Wet West Paddle Fest

Its that time of year again, Wet West Paddle Fest, a whole chunk of paddlers descend on Fort William for the annual Scottish Kayaker gathering. Although I should be taking some recovery time out, this is one event in the diary not to miss!

It's as much about the kayaking as it is the meeting of old and new friends, The SCA organise the rivers your friends do the rest!

More photos can be found at http://www.mysterymove.com/

Have Fun

Ben

The Brutal Reality Of Mortality

OK, I should be sat here telling you about all this awesome creek boating this summer's dishing out. Instead I'm sat rather uncomfortably off my face on pain killers! Why? because I did make the most of the summer creek boating...

...One sunny day, we all went off to do the Meltte, it was running at a good medium level, sun in the sky, the warm air making the river appear to steam, Perfect day! All over enthusiastic, I accidentally over boofed the first 15fter landing ever so slightly tail first with my whole body weight directly over the seat. I felt the impact, but didn't think it was so bad, thought I'd got away with it, carried on & paddled the rest of the river, infact went home and carried on same as normal. A week later I couldn't move...

A quick call in to see the doctor and i get sent off for X-ray with suspected compression of the spine. I was lucky no major damage, I had 'just' smashed my vertebrae into each other causing some swelling. My new found mortality has taught me two valuable lessons, if you want to boat hard you need to train hard! and the most valuable complacency is painful!

4 weeks on and i'm still not 100%, paddling is painful, but bizarrely biking is fine! which is handy coz I'd booked up a week in the Alps for some crazy DH fun!

Unfortunately I took a bit of a tumble and cracked a rib! sometimes you never learn!

Stay Safe, and if you cant do that at least have some fun...

Ben

The life of a Ti Vest

Me and my Ti Vest on the podium WorldCup2 Augsburg 2008, photo Timmy Raa

Whilst competing in the rafting high ender contest at the Thun RiverJam at the weekend my Ti Vest died, the left arm got ripped off! I was quite sad as my Ti Vest is one of my favourite Nookie products and reflecting back prompted me to write a few words to big up what is quite simply a superb product.
Whilst preparing for the 2003 Worlds in Graz I called Nookie HQ and asked for a shorty cag as I was expecting the weather to be good, "No more shorties, why not try a Ti Vest they are much better" was the reply I got. Like most people I am quite sceptical when other people try to change my mind, I wanted a shorty cag not a neoprene vest, but I bit the bullet and said I'd try it. That was one of the best kit decisions I have ever made, Ti Vests rock, quick drying, warm, easy on and off and nearly bombproof, mine lasted 5years and I have been boating a hell of a lot in the last 5years.

Plattling 2003, photo Dave Lambley

Penrith 2004 training for rodeo Worlds, photo Sarah Bell/Fishibusiness

Wakeboarding in Cornwall 2006, photo Steve Childs

Club wave, White Nile, Uganda 2006, photo Lilli Winter

Augsburg Eiskanal 2007, photo Lilli Winter

Rafting on the Vorderrhein 2007, photo Steffi Blochwitz

Augburg WorldCup 2008, photo Timmy Raa

I have worn my Ti vest in 2 World Championships, 2 World Cups, 1 European Championship, countless Eurocups, on 3 continents, for open canoeing, C1 paddling, surfing, wakeboarding and rafting. I guesstimate I paddle over 1000hours a year and most of that in warm, sunny places, Ti Vest places. My Ti Vest has lasted me 5years and maybe 3000hours on the water and now it is shagged, pretty good for £39.99 I would say. So my tip for the day is buy one here and now.
Paddle safe and enjoy life,
James
www.jamesweir.net

What’s it all about…..

A few weeks ago I wrote on my Facebook page ‘Rob is off to Norge to live a Nookie Life…’

Now this to me seemed quite self explanatory and obvious as to what I meant, but soon messages were arriving saying ‘Nookie Life what do you mean?’ So as opposed to explaining individually to everyone what this means, I thought I would just write once for every one to read what it means to me.

I suppose to me living a Nookie Life means hat you take every opportunity that is presented to you, squeeze the most in to life, do good things for other people, travel any where and every where for the perfect paddle and work damn hard at having a great life.

So my Nookie Life this summer has taken me all over the place but two places that are sticking in my mind so far are two weeks coaching creeking to a group of young people in Norway




and todays Hurley early session in the sun




A massive thanks to young boater Finn Burrows who has put together these videos and is starting to live a Nookie Life…. He is a paddler to watch out for in the future, 16 yrs old and styling it.

Any way I’d love to stop and chat but have a ferry to catch to France. Another mission, another load of smiles and new friends to be made.

Enjoy

Rob Yates

Nookie at OR Show, Salt Lake City - U.S.

The Nookie Team have worked hard this year to develop some exciting new products. The OR Show in Salt Lake City saw the first unveiling of a few of them.

