It was way back in 1782 that Nathaniel Sebastian Rodeo first suggested the idea of gathering together the greatest student minds in the country in order to go paddling, compete against each other’s academic institutions and generally have a marvellous time. At first it was little more than 3 men falling out of a coracle with a glass of sherry, however since then it has grown a little…

The fact that 900 people turn up and 680 competitors all go paddling is amazing enough, but what’s even more remarkable is that every one of those paddlers gets at least an extreme slalom run as well as a freestyle heat. Novice, Intermediate and expert classes run, and those who still want more can enter squirt, C1, Old Skool, Duo and Sofa-Cross too! On top of this there is a general abundance of shenanigans throughout the weekend, with all manner of home made craft taking to the water to entertain the carnage hungry crowds.

A new event for this year was the Old School rodeo; an open event, with only pre 2000 boats allowed. It saw good representation from team Palm, with plenty of vintage Palm gear on display and 2nd and 3rd places going to Nick and Tim respectively. A stunningly luminous Dave Burne took a well deserved gold medal.

Saturday Night brought with it the eagerly anticipated premiere of Dream Result; the new paddling film by Rush Sturges and Tyler Bradt. The film was truly stunning, finishing to a standing ovation from the 800 people present. If you haven’t already, then get yourself along to one of the premieres. Without doubt it represents a new standard for paddling films. To find out more , and to buy the movie, visit River-Roots.com.

The party kicked off straight after, bringing with it a plethora of amazing costume as always, this year’s theme being ancient civilisations. Check out our facebook page to see some of them, we’ll be awarding a Saffron Switch paddle jacket to our favourite later on this week…

Sunday morning arrived as always several hours too soon, and brought with it a heavy frost and some worryingly large icicles hanging from slalom poles. Paddlers were understandably slow to emerge, however once on site competitors seemed amazingly happy to throw themselves down the course wearing little more than a PFD and Helmet in the mass start 40 team inflatable sofa-cross.

The rest of the finals took place on Sunday afternoon with the carnage filled men’s and women’s novice categories proving as popular as ever.

Throughout the event, commentary, music and entertainment were provided along the length of the course by the guys at Extreme Events, however the standout hero of the event was without doubt the Rodeo Rabbit, who spent the spent Sunday afternoon getting chased up and down the length of the course for prizes and general entertainment.

When all of the finals were over, including the final spectacle in the form of the crowd pleasing Duo final, it was time for the final prize giving. Not content to simply wait for the final results to arrive the Rodeo Rabbit appeared once again to lead a mass participation dance off.

In the end the prize for winning uni went to event organisers Leeds, who kindly donated their prize, the custom NSR Dagger Axiom, to second place Sheffield uni.

A huge thanks must go to event organisers Andy and Peter from Leeds, as well as the guys at River Legacy for the party, and everybody else who helped out. This event is only as good as it is because so many volunteers put so much work in.

Thanks everybody, and we’ll see you again next year!

.

NSR 2010 went off this weekend, and was a huge success all round. Just under 700 competitors and almost 1000 people in all turned up to party and paddle, including guests Rush Sturges and Tyler Bradt, who premiered their new movie ‘Dream Result’ at Saturday night’s party.

The usual mens and women’s competitions ran, as well as c1, squirt, duo, and new for this year the sofa cross, in which 40 teams of 2 raced down the course on inflatable sofas.

Also new to the NSR this year was the entertainment provided by the Rodeo Rabbit who did sterling work all day, and led an epic musical statue dance off before the prize giving.

A huge shout out goes to Andy, Peter, and everybody else at Leeds Uni who put in a huge amount of work to make this event so good.

More photos and a full report coming soon, but for now here’s a short video clip for your enjoyment…

They should be in shops within the next two weeks, but if you can’t wait that long then we’re offering one of these as a prize for the best outfit at this year’s National Student Rodeo Saturday night party, the theme of which is ancient civilisations. Simply get a photo taken of your outfit on Saturday night by our photographer or by your mates, then go to our facebook page, upload your pics, check out the others, and comment on your favourites.

Last year’s party theme was space, and we saw some truly stunning costumes. Here’s a few of our favourites for inspiration…

To find out more about the NSR, currently the worlds biggest freestyle kayaking competition, visit:

www.nationalstudentrodeo.org

The event bought together paddlers of all types from all over the country to, in the spirit of the Ancient Greeks, “debate, plot, boast, or simply to party with others”. The weekend was jam packed with facinating talks, workshops and discussions covering everything from canoe poling, to bear proofing your kit, to leadership styles and group dynamics. With all this going on and a fresh dump of snow there wasn’t a lot of time for actual paddling, however some brave paddlers took to the water to demo our new Mad River Canoes (the Reflection is the best icebreaker in case you’re wondering!).

