We just can't stay away

The day we got back from Austria we decided to take a trip to our local spot, only to find 4 gates in the middle of June.

Pohots by Emily

I had a go in a 4Fun for a bit of a laugh, the thing went huge on loops, iv decided to open an airline.

Lienz round up

Here's a quick round up of the 1st leg of the Euro Cup Series.



The competition was held in a nice hole on a River Drau which ran through the beautiful Austrian town of Lienz. The turn out was good and the competition was tough, 80 paddlers from around Europe flocked to the site for the first leg of the Euro Cup Series. The prelims were held on the Friday, with the top 20 men going through to the quarter's, all hole moves were going off.



In the women's event, Emily Wall got the biggest loops in her new Star but a low scoring first ride meant she just missed out a place in the finals leaving her in 6th place.

Em giving it her all

After the quarter's and semi's, I placed in the top 5 every time, making it in 4th place for the finals. The format was a old-style knockout, first rides were tight with all the guys going for tricky woo, phonix monkeys and godzillas, going out in 5th was Casper Van Kalmhout from the Netherlands. Peter Csonka, who placed 2nd at the World Champs, was a shock, going out in 4th. Leaving me and the Strohmeier brothers to the podium. Simon couldn't quite put together the same high scoring ride he had done during the other rounds, so taking 3rd and Seppi, his older brother, showed everyone is was definitely back to form after his couple of years out due to a wrist injury, taking 2nd. The standard was high and it was hardwork against such an awesome bunch of paddlers but I managed to nail my loops and godzillas when it counted and so was stoked to take 1st place and €200.



All in all, the organisers, judges and sponsors made the event an awesome start to the series.

Next stop, Sweden!

Lienz Euro Cup

So after a 15 hour drive through 5 countries we finally arrived in Lienz, Austria.
Lienz is a beautiful ski town in the middle of the Austrian Alps. The river Isel runs trough the middle town and the play hole is on a small tributary of the Isel.

Pringle sussing out the hole

The play hole runs a best between 11 and 1 when the river is at it's highest. You can pull of most play moves in the hole so the competition should be a good one.

There is also a wave at the raft take out on the Isel which runs from about 7pm onwards, we should have some pics of the wave soon.

JB



Em all bubbly


Em busting out a loop


Me doing some endy thing in the hole


Pringle checking the local Pizzeria


Me and the Pring looking at mini Hawaii

Lienz Euro Cup

So after a 15 hour drive through 5 countries we finally arrived in Lienz, Austria.
Lienz is a beautiful ski town in the middle of the Austrian Alps. The river Isel runs trough the middle town and the play hole is on a small tributary of the Isel.

The play hole runs a best between 11 and 1 when the river is at it's highest. You can pull of most play moves in the hole so the competition should be a good one.

There is also a wave at the raft take out on the Isel which runs from about 7pm onwards, we should have some pics of the wave soon.

JB

A big success

WWTCC open day was one to remember.

It started with a party Saturday night, which rocked on till the early hours of the morning. With me as the DJ and Mike the barman we made sure the party was special.
The pics tell a better story.

Pete mixi'n it up on the DJ booth


From dusk till dawn


Party people


Carlos spining around


The Boss being the Hoff (oh dear)


So the morning was an early one. Feeling it from the night before we all set off to erect the 'canoe village'.
At 10:30 the public started to arrive and things started to take shape.


The Jackson stand taking form


Sneaks doing his bit


System X were in full force


Something for everyone



Jo strutting her stuff


All in all the show went well, the weather was good and the people were plenty.

Thank you to all the suppliers, George, Pete, Mike, Chris, Amy and Louise the guys and girls from Addlestone and anyone else who helped to make the day a success.

Whitewater open day

This Sunday Whitewater the Canoe Center are having their annual open day.



We would like to invite you and all your club / group to Whitewater the Canoe Centre’s(Very Special) 20th Anniversary open day, this year to be held on

Sunday 17th June 07, Times 10-00 till 16-00

At our riverside shop in Shepperton marina.

Whether you are a complete novice to the sport or a seasoned enthusiast, this is your opportunity to meet all of the major canoe, kayak and equipment manufactures at one time in a friendly relaxed environment. Demo boats galore will be available for you to try on our very own private back water in a safe and relaxed manner. Professional kayak and canoe instructors will be available both on and off the water all day to provide help and tips on way’s to improve you’re paddling style. This is a great day out for the whole family, ANY AGE welcome to come down and give paddling a go, or just chat to the manufactures about current boat design.



Look forward to see you there.

Some of my favorite Bussy pics

Casper



EJ



Nick Troutman



Peter Csonka



Nick



Nick



Ed Smith



EJ

Website new look

So while there's not been a great deal of water around I thought I'd learn some more HTML code and get the website sorted. I think it's looking a lot better now and iv added a new page, 'other'. Here I will be post all sorts of random things from Thames weir levels to Square rock open days and up and coming events. Keep checking it out for updates. www.jdbest.co.uk

JB

Product review - Level 6 Mack cag

I have recently been paddling with the Level 6 Mack cag, I received one when out at the worlds and it has served it's purpose well. As well as the bright colour and stylish labeling the Mack is dry, very hard wearing, has a nice cut and has a good size pocket at the front and a smaller pocket on the arm.

Pros and cons:

All new cags beed, but usually this is only temporary. I have been paddling with the Mack for some time now and it is continuing to beed, it is probably one of the driest cags I have used.

The waist system seems to work very well and does a good job with keeping your spraydeck in place. At first I thought the straps would interfere with maneuverability but this isn't the case.

The Mack comes in two colors, the one shown in the picture and also in red and light grey, the embroidered logos on the arms and on the front of the cag are very stylish and unique.

A couple of things on the down side is the rigidity of the cag. The cag is made from 100% Nylon 3 Ply waterproof-breathable Siphon Zone™ laminate fabric, which is great for keeping the water out but it does mean the cag is very rigid, it does give a little over time and it is not so noticeable when paddling.

The latex seals on the wrist could do with being cut a little further up the arm to stop interference with your tendons resulting in a little more water one the arm than wanted.

Overall I think the Mack is a good, top-of-the-range whitewater cag and as the company grows I'm sure their products will only improve.

To check out more about Level 6 and their products visit www.levelsixinc.com

JB