The NEW Nookie Assault Shell is a full latex whitewater shell made from Xtetra4 ply fabric and brand new Enduro Mesh.

The NEW Nookie Guide Strides are perfect legwear for open boating, rafting, instructing and playing hard. Made from SomaTX3ply fabric with Enduro Mesh reinforced panels and removable padding in the knees.

The NEW Delta Cirrus Jacket and Trousers are super lightweight protective layers ideal for touring, sea kayaking, recreational paddling and every day protection from the elements. The Jacket packs away neatly into its own pocket and they're both a great choice when the weather is unpredictable - so that means they're always a great choice.

Check out the pics at playak...

Or download our new catalogue....

Upper Glenner River, a side creek of the Vorderrhein

(the gorge, pic by Alex)

On the Upper Glenner river, a side creek of the Vorderrhein, there's a
sweet run between two classical sections. Not too often people run this,
because some breathtaking portages make you work. When the snowmelting
time is over, there's still enough water in this section and thats why
it counts as one of just a few cool whitewater runs in summertime in its
area.

(Team nookie-look, pic by Alex)

This day Ron Fischer and Alex Keller found some perfect conditions to
run it. The section "Lumbrein" offers all you need for a long
afternoon-creek: A thin deep gorge that's hard and only at a few spots
to leave makes every step more serious, some really cool class 5 rapids,
and a horrorable portage if you don't want to run the keyrapid -
that's probably even more dangerous then just running it...(ask Alex
why) And after all that, there waits a nice paddle-out with some class 4
rapids that you just can paddle all on sight and enjoy.

(entry drop, pic by Ron)
(portage stuff, pic by Ron)
(key drops, pic by Alex)
(key drops, pic by Alex)
(key drops, pic by Alex)

(exit drop, pic by Ron)
(exit drop, pic by Ron)


(exit drop, pic by Alex)

Alex Keller & Ron Fischer
Nookie Team Riderz

R+D

We love hanging out with our Team Riderz on the water in awesome locations, but we also love it when they pop in for a cup of tea.
Last week saw Team Rider Doug Cooper mission his way to head office to meet all the peeps and share some product design ideas. All our Team Riderz play a critical part in Nookie R+D from giving feedback on the kit they wear every day and offering up ideas on new designs.
Doug has been bending my ear about buoyancy aid designs for months, so this visit was a perfect opportunity for him and I to pool our ideas together...
















The day was a success and we sent Doug away with a prototype that included nearly all of his ideas with the addition of some practicalities to put it all together : )

Here it is:




















Sorry, that's all we can show you for now : )

The Swiss Alps & Don Ron

A few weeks ago, i had another weekend full of water here in the Swiss Alps. Because of lot's of snow in the late winter, we have had the best spring season since i started kayaking.


With my good friend Luke Wielatt we went to the upper parts of the famous river Reuss. This river has a lot of beautiful sections like the "Schöllenengorge" or the "Gurtnellen", but they're only runnable in spring or after rain because of the many f..... dam's we have.

This weekend the flow was perfect for that runs, but we wanted to check out some new creeks which are coming down from the Gotthard- and Furka- Pass. The road on the riversides are steep and make one 180degree-turn to the next. Normally, rivers beside roads like those have too much gradient, but not these ones. What we found, was much better than i could believe! Un-countable drops and slides and all of them good to go!


The "Gusbisreuss" and "Wittenwasserenreuss" showed us a perfect playground for steep creeking. Thank's! The pictures above show you why i like these rivers.

Don Ron

Yet Another Nookie Adventure

First pile your car high with toys courtesy of Wavesport and Nookie then put on your favourite Nookie sweater (almost forget your paddles) & drink fifteen cans of Red Bull.
One ferry trip and sixteen hours later i had arrived in Plattling East Germany . with sweet water levels i figured a week should be plenty to brush up on my hole skills. Plattling is famous for its warm water and half naked chicks sunning themselves on the bank.

After re-aquaintinging myself with the wave i started on a mission to get back loop Mc nasty’s down.
By day two the weather was 32 degrees and scolding and by then all the other English boys had arrived and had started putting their tents up.
The tents looked oh so bland so i set about cheering every one up by Nookieing every tent with a stencil and a can of red graph paint.
The week drew to an end, averaging 9 hours a day on the wave.............. i needed a break.


It started to rain.... solidly. With rising river levels we had to get to Austria and fast. I had a gut feeling that before long the wave at Crazy Eddy’s would be good to stomp some big moves on .
Arriving at Prutz it was obvious that the Inn was close to bursting with a mass of brown swollen water swirling past.
Every one got some pizza and then climbed in to our newly Nookied tents and slept .

