Wildwater canoeing is a competitive discipline of canoeing in which kayaks or

canoe A canoe is a lightweight narrow water vessel, typically pointed at both ends and open on top, propelled by one or more seated or kneeling paddlers facing the direction of travel and using a single-bladed paddle. In British English, the ter ...

s are used to negotiate a stretch of river speedily. It is also called "Whitewater racing" or "Downriver racing" to distinguish it from whitewater slalom racing and whitewater rodeo or Freestyle competition.

General

The objective of the sport is to go from the starting point of the course on a river to the end point as quickly as possible. Typical wildwater venues consist of Class II - IV

whitewater Whitewater forms in a rapid context, in particular, when a river's gradient changes enough to generate so much turbulence that air is trapped within the water. This forms an unstable current that froths, making the water appear opaque and ...

, in contrast to extreme racing, which takes place on more difficult streams. Match competitions generally consist of a classic and a sprint race. A classic course is 4 to 6 miles (6–10 km) in length or 10 to 35 minutes in duration, while the Sprint is between 500 and 750 meters and lasts around 2 minutes. Although there is some specialization, the vast majority of racers compete in both classic and sprint. Competitors are placed in classes based on gender and boat type as follows: *K1 – solo kayak, male *K1W – solo kayak, female *C1 – solo canoe, male *C1W – solo canoe, female *C2 – tandem canoe. The competitors are numbered within their class based on results from previous races and compete in reverse order (best paddler last), usually at one-minute intervals. To race successfully, paddlers must possess refined technical skill, as well as strength, endurance, aerobic capacity, and the ability to "read" whitewater. Whitewater racing is also practiced by competing teams; each team is made by a group of three competitors belonging to the same class. Whitewater racing started in Europe with the International Canoe Federation being formed and having the first World Championships in Switzerland in 1949. Since then, there has been a World Championships every two years. Since 2011 there is a sprint only world championships, with sprint and classic being contested every other (even) year.

Boat design

2019 ICF Wildwater canoeing World Championships 026 - Cecilia Panato

* Wildwater solo kayaks (K1) are 4.5 m (14 ft 9 in) long and 60 cm (23.6 in) wide; * Wildwater solo canoes (C-1) are 4.3 m (14 ft 1 in) long and 70 cm (27.5 in) wide; * Wildwater tandem canoes (C-2) are 5 m (16 ft 5 in) long and 80 cm (31.5 in) wide. The boats all have a rounded hull profile, making them fast but unstable and hard to turn. Rather than using wide sweep strokes to turn the boat, the paddler tilts the boat to one side, utilizing its curved profile to effect the turn in a manner similar to "carving a turn" in

skiing Skiing is the use of skis to glide on snow. Variations of purpose include basic transport, a recreational activity, or a competitive winter sport. Many types of competitive skiing events are recognized by the International Olympic Committee ( ...

. Two "wings" (flaring protrusions near the stern hull) meet the minimum width required by racing rules and add secondary stability, as well as enhancing the effect of carving a turn. When the boat is under way, most of each wing will be above the waterline so as to minimize drag. The use of

kevlar Kevlar (para-aramid) is a strong, heat-resistant synthetic fiber, related to other aramids such as Nomex and Technora. Developed by Stephanie Kwolek at DuPont in 1965, the high-strength material was first used commercially in the early 1970s a ...

, carbon fiber, and glass-reinforced plastic construction has substantially reduced the weight of wildwater boats, while improving stiffness. The top part (the deck) and the bottom (the hull) are molded separately and then bonded together using kevlar or glass cloth strips and epoxy or

polyester resin Polyester resins are synthetic resins formed by the reaction of dibasic organic acids and polyhydric alcohols. Maleic anhydride is a commonly used raw material with diacid functionality in unsaturated polyester resins. Unsaturated polyester res ...

. A boat can be made in 2 to 3 days, but without an oven can take weeks to cure fully. Before glass-reinforced plastic boats, the common racing craft was the

folding kayak A folding kayak is a direct descendant of the original Inuit kayak made of animal skins stretched over frames made from wood and bones. A modern folder has a collapsible frame made of some combination of wood, aluminium and plastic, and a skin ...

