World Championships - training week
I have been at Thun for the 2010 World Championships for a few days now, starting to get used to the wave although 4 to 5 rides in team training slots and 4 rides per hour (in a quiet hour) outside that time is not the best way to get used to a feature, especially when paddling a new boat and a wave that has so far changed daily (hopefully it has settled now)!
Having paddled a mixture of the 'old' star and the project over the last 18 months (mainly Project for waves and the Star for holes) I have just got hold of a 'new' (2010) Star (thanks to Marsport) which left me with a huge dilemma a few days ago: Project or Star for Thun? I'd taken the Star to HPP, on the surf and at Bremgarten - I was loving it on the Bremgarten wave as it just seemed to rotate so quickly for blunts and was easy to get vertical, but Thun is slower and flatter and a totally different type of wave. I'm not sure changing a boat a few days before the Worlds is really the best idea but having just a few rides in each boat at Thun I think I will perform better in the Star than the Project - though only if I can get used to it by next Thursday! Hopefully those 8 rides a day will get me there!
The site at Thun is now looking like a competition site and the stands have thankfully now been built (the construction was delayed for a couple of days which meant that the wave wasn't in until Wednesday instead of Monday - though this did give us a couple of days at Bremgarten and gave me the chance to properly try out the Star). I'm sure Simon (Hirter - organiser) has had a few stressful days (and several more to come) but all is now coming together - and just a slight hiccup when the wave totally disappeared yesterday morning!
The big air ramp was also finished yesterday (although also meant a 3-hour stop in training on the wave).
Hmmm... look at the way the kicker stops short of the scaffolding, wouldn't want to be the one testing that! (Also spot the construction worker having a rest - they seem to do quite a lot of that :)
Before and after team training slots the wave is 'free' (i.e busy) and the eddy is a whole lot busier than below (average of 30 people in the eddy) even at 3- 4 am!!
Just a couple more days of official team training and the competition starts on Tuesday with the men's heats. The ladies are up on Thursday. With over 270 competitors its going to be an interesting competition (and possibly quite long - especially men's heats!!), I'll try to update regularly with all the action!
Having paddled a mixture of the 'old' star and the project over the last 18 months (mainly Project for waves and the Star for holes) I have just got hold of a 'new' (2010) Star (thanks to Marsport) which left me with a huge dilemma a few days ago: Project or Star for Thun? I'd taken the Star to HPP, on the surf and at Bremgarten - I was loving it on the Bremgarten wave as it just seemed to rotate so quickly for blunts and was easy to get vertical, but Thun is slower and flatter and a totally different type of wave. I'm not sure changing a boat a few days before the Worlds is really the best idea but having just a few rides in each boat at Thun I think I will perform better in the Star than the Project - though only if I can get used to it by next Thursday! Hopefully those 8 rides a day will get me there!
The site at Thun is now looking like a competition site and the stands have thankfully now been built (the construction was delayed for a couple of days which meant that the wave wasn't in until Wednesday instead of Monday - though this did give us a couple of days at Bremgarten and gave me the chance to properly try out the Star). I'm sure Simon (Hirter - organiser) has had a few stressful days (and several more to come) but all is now coming together - and just a slight hiccup when the wave totally disappeared yesterday morning!
The big air ramp was also finished yesterday (although also meant a 3-hour stop in training on the wave).
Hmmm... look at the way the kicker stops short of the scaffolding, wouldn't want to be the one testing that! (Also spot the construction worker having a rest - they seem to do quite a lot of that :) Before and after team training slots the wave is 'free' (i.e busy) and the eddy is a whole lot busier than below (average of 30 people in the eddy) even at 3- 4 am!!
Just a couple more days of official team training and the competition starts on Tuesday with the men's heats. The ladies are up on Thursday. With over 270 competitors its going to be an interesting competition (and possibly quite long - especially men's heats!!), I'll try to update regularly with all the action!
posted by flea at 3:05 pm 
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