Day break and we were chomping at the bit to get down some rivers. First on the list was the Tosens section on the Inn. As half the water was snow melt and bloody freezing it was perfect timing to do a little RnD on the Nookie Softcore and hell did i need it. The cold from the water could be felt from the bank. Wishing i was in Uganda i peeled out and then spent the next hour and a half throwing wave wheels , macho moves and down river kick flips down what could only be described as a farm of big waves, this must be where they are born. With no big holes we stomped the river just in time for friend Fraggle to return from hospital after previously cracking his head open on a down time mission. Imst to hamming was next on the list. This section has a huge catchment area for water so un-surprisingly it was huge perfect for catching waves on the fly and getting more air with some down river tricks. Thank god for my Nookie Airhead cag, without it i would have been sweating my nuts off. As we got off the river i couldn’t help feeling sorry for every one in their heavy drysuits. Well after what seemed to be a another rodeo session i retired to bed. Morning bought a quick blast down the Shults gorge.

By now i was getting sick of wave trains and rock dodging. I wanted a wave and a big one at that. Arriving at Crazy Eddys i legged it on to the bridge and to my delight a monster sized bowl shaped wave had formed just down stream of the bridge. Now this wave you have to share with surfers and as in Munich they aren’t to keen on kayakers. My first ride a nice warm up getting the feel for the wave and my surroundings


Sitting in the Eddy was like waiting for the nurse to give you a reboot of morphine, finally the surfer was off and i was out of the eddy like a shot, high contrast blaring out of the ipod, touch down, one super fast steep acceleration and i was plaining. First trick climbing to the top of the wave i loaded my rail with a big chunk of water and headed out on to the shoulder, aggressive edge change supplied me with a sweet amount of air. Thinking i'm going to have me some of those apples i chucked a sic clean Panam, with a smooth landing after that it was plain sailing. After a manic 300 ride, two day session at Crazy Eddys the guys had to eventually tear me away by reminding me it was time to go visit fellow Nookie ambassador James Weir.
We rocked up in Switzerland just in time for it to start raining. Jim arrived at the camp site which was situated just outside Carara and we got down to a good old fashioned Thames valley style tale gate party in Jim's Nookie bus. With rivers nice and high James set about taking us on some of the better rivers the first i cant remember the name but it starts with a nice 4 metre fall and then your in, from then on in its moderate volume class 4 hole and rock dodging. The day ended with smiles all round and a bbq. Day two bought more river fun.
Finally it was time to say goodbye to James Weir and be on our way to Leon France. Upon arrival i shot to the airport to pick up Dan Fellow Rocket Boy, then we zipped to the wave. The wave was running and at about 1700, well after far too much driving i crashed out and let the boys play .
H.S.R is one of those waves that feel like you are being pulled down the high way at 90 behind a Ferrari. Three days of rocket launcher style riding and it was time to head home .


Mission accomplished.
Many thanks to Nookie Kayaking Equipment, Wavesport kayaks, Streamlight paddles & Marsport.

Good things come to those who wait…

One of my favourite places on the planet has to be St Davids on the SW coast of Wales, a sleepy little place, dotted with tea shops full of old people. Not the most rocking place for a kayaker but that’s not why you go there! It’s home to the largest tidal race off the British coast - the Bitches

The Bitches

The tide height was due to build through the week, unfortunately we were hampered by random sea fog so couldn’t make the 1.5 mile trip out to sea [a little hard when visability is down to 10ft!]– luckily there is plenty of other stuff to do, surfing, diving in and out of tea shops, crab fishing and rock hopping, through the awesome coastline caves oh and Dolphin spotting [yes off the coast of the UK!]– so we didn’t get bored.

Sarah Exploring the Caves

A couple of lazy days later, the fog left, the sun came out, the swell picked up as did the tide – good things come to those who wait, time for the main event…

Soul Surfing the Top Wave

Head honcho Bill and top Designer Hazel from Nookie called by for the big tides as did Nookie team paddler Tim Copplestone. Arriving just in time for the tidal race to start working we played on all the features until the tide was spent, paddling back as the sun set over the horizon.

Bill Ripping in his Sea Kayak

Hmmm the magic of the Bitches

Bill and Hazel chilling out in the eddy

Ben White

Team Rider Alex Keller - Swiss Adventures

In the centre part of the Swiss Alps, the River Reuss starts at its source up at the Gotthard massiv. A short section, called the Schöllenen Gorge, offers some of Swiss most continues whitewater and counts as one of the
most impressives spots of all. At the famous Devil's Bridge, the Reuss enters over four huge drops into the gorge and offers in the middle of big granite boulders for about 5-7km a neverending class 5 creek - depending on waterlevels: at lower levels, the entry drops are good to run, what you get severel times a year, but only a few times, you catch some higher levels which make the lower part of the gorge what it's really about.
Last week, after some highwater-melting-days, the levels droped down to perfect cubic numbers to put in on the lower section. We caught a nice day and went for the ride of this Spring.

Start up with a nice slide kicker
Kees Van Kuipers flies to hell
Neverending granite gorge
chibbn' boof
some ducktape-promotion



peace out
Alex