, usually composed of a wooden frame covered with canvas. Competitors are also required to wear an appropriate whitewater helmet and PFD and

River shoes or booties A river is a natural flowing watercourse, usually freshwater, flowing towards an ocean, sea, lake or another river. In some cases, a river flows into the ground and becomes dry at the end of its course without reaching another body of wate ...

and

flotation bags for their boats Flotation (also spelled floatation) involves phenomena related to the relative buoyancy of objects. The term may also refer to: * Flotation (archaeology), a method for recovering very small artefacts from excavated sediments *Flotation (shares), ...

Training and racing

Racers paddle down a course along the fastest jets of water. In order to go fast, they follow the edges of wave trains and hold as straight a line as possible down the river. If it is unclear which line is fastest, two paddlers simultaneously float the different options and see which boat moves ahead. Because of the high speeds, racers frequently run a river two or three times a day when training for a race. Some racers practice on rivers if they are lucky to live near one. Usually they will paddle 5–10 miles a day, five to six days a week. Others practice on lakes or flatwater rivers. In northern areas rivers and lakes freeze, so racers sometimes train in an indoor pool, lift weights, run or do Cross-country skiing. When the rivers and lakes become free of ice then training is resumed outdoors.

Rivers

Popular whitewater racing courses in

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a Anglo-Scottish border, border with England to the southeast ...

include Grandtully and

Stanley Stanley may refer to: Arts and entertainment Film and television * ''Stanley'' (1972 film), an American horror film * ''Stanley'' (1984 film), an Australian comedy * ''Stanley'' (1999 film), an animated short * ''Stanley'' (1956 TV series) ...

on the River Tay. Whitewater racing courses in England include the Washburn and the Tees. Popular whitewater racing courses in

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the Bristol Channel to the south. It had a population in ...

include the

Tryweryn The Tryweryn is a river in the north of Wales which starts at Llyn Tryweryn in the Snowdonia National Park and after joins the river Dee at Bala. One of the main tributaries of the Dee, it was dammed in 1965 to form Llyn Celyn, drowning th ...

, and the Dee.
In the United States, races take place throughout the Southeast, Northeast, Northwest, and Western states; rivers there include the Nantahala and

Pigeon Columbidae () is a bird family consisting of doves and pigeons. It is the only family in the order Columbiformes. These are stout-bodied birds with short necks and short slender bills that in some species feature fleshy ceres. They primarily ...

in North Carolina and the Ocoee in Tennessee. There are also well-attended annual races on

West Virginia West Virginia is a state in the Appalachian, Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States.The Census Bureau and the Association of American Geographers classify West Virginia as part of the Southern United States while the B ...

's Cheat and Gauley rivers,

Maryland Maryland ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It shares borders with Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware and the Atlantic Ocean to ...

's Potomac and Youghiogheny ("Yough") rivers, as well as on

Colorado Colorado (, other variants) is a state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It encompasses most of the Southern Rocky Mountains, as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the wes ...

Arkansas Arkansas ( ) is a landlocked state in the South Central United States. It is bordered by Missouri to the north, Tennessee and Mississippi to the east, Louisiana to the south, and Texas and Oklahoma to the west. Its name is from the O ...

for the annual Fibark Festival which has the oldest continually run downriver/wildwater race in the USA. Rivers in Europe that have held international races include the Isère in Bourg St Maurice, France, the Loisach in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany, the Liffey in

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

and the Teplá in Karlovy Vary,

Czech Republic The Czech Republic, or simply Czechia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Historically known as Bohemia, it is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the southeast. The ...

.
In South Africa races take place on the Trichardt Spruit, Umkomaas River, Bushmans River and As River. The As River forms part of a water exchange program between South Africa and Lesotho and is fed via a tunnel from the

Katse Dam The Katse Dam, a concrete arch dam on the Malibamat'so River in Lesotho, is Africa's second largest double-curvature arch dam. (The Tekezé Dam, completed in early 2009, is now Africa's largest double curvature dam). The dam is part of the Leso ...

. The 2004 World Wildwater Championships were held in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany. The 2006 Championships were held from 12–17 June on the Teplá River, in the Czech Republic. The K1 men's sprint race was won by Max Hoff of Germany; the K1 men's classic was won by Kamil Mruzek of the Czech Republic. The 2008 World Championships will take place from 5–8 June in Ivrea, Italy.ICF Wildwater Committee
''Calendar for 2007-2013''
Retrieved 4 January 2007.

References

External links