WWTCC News

Ooops

Uri Geller came to show us his new kayak design today, we were not very impressed.

posted by Jon Best @ 8:20 AM 0 comments

Buseater has nothing on Hurley

So with the 2007 World Championdhips coming up end of April, the GB Freestyle team had their last get together at Hurley to fine tune those big moves before the big event.
Hurley seems to be holding very well at the mo and with rain on the way I think it should stay up for a while yet.
See you on the water.







Photos courtesy of www.xpaddlers.com

posted by Jon Best @ 2:05 AM 0 comments

The Irish Marksman

Jackson Kayak are renowned for making exceptional whitewater kayaks, specializing in freestyle and down river boats. EJ's back round started with Slalom kayaking and so it made sense when Jackson Kayak came out with the 'Ricochet'.
We recently received the Ricochet, and today I took the little puppy for a paddle in the snow. It was fast, responsive and very easy to paddle, I am now going to dedicate my life to the art of Slalom.

posted by Jon Best @ 3:12 AM 0 comments

African Adventures

Hey, I’m Rae, I just arrived in London last week after 4 1/2 months in Uganda. So why am I writing here? Well, I don’t really have anything better to do in this arctic climate. So I will torture you with tales form Africa.

I arrived by myself in Uganda in Nov. where I found my way to NRE to be pampered with shots of waaragi (local gin for those not yet unfortunate enough to have 1st hand experience). Then I was off to The Hairy Lemon, lots of antics there…guys hanging from the rafters, Pringle dressed as a fully waxed, hair-extensioned woman at the Pirate & Wenches party; 100 glow sticks at the “Rave”; and of course the Ultimate Shithead antics (9am-Cookie, Pringle and Anton downing their punishment funnels). Oh and, watching Pringle walk around the island 7x backwards saying “Matt Damon” is a sight not to be missed.

OK OK so there was some boating along the way-I competed in The Nile Freestyle Festival. Event 1: Big Air (everyone trying to throw as big as possible=lots of good aerial stunts & some wonderful face plants). Event 2: Endurance Race (can I say 45km of hell?) Event 3: Boda Boda Cross (45 people, 45 kayaks, 45 boda bodas, a soap covered assault course, & 45 funnels). Then the party-if you have ever been to Uganda you’ll know what that means.

By Feb I had been boating 2x a day, hanging out in the bar, having big naps every afternoon; learned how to juggle; fought off a fungus growing in my leg; battled a hairy caterpillar; read every magazine; consumed countless books …it was all far too stressful. Time for a vacation (from my vacation). Off to Rwanda: rusty buses full of cockroaches and $375 (ouch) for a Gorilla permit. I then joined the geriatric club in the hopes that the route with them up the mountain would be easier than with the Sporty Spice Eager Beavers (but the 68yr old still kicked my ass). The gorillas were amazing, the Silverback was eyeing me up, but I think I could take him (my 130lbs vs his meagre 600lbs would be a sure win).

After the gorillas, I hitched a ride the Congo border (where I was hoping to go for a couple days…unfortunately I got really sick…thought I was going to have to check myself into hospital…puking all night, delirious, staying all by myself in a sketchy guesthouse). So it was back home to the Hairy Lemon. But I swear if I look at another feathered covered passenger saying “baabaaaakk” in my face again I’ll loose it…damn chickens, they’re in people’s laps, under the seats, hanging from the roof, and that’s not including all the rotten fish festering in the boots of the minibuses.

Back on the Hairy Lemon, there was a N. American invasion. I had been around mostly Brits for 4 months…my Canadian accent had been tainted. I actually started to say “rubbish bin” instead of “garbage can”… I had now come face to face with full-blown harassment and ridicule.

A couple more weeks of warm water boating, then I packed my bags, said a tearful goodbye and flew to Sunny England . I’ve tried kayaking here, but have quickly remembered that cold water boating is well…COLD. I actually flipped upside down, and hung there for awhile, thinking that there is no way I’ll be able to roll up with all this kit on…oh my god, I think I might swim….fewh, I can still roll, but I think I’ll do photos and videos until I can adapt to this Polar weather. Any way, come visit the boys and me at Whitewater, I need people to keep me entertained for the next couple weeks before I shoot back to the Great White North to watch people dodge icebergs at the Worlds.

posted by Jon Best @ 6:13 AM 1 comments

Your average day off at Whitewater!

I had a day off yesterday, so it seemed a good idea to do all those things I had let slip over the past 2-3 weeks. First thing, it was down to Mr Giddings’s back garden, land of all things wood and wonderful. Mark is currently working on around 20 wooden K1 seats for Portuguese race specialists Nelo. I did manage to distract him for a couple of hours so I could get some help putting the fin box in the Retro 8. After this it was off down the Chertsey coal mine to meet up with good friend Matt king coal, on a serious note if you would like some very good coal ideal for heating your home or for a BBQ please give us a call on the normal number, we can help you…… After all that fun it was time to go for a paddle, Shepperton is cracking at the moment so down we went! Way cool……. We also serviced a bike, fitted 3 radiators, made the deck of the surf boat & collected the hull. What a day + made ome very nice sandwiches, marvellous, Good day!.

