Reaction outfitting

Three standard safety loop / grab loops; one on each end, and one just behind the cockpit for swimmer assistance.

Adjustable thigh hooks (with the included 4mm allen key) ,a ratcheting backband, and a moveable rotomolded seat with minicel foam on the center line to create a continuous beam between the bow and stern pillars.



Velcro pieces on the seat to accept the new adjustable hip pads, which are also found on the Mad Boy
(click the link to see how they work)



Four way adjustable bulkhead, allows you to expand or contract the footplate to fill in the gaps and have a bulkhead that feel like it was custom made for your inseam length.



A fun retro design in modern/new plastic, which I've been comparing (for fun) to the old school boats

Reaction vs Transition
Reaction vs Critical Mass
Reaction vs Vortex
Reaction vs Dancers
Reaction vs Lazer
Reaction vs AQII

It's not your old Reflex, it's the new SL350 from Dragorossi

contemporary lines, modern 3.5 meter boat, sized for average sized slalom athletes



with a nice rotomolded, adjustable seat (mincel pillar continues under the seat), ratchetting backband, and "yakima" style footpegs



molded knee bumps in the recessed cockpit area lets the discerning slalom boat paddler make a custom fit from minicel foam (as is traditinally the case with race boats)



the minicel pillars run almost the entire length of the boat to make sure it stays rigid

more info here
http://www.100waves.com/specs/slalom.html

cockpit size is approx. 30" x 16 1/2"

direct links (below) to photos of the SL350 in action at the
New England Whitewater Triple Crown Championships
taken by spectators as they enjoyed the competition

http://outdoors.webshots.com/photo/2649840490094366337xruGga

http://outdoors.webshots.com/photo/2259760520094366337fjvJCf

http://outdoors.webshots.com/photo/2450647990094366337aKrDop

http://wmercier.smugmug.com/gallery/8027364_cJEEs#522342511_qGUSG

Do you have a boat for T'ville?

TvilleTripleCrown.com



Ideally, you'd have a composite slalom boat, a composite wildwater boat, and (these days) a composite freestyle boat.

In reality, most people will have all plastic.
Ok to race your plastic freestyle boat, plastic slalom boat, and plastic freestyle boat.

Since there is so much focus on the overall scoring, if you choose to be in all three events, it's ok to break out the old school boat for the wildwater section, and perhaps even the slalom section.
You can even use your creek boat for these.
I'm sure that you can get a few spins and an ender in an old long boat or your creek boat.

So, don't worry about having the perfect boat. Just come on out and participate. You never know.
After taking part in the Triple Crown, you might just look back on it as the discovery of some new aspect of whitewater that you never before realized was fun.

(boats in the top photo, from left to right: SL350, Reaction, Wavehopper, MadBoy, Fish)



TvilleTripleCrown.com

Mad Boy quick outfitting introduction

The new  Dragorossi Performance Outfitting system is more traditional than the Elite Outfitting system.
It comes with adjustable hip pockets which fit most people.

The super slender can easily use one of the shims as a template to cut more padding, which can be added in the pocket.

Notice the velcro pad on the side of the seat.

This does most of the work of holding your hip pads, and will allow you to adjust the position of each hip pad to fit your personal body type.

Feed the top strap through the holes in the seat (where the backband straps are) and thread the end through the buckle on the front side of the hip pad.

Get in the boat with the buckle a bit loose so you can adjust the hip pad position to fit you.

Tighten  everything up when you have found the correct placement.

The rotomolded bow pillar is new for 2009.  It has a thumb screw that is set loose when the boat is new.  This is so you can move your seat forward or back.  Once you have found the correct seat position, tighten the screw down so the bow pillar will do its job of keeping the boat's shape and making it strong.  (it will compliment the foam pillar that runs under the seat, and the pillar in the stern, making a unified I-beam along the center line of the boat)

Notice the rounded, concave shape to the pillar.  It's meant to be used in conjunction with a bungee cord to hold a water bottle or small throw rope.  (the larger rope can go in back)

The bulkhead for 2009 is mostly traditional, with one new feature; the adjustment plates.

They can be adjusted to fill in any gaps, and prevent your feet from slipping past the bulkhead.

While not needed for general river running, if you plan to use this boat as a creeker then I'd recommend cutting a foam plate to cover all of this, that is at least 3" thick.

A special note on the adjustment plates:
BOTH the black and white plates adjust, so the adjustment is both horizontal and vertical, allowing you to fill the gaps better than if it was just one way. Essentially, you can make the plate expand or contract as you move it up and down.

The traditional thigh hooks can be adjusted with the included allen/hex wrench.  (4mm)

I took two pictures so you can get an idea of the adjustability.

The thigh hooks are held in place by three screws.  Be sure to loosen them all to make your adjustments.  

A word of caution:  when tightening them back up, you only need to make them hand tight, no need to crank down too hard.  Let the gaskets do their work without making them totally flat and your boat will be dry for a long time.

The new, larger DR Performance backband is softer than the old one, and makes stern access eaiser, for important gear such as a spectra throw rope.

It's much easier to access the stern by lifting the backband up, instead of trying to stuff things over the top.

