After finally getting the boats through customs and getting them back to camp, Fritz Orr has just put a couple seats in one of the Vajda C-2’s this week!  Benjamin Birdsong and I decided to take it for a test run on the lake to see how the seat placement worked out.

Benjamin and Don in one of the Vajda C-2 trial runs

The boat is so fast, it’s amazing!  We paddled around a bit, but Benjamin’s big plan was to try to roll it.  The first try was a swimming event in the cold springtime lake water.  I blamed him (the truth); he said it was my fault (lie).  By the second try, we had it down and it was a success.  The campers are really going to enjoy these new canoes!!!  As soon as Fritz gets them fully outfitted, Benjamin and I are heading back out on the lake and maybe a river.  My knees are still recovering from the bare Kevlar scrapes!  I can’t wait!

Vajda Wind 415 C-2

We just finalized the details for three brand new C-2 slalom boats for the High Rocks paddling program!  The boats come all the way from Slovakia produced by leading composite boat company, Vajda, where many Olympic racers get their boats.  Our paddling head, Fritz Orr spent some time talking with Olympic Champion, Joe Jacobi about design and construction before ordering the boats.  Joe is the U.S. distributor for the company and has a lot of experience with these boats.  Jacobi has also offered a training day for High Rocks on the Nantahala River sometime this summer.  He wants to get the campers excited about these new boats and show them some tips for success.

2004 USA C2 Olympic Team: Joe Jacobi and Matt Taylor

The order includes three Vajda Wind 415 whitewater slalom C-2 composite canoes with a durable racing construction made out of carbon/Kevlar fiber.  The canoes will come in the following color patterns: one in red with yellow swirl stripes, another in blue with green stripes, and finally and third in blue with silver stripes.  For those of you not into the paddling “lingo,” a C-2 is a two person decked canoe.  If you look at the pictures, these guys are using a single-bladed canoe paddle while kneeling in the boat.  Although the boat resembles a kayak, it is most definitely a canoe.

Our paddling program requires everyone to have a strong basis in tandem canoe before moving on to a solo boat (kayak, solo open canoe or C-1).  We want to continue the emphasis on canoeing in our paddling program.  We realize a lot of the guys enjoy moving into a kayak after the tandem canoe training.  Our hope is to get the kids very excited about paddling one of these boats on the river.

Stay tuned for more details about the paddling program!  I can’t wait for the summer!