(Mark plying with boats)

(Wood!)
(Matt King Coal)

(Carl at work)

posted by Pete @ 3:52 AM 0 comments

Monotony 107

We forgot to video the good day at Sunbury, however we have this little beaut!!!!!
enjoy

posted by Jon Best @ 6:42 AM 2 comments

JB's water level predicions (he will be right)!!!!!!!

This weekend is going to be a ripper. After all the rain we've had the Thames is finally dropping and this weekend will see some awesome playboating! Sunbury is looking to be a nice braking green wave the length of the weir, and if you want some hole action, Shepperton will be kicking up a nice retentive fluffy hole.

posted by Jon Best @ 2:05 AM 0 comments

Ok thats enough rain please!!!!!!!

Well due to the crazy amount of rain we have received in the last couple of days we thought Sunbury would give us something interesting to paddle on, maybe a nice green wave, baybe a nice fluffy hole. This morning we were eager to see what was in store, we paddled round the corner and there was no wave, no hole there was nothing, Sunbury was flat as a pancake. There was a small surf wave in the middle you could just about catch and maybe do a spin or so.
With this we thought maybe our secret spot could be working, so we jumped off, got back in the van and drove up stream. Putting back on the river we floated down stream, took a left at yet another flat weir, paddled through some back yards, over and under some blossom trees and eventually got to secret spot, to our suprise, it was also flat. In 5 years of being at wwtcc we have never seen this spot flat, but today it was.
I know we can never be content with the weather, (but hey we are British) what we really need now is it to stop raining and start dropping.
Make sure you dont miss Sunbury on the way down, its gonna be great.

:)

posted by Jon Best @ 2:45 AM 0 comments

Sunbury faith healers

I know we keep posting about this place but the reason for this, is that this play spot really is a diamond in the rough. Last Sunday Sunbury was on an awesome level, probably one of the best levels we have ever had. A steep green wave with a nice retentive pile, every wave move was possible and it wasn't even that cold, winner.
This place is 20 mins from my house and 50 seconds from my work, it has great access for filming and taking pictures, it is surrounded by pubs that sell very nice food and as long as the water's high there is always a nice feature to play on, and every now and then it shows it's full potential and it shines.

posted by Jon Best @ 2:51 AM 0 comments

After a bright sunny Saturday, Sunday dawned grey and very wet. With div 2 slalom at Shepperton and not really being in the mood for Sunbury me and mike decided to dust down the squirt boats and take them out for there first really paddle of 07. The Chertsey elevator was working, down we went!




(Mike in action)

After popping back to the shop to drop off stuff, I was heading home for a nice quite afternoon, cooking roast chicken and watching TV. However on the way home there was a little accident (not involving me) Just look at the car……………Bugatti Veron, that’s really got to spoil your day!

posted by Pete @ 4:52 AM 0 comments

soul session.

What a lovely day! The sun is shining, Nick Kershaw is on the radio (The riddle)and the rivers are flowing well. After a week of paddling at Shepperton in a big brown pit, The Sunbury pool level has finally risen. When Sunbury hit’s 7 gates 2 possible features form, with a slightly lower pool level (Island only just covered) a pretty monster hole forms that can provide some extremely sporting paddling, not great for a morning After Chloe’s 18’s birthday. Luckily the water is now well up with the island well covered, like this Sunbury turns into the perfect soul surfing spot perfect for spins and mellow surfing. If you fancy some more meet however, the hole in the middle can still dispatch a good kicking!




We also have finally taken delivery of Pyranhas new toy the Speeder, this is designed for a bit of fast moving water touring..... so we tock it Shepperton for a spin!


(Mike blasts back into the eddy)

(chloe and Darr,School of Spice, Shepperton high street, Good curry)
Oh and lastly, On Wednesday Kenny, Lou, Amy and I traveled into Camden to watch a night of music at the Lock Out. Really good fun, Best Band by Far, Congo Faith Healers, really good “swamp infested Blues” is how they class there sound?
Check out there my space. Top stuff…..

posted by Pete @ 2:31 AM 0 comments

Astral Aqua vest 300

After the drought comes the rain! We have lot's now back in stock. Size S/M and L/XL. Two new colors Yellow and red, both with new embroidery! £129.95

Buy one here.....

posted by Pete @ 6:57 AM 1 comments

All-Star, my thoughts.

On first inspection this is quite an unassuming looking little boat, nice clean lines, nice rocker break and pretty decent rails. Outfitting like wise is simple and functional very comfortable. Enough of that though, what’s it like on the water. I always thought with the old all-star, although great in a hole, on a wave was a bit slow and not really involving to paddling, the new boat has definitely changed this. Jackson have tucked the rails away under the seat and made the whole boat narrower, this makes the new All-star grip the wave when you want it to, and release when you want it to, much better! The new boat also benefits from a new shorter tail, witch make's hitting and landing BIG aerial moves Childs play. All in all I thought this was a top little boat that after 3 hours paddling was still totally dry inside. The new boat also paddles with a much grater sense of urgency than the old boat (fair bit more zip!), it also seams easier to throw around. At just under 13 stone however I definitely felt a little on the heavy side in it!

posted by Pete @ 3:54 AM 2 comments