My personal highlight was a special preview of Justine Curgenven’s new DVD “This is Canoeing”. It’s beautifully filmed and packed with amazingly diverse characters from around the world  – canoe dance anyone? – all with a huge passion for canoeing. You could show your mum this film and be confident she’d be asking to tag along on your next trip. Check out the short preview clip below:

It’s out in early March and we’ve got two signed copies to give away – keep an eye on the Facebook page for a chance to win one.
More here: http://www.cackletv.com/canoeing/this-is-canoeing/

Tarpology, firestarting, woodsplitting and cooking at Jule’s bushcraft workshop was another highlight for many. Complete with cake!

Thanks to everyone at Plas y Brenin and everyone who came along and helped to make the weekend so successful. We’ll see you there next year.

Many more images on facebook

This year’s boat is a beautiful and unique Dagger Axiom in one off lime green, with NSR decals to finish it off…

To find out more about NSR, the world’s biggest freestyle competition (no, reallly, 750 competitors), visit:

www.nationalstudentrodeo.org

We came across flights with Ryanair, flying into Trieste, for £1 each way per person but then with boats and the ticking of a few necessary boxes this escalated to around £120 each. Booking a rental car from Trieste airport in advance was best as some of the companies don’t cover you over the border into Slovenia, Europcar seemed to be good…

… The only down side being that they don’t do roof racks so after a bit of debate we were directed to the local shopping centre about 5 mins drive away where we picked up a 40 euro rack which nearly fitted but was secure with a couple of straps through the doors.

There’s loads of accommodation scattered up the Soca valley, but finding somewhere between Kobarid and Bovec puts you on location for the best sections. We stayed in Tronovo ob Soci near the Alpin Action shop, I’d recommend visiting to pick up a Soca River map which shows grades, distances, put ons and take outs of each section. There’s also the slalom section here which runs level with the small village and is good for those who are into a bit of down river training.

If you do choose to have a blast on the slalom section do make sure you know the take out, just before the blasted bridge (you’ll easily spot it), as this is the lead into the Syphon gorge where employing a river guide is recommended for the first run.

River info wise, apart from what I’ve mentioned above, a detailed guide – anything more than the river map – would only take away from the mini adventure that this grade 3/4 paradise offers. Although it is worth noting that there’s an awesome pizzeria in the little village of Srpenica!

More info for the Soca valley and a lest detailed version of the river map can be found here – MAP GUIDES TO THE SOCA REGION OF SLOVENIA

Enjoy!

Ed

Enter our new online spraydeck sizing system. We’ve been trying our decks on all of the major boat models for a while now and we reckon we’ve got it cracked.

Get on the Palm website, select your boat make and model, get the perfect fit.

Find the right size spraydeck for your kayak here…

Let us know what you think by leaving a comment below…

Situated on the River Exe, at the Mill on the Exe Pub, the competition drew large crowds to watch, with general public and kayak groupies alike enjoying a cheeky pint whilst cheering on the action.

The competition kicked off at sunset, with high water making for a big and bouncy yet flushy hole. Several longer playboats were pulled out of the bag, proving more than capable of seeing off the shorter boats, with a few creekboat loops thrown down as well as some silky smooth cartwheel sequences.

Good representation was also given to the new skool as well with shelixes, pan ams, and other things too. A particularly brutal queen of the wave contest in the semi final saw a facial pummelling handed out  by a cartwheeling Outlaw in the hands of Matt Tidy

In the end Craig Ayres was crowned champion, after a hard fought final, and the competitors and spectators headed to the pub for beer and medals.

Team Palm  put in a good showing with Matt Tidy taking home the silver Medal, and myself claiming the biggest move title with a frankly enormous loop in a Dagger CFS kindly loaned by Exeter Uni Canoe Club.

A big shout out to Pete & Hugh & the Exeter uni crew, as well as Ewart from AS Watersports for laying down harsh tasty beats and incisive commentary

Bring on next year’s event, I’ll see you there!

Nick

If you haven’t seen it already, check out the short videos below and see how it works…

With building work on our new extension going on at the moment it’s exciting times at our Clevedon factory!