Here are way too many photos of the first Mad Boy that was unwrapped last week.

Whitewater Championship

is next weekend
in the T'ville Gorge on the Farmington River
WhitewaterCompetition.com
It is a Triple Crown Event that will include
Slalom
Freestyle
Wildwater
preliminary races on Saturday
finals on Sunday

The DragoRossi Container has Arrived

it mostly contains SL350 plastic slalom boats and Mad Boys, with a few retro Reactions molded from new plastic.



on the far end of the photos you'll see a Green/Yellow fade Reaction (Lime) and a Blue/White fade slalom boat (ice)
those colors are a bit different from the usual Dragorossi colors, and make for some very unique looking boats.
The regular blue (not dark, not light) slalom boat was a bit of a suprise when I unloaded the container. It's a beautiful color.
Anyone who chose "ice" blue can drop me an email and let me know if they want that blue/white fade, or this new regular blue color.



I loaded my truck before taking these pictures, and am leaving for the first local, southern New England deliveries as soon as I post this.



Most of these boats are already sold, but there should be a small container of Mad Boy, Reaction, and SL350 left for customers who missed the first opportunity to get some new plastic from Dragorossi.

N.E.W. Triple Crown Champioinships

TvilleTripleCrown.com

a quick way to help reverse the tide of shady politics in the river

The West River releases have been reduced in number over the past couple of years
using suspect data to justify the reduction
to favor one narrow interest group

Now, the releases are moved to mid-week, so that they (technically) still exist
but they can only be enjoyed by the unemployed or few locals

In my opinion, this is the latest step towards eventually getting rid of the releases all together.
I'm sure that after a couple of years of scheduling releases when nobody can attend (mid-week)
the special interest group that would have the river all to themselves (out of town fly fisherman) will eventually start to argue that whitewater releases are not used, thus should be cancelled completely.

Sign this petition (takes less than a minute)
http://www.thepetitionsite.com/1/save-the-west-river
and help reverse the trend,
returning the West River to a true multi-use natural resource

AMC supports whitewater parks for their large variety of benefits

Including building appreciation for outdoor recreation
creating environmental awareness
the outstanding benefit to local fisheries
and as an integral part of many downtown area cleanups and restorations

link to full article

benefits of Heart Rate Training

recently I reverted to some training strategies that I used while racing slalom.
While I am no longer striving to be the best slalom boater that I can possibly be,
I remember the overall benefits that training gave my creeking and freestyle boating.
A large part of it was using a heart rate monitor to train within certain ranges.
It's something that applies to every sport, and every level of fitness, with incredible benefits.

The main idea is to build a strong aerobic base, upon which you can build a larger capacity for work.
In whitewater, that means that you have the strenght to pull off the more difficult moves and the health to keep doing it.
There is in incredible amount of information on the internet and in books about his subject, so worth doing your own research. But, as a very quick introduction, consider these links.

Start with 220, then subtract your age, you'll get a good estimate of your max heart rate, which is how you then calculate your exercise zones

after you have copied your excercise zones down, you are ready to compare them to the chart that will help you figure out your exercise targets, which include ways to gain general fitness or peak conditioning.

if all that is too much, and you have never done any kind of focused training, try a couple of weeks training in the "moderate daily activity" and "weight management" zones. That will give you a healthy base upon which to build.

If you are an athlete, but have not paid attention to your HR, consider alternating days of Aerobic Training and the Anearobic Threshold training.

In addition to following doctors' advice, I have found that the best trick to making sure that I was not over working, and ready for more intense workouts, is by taking my heart rate every morning when I first woke. If it's faster than normal, then I need more rest and will modify my workout. If it's normal or getting a little bit slower, then I can keep working hard.

disclaimer: this is all based on my own experience. Everyone is different. Talk to a doctor before you go and workout.

Ice breaking slalom workout

at the Riverhouse gates in Falls Village



Jaime, Devin, and Chris pushed the icebergs around to create a clear path for workouts.



Anticipating the spring races that will happen when the winter starts to lose it's grip on the northeast.



Also, keeping in shape and improving technique for the early spring creeking season by working technical moves in the gates.



Stop by Falls Village and join in.
The gates are in good condition and the water is reliable this time of year.

northeast paddlers on new Dragorossi website

Dragorossi needed photos for the new website so some of us northeastern folks were lucky enough to have some good photos of ourselves to share.

LOTS of photos in the Pintail section.
Click on the photos button on that page to see them.
You'll see Bulls Bridge in Connecticut, Scudders in New Jersey, Sheepscot in Maine.

The Mad Boy photo section starts off with Center Brook in Connecticut, and also has some shots from the Tville Dam.

About a third the way into the Mafia photo slide show I make an appearance doing some boof practice at the local low water spot.

The Squashtail set has a couple of medium/low tide Sheepscot surfing pics towards the end.

Ted DeVoe starts the Fish photo set off with some Strike Three moves and Tville looping. And, he is featured top left, mid loop on the Stinger page.

Stinger, Squashtail, Fish video from PNY

These two videos remind me of play sessions here in the northeast so I thought I'd share them

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gLmpzXSj69w

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wwXlUa4qvjM

water is the unconscious

Joseph Cambell says...

wiki says...

