Friday, February 24, 2012

What Are The Basics For Whitewater Kayak Sports?

By Dustin Faulkner


Keep in mind that there are a few basics that you need to acknowledge yourself with before you even consider going on a whitewater kayak outing regardless of how fun, exciting, and exhilarating the adventure is. First, there's the fact that the whitewater kayak sport is incredibly gear intensive.

To whitewater kayak, it's not necessary for you to be in excellent physical shape but you should have adequate shoulder and upper arm strength in order for you to properly use the paddles and oars and you also need enough strength to take care of yourself in the rapids in the event of an emergency.

In case your whitewater kayak were to trip, you should also be able to hold your breath for a relatively substantial amount of time and in order for your muscles to be more ready for such a physical activity, you may want to tone up a bit as well.

Gear Up and Go Whitewater Kayaking

A boat, paddle, sprayskirt, helmet, and lifejacket are the basic equipment that you are going to need for your whitewater kayak trip. These are considered as the essentials even though there are of course other accessories that you can include. Before actually going on your whitewater kayaking trip, it is a good idea to sign up an attend even a few lessons so that you can actually have fun on the trip because you will have an idea what you are doing.

You will learn certain things through training and these would include bracing, rolling, and most important, wet exiting. Eddy turns, peel outs, ferrying, and surfing are other such techniques that you will also learn.

Purchasing a Kayak

You can rent a kayak at most outfitters or the kayak use may be included with your kayaking trip package but still, there are a few important things you need to remember if you are planning to buy your very own kayak. There are several different types of kayaks: recreational kayaks, touring kayaks, whitewater kayaks, and downriver kayaks.

Recreational kayaks are those which are all-around boats that are designed for mild river trips. The ones which are designed for extended wilderness trips are the touring kayaks and they are very stable and have good carrying capacity.

Whitewater kayaks are designed with exceptional maneuverability in mind in order to be able to properly negotiate rapids. They are shorter and usually have more rounded bottoms.

Finally, downriver kayaks are those which are specialty boats that are designed to travel quickly through the water, and are usually very long and narrow, while their straight keel allows them to track efficiently, but they are difficult to turn.




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