation to spread, and the paddlers to pick back up the challege of trying to go bigger than ever before in a boat with a hole in it.
*IIRC Jeremy scored highly enough in his OC1 runs at the 2009 worlds, that he could have scraped into the c1 final...
Joshua Kelly - "More George Smiley than James Bond"
CBoats Moderator - Not necessarily representing the CBoats staff though...(I'll use words like "moderator", "We" and "CBoats" to make it clear when I am)
because I did a wicked jet ferry above the wave, threw in a duffek stroke, dropped in for a front surf (with paddle spin), did a mystery move before, carp, carp, roll, flip, carp, roll. Then I had to go to shore to empty out. If only I had added a shudder rudder.....
I didn't hear Dane complaining about it demeaning the 'serious' freestyle at Worlds. Many of same arguments people make against OC-1 can be made against the Junior Women- but I never hear people arguing against them. But let's be honest- the same people who are the most vocal about opposing OC-1, and saying it doesn't showcase the sport are the same ones who are most vocal about how competitions at places like Plattling, Thun, Vail, Reno, etc don't showcase the sport.
I do have issues with the K-1/OC-1 conversions. Not just because I've put a lot of effort into developing an OC-1 freestyle boat that works, but because I'm not sure how long the sport can survive if that's the road we go down. If it becomes another c-1 class with poorer performance, it probably shouldn't survive. But there are a few of us who want to to be something distinct and push what can be done in that way. We've already been discussing how to change the rules so that continues to happen. It's a tough thing to balance the "tradition" of OC-1 with room for innovation and improvement. We can't yet figure a way to allow for innovation while getting rid of the k-1 conversions.
Watch this video and tell me it's a Joke: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z2fsNS2d5Vo It goes without saying I can do all these moves easier in a kayak, but it's by no means a 'joke'
I should also say that at the past 3 World Championships, I've posted scores in OC-1 that would have beaten some of the men's K-1 competitors. Should there also be a minimum standard for who is allowed in the K-1 class? I don't think so...
Just wondering why there shouldn't be a minimum standard especially if you truly want to showcase the BEST paddlers. I would imagine that they would run into the same issue they do in the olympics trying to balance the best athletes but getting representation from as many countries as possible but I think you have to make a certain 'cut' to go to the olympics? Maybe not but I thought so.
Jamaican Bobsled team.... good example of a low caliber team in a high caliber environment but still representing their country well. Reminds me of the theme from last ALF- if ya can't paddle good, paddle hard!
Does anybody else have "911 is a Joke" (Public Enemy) running through their head when they see this thread? I think Flavor Flav would paddle OC-1 - big clock, big boat...
As long as I've been involved in this... and probably well before my time there have been people ('top level' kayaker types) trying to get OC1 out of the World's right after the World's take place... same old song... same old dance... and this too shall pass.
I'm really looking forward to seeing OPEN CANOES compete again at the ICF Whitewater Freestyle World Rodeo Championships at N.O.C. in 2013
Did anyone else catch the little underlying agenda that poked its head up every once in awhile in that thread? BUTTBOATERS WANT MORE MONEY. Greedy bastards are wanting to cull OC1 from the Worlds so that they get more money from sponsors for them. They should cut the junior men and women then and make it a 'big boys in skirts only' type thing. Shameful....
I got a kick out of that one. For being on the team, I got exactly $0 (though Jackson Kayak did sponsor the entire team's entry fees- regardless of what they were paddling). For being on the team in 2009, I got exactly $0. For winning the World Championships in 2009, I got exactly $0. I got exactly $0 for being on the team in 2007. I guess I did get something like $300 for winning OC-1 team trials in 2009. But a normal full team for worlds is 25 people- and more often than not, at least one of the open boaters is competing in more than one class. If we re-allocated that money I won, and figure $150 for the second spot, everyone on the team would get a whopping $19.57. But that's one year out of 3, so really it's more like $6.52 that the other team members would have gotten, had there not been an OC-1 class...
Smurf, next fall will the the three-event World cup in the Southeast (not sure on dates yet, probably beginning of September). I'm guessing it'll be open (no team trials), but I'll keep you posted when I find out more.
I got a kick out of that one. For being on the team, I got exactly $0 (though Jackson Kayak did sponsor the entire team's entry fees- regardless of what they were paddling). For being on the team in 2009, I got exactly $0. For winning the World Championships in 2009, I got exactly $0. I got exactly $0 for being on the team in 2007. I guess I did get something like $300 for winning OC-1 team trials in 2009. But a normal full team for worlds is 25 people- and more often than not, at least one of the open boaters is competing in more than one class. If we re-allocated that money I won, and figure $150 for the second spot, everyone on the team would get a whopping $19.57. But that's one year out of 3, so really it's more like $6.52 that the other team members would have gotten, had there not been an OC-1 class...
You should really hit up your sponsor for some $ Jeremy... or did he spend it all on your K1 Squirt Boat team member instead?
The spectators at Worlds last year in Missoula were into the OC-1. It adds variety to the competition. Can't see anything wrong about it. However, I suspect that the "haters" are not such a big group. It's all paddling, right?
Alan S wrote:However, I suspect that the "haters" are not such a big group. It's all paddling, right?
They're loud, they're arrogant, some of them have a lot of fawning fans, and their attidtude represents one of the things I dislike most in the boating community.
PM me if you'd like a less laconic disccusion of "the haters"
Joshua Kelly - "More George Smiley than James Bond"
CBoats Moderator - Not necessarily representing the CBoats staff though...(I'll use words like "moderator", "We" and "CBoats" to make it clear when I am)