DragoRossi web site redesign is finished

http://www.dragorossi.com/
back to the dot com world
there are a couple of minor content items that need to be filled in, but the site is updated and live, with information about the whitewater kayak line

New England Whitewater Championship

is scheduled for April 25 & 26 in the Tarrifville Gorge section of the Farminton River.
More infomation will be available soon at
WhitewaterCompetition.com

Third year of the Lozer Cup is scheduled

for the summer of 2009 on the Deerfield River, just up the road from the outdoor center of Charlemont, Massachusetts; home of Zoar Outdoor (whitewater rafting, kayaking, canoeing, rock climbing, biking, fly fishing) and Berkshire East (skiing, snowboarding)

www.LozerCup.com is the main page of the website, but most people will end up using the calendar pages as a way to check both the dryway and fife section release schedules.



Teddy Bears indicate Fife releases
Skull and bones are for the Monroe Bridge releases
Trophy Cup shows that a Lozer Cup race is happening on that Sunday (at noon)

Hopefully I can move up in ranking instead of down. (I know, what else is a Lozer to do?)
In the 2007 overall results I was in second place.
In the 2008 overall results I dropped to being tied for third.
In my defence (a.k.a. all my excuses) the competition drew more skilled paddlers last year, more people were trained up, and I participated in fewer events.

Review; Astral Green Jacket

Right before the holidays i found myself on a two week warm water winter waterfall hucking trip. i also found myself with an early Christmas present, the Astral Green Jacket. It was about time i retired my very faded and very used four year old Astral 300R. I have to admit i was a bit skeptical about switching life jackets. I mean i had created a great bond with my 300R and was not sure if i wanted to switch to the much anticipated and very trendily named "Green Jacket" that had just come out. For years I had bonded with the simplicity of the three adjustment straps, a quick release safety belt, and the amazing rib and spinal protection that the 300R provided me. Well i took the plunge and went for the Green Jacket. i have also been very surprised at how pleased i am with my selection.



With the 300R we were given two sizes, extra small/medium and large/xl. I wore the sm/med. and it fit me well but i always felt like i was in between sizes. The Green Jacket takes care of that. There are now three sizes; small/medium, medium/large, and large/XL. I fit well in the medium/large which Astral suggests a 38"-44" chest size. I find that when fitted the Green Jacket sits a little higher on my torso then the 300R with more flotation riding in my chest area rather then around the stomach and kidney area. This however does not take away from the protection of the vest. i find that there is even more protection on the back panel as well as the padding that surrounds your ribs and kidneys feels much more protective. I found that having more of the flotation higher in the chest area there was less bulk in the stomach area allowing for an easier tuck when hucking your meat off that sick waterfall you've been dreaming about. I also found out more then once on our Mexico excursion that the Green Jacket is a swimmers jacket. I felt very confident in not only how the jacket floated me but also how much easier it was to swim in.



The 300R is definitely a much more simple vest with only three points of adjustments and the quick release belt compared to the eight adjustment points on the Green Jacket (three on each side and then two in the front) and the quick release belt. On the other hand it does feel like a much more snug and firmly on you jacket. i guess i can deal with it taking me an extra 30 seconds to get it on and off.



The Green Jacket comes with some nice features as well. There is the standard knife patch, daisy chains sewn onto the shoulder straps, spots for a whistle, padded shoulder straps, a back support built in, a generous front pocket, as well as a front pocket for an Astral throw bag, an anchored belay loop, and two side pockets. The padding on the shoulder straps could be a little more and come up on top of the shoulders more to really be effective for alleviating some of that portaging pain and i'm not sure how much the built in back support does but i certainly am not going to complain about it. Every bit of support helps when it comes to our backs and kayaking. i use one of the side pockets for my Astral tether and haven't found a use for the other one. It is nice to have an option which side you stow your tether or leash on. the large front pocket is plenty big for me to carry my small pin kit consisting of; a pulley, two biners, two slings, and two prussik loops as well as my skull cap. i don't carry an Astral throw rope and i feel that with my pin kit in the front pocket to add a throw rope would make it too bulky for me. On the other hand with my 300R i didn't carry a throw rope either but instead i carried a three foot piece of plastic tubing with a rapid air valve on one end to act as a snorkel in case of a pin, this would fit nicely in the rope pocket of the 300R. The Green Jacket has more of an open pocket for the throw rope which doesn't work for me. I think that if another snap was added to allow access to both sides of the throw rope pocket i would be able to carry my snorkel without a problem. This rescue vest has a lot of usable features rather then just a bunch of overdone gimmicks.



Overall i am very pleased i decided to take a chance on the Green Jacket. It is a very practical easy to use rescue vest whether you're using the the built in belay loop to rappel around a portage , towing a boat back across the river after a rescue, or you're swimming your ass to shore because you screwed your line up.

Babies can be taught to swim

found this a couple of years ago
http://www.infantswim.com/home.html
and now that I'm an uncle, and it seems like half my friends have little ones, I thought it would be a good time to post this here.