Artifacts & links
Freestyle Artifacts
Web episode - Ottawa River's influence in evolution of freestyle
http://vimeo.com/54163364
This web series is created by the kayak film producer five2nine; this episode focuses on the influence of the Ottawa River, a long-time freestyle mecca, in the evolution of freestyle kayaking. It offers a thorough retelling of kayaking on the Ottawa through the ages through a variety of footage and contains many interviews with accomplished paddlers that speak not only about the Ottawa River but also about the progression of kayaking as a whole. As a result, this video offers a good amount of information relevant to my questions involving the nature of progress in the sport.
Web page - Great overview of wave and hole tricks
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Playboating
While the overall goal of this article is to explain freestyle kayaking (or "playboating") to those not familiar with the sport, it offers a very comprehensive listing with descriptions of today's - and yesterday's - freestyle tricks. This is a wikipedia page, but it is obviously written by a very knowledgable kayaker or group of kayakers and has proved to be one of the most exhaustive and accurate compilations of freestyle trick descriptions. It has been very useful in getting my bearings with all the different names for each trick and the evolution of freestyle can be seen throughout the progression in tricks - the reader is taken from enders and pirouettes all the way to some of the recently emerging big wave combo moves and "new school" hole tricks. So while it's probably not a sufficient source for research, I definitely owe this well-written overview some credit for helping me with things like better understanding what I am seeing when I review footage.
Web page - NOC Freestyle Kayak Overview, basic history
http://www.freestylekayaking2013.com/whatsKayaking.html
This web page served as an introduction to freestyle kayaking as a sport for the recent 2013 Freestyle World Championships in North Carolina. It offers a brief, not especially detailed history of freestyle kayaking. Its information is useful, however, in putting together a rough timeline and understanding a few major themes in freestyle kayak history, including the rise of extreme sports in the 80s, a boom in competitions in the 90s, and more recent improvements to the boat manufacturing process within the past decade.
Web page - Kayak History, kayaktohell.com
http://www.kayaktohell.com/kayaking/history
This page from the website kayaktohell.com, a kayaker-produced resource intended for paddling in western-Canada, offers a fairly thorough survey of whitewater kayaking history. The most relevant information on freestyle can be found in a timeline that overviews main boats and/or trends in freestyle from the '96 RPM onward. The information offered from the turn of the century onward is lacking compared to that of what's offered for the late '90s, but luckily I need the most information about the time period it chronicles best. The site is less professional than others I've come across in my research and represents an amateur work by research standards but has offered the the best written chronology of freestyle history that I've come across so far; I've found no inaccuracies. Also on this site is an exhaustive listing of various kayaking terms - many of which are freestyle moves, pertain to boat design, or are otherwise relevant to freestyle history - with corresponding descriptions/definitions that have been helpful.
Video - Early 1980s: Old-school play and carnage at McCoy's, Ottawa River
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FtXZ2xtmKsE
This old-school footage from McCoy's Rapid on the Ottawa River shows kayaking from the early '80s, although I don't know the origins and the exact ability level of the paddlers. This is the earliest footage of stationary play in a kayak I have seen to date. The parts of the video of paddlers in Phil's Hole - a large and relatively violent hole - show some "carnage" (many of the paddlers have next to no control in such a feature, it seems). I was surprised to see, though, the frontsurfing of small green waves, even in boats of such great length; the boats did have the advantage of great speed - much greater than that of playboats today. Play in Horseshoe Hole is confined to controlled sidesurfing. Boats are very traditional in design.
Video - Early 1980s: Frontsurf
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w1PkYo5jQZ4&list=PLF9EC23AB5EB333B0
A kayaker, likely from "PA's Whitewater Challenger Crew," frontsurfs an unknown small wave in this clip. Posted by the same youtube user as the footage listed above, and likely filmed by the same person or group. Same credentials and of similar aid to my project as the artifact above.
Video - 1988 or 89: "Ottawa Old School Style" footage, example of early play in stationary features
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e-wmysaDnwI
This footage posted on YouTube by a random user showcases some classic old school paddling at McCoy's Rapid on the Ottawa River, at Rightside Horseshoe Hole and at Rightside Phil's Hole, two features I've surfed myself many times and know well. This footage has been very helpful in identifying trends in paddling and boat design in the late 1980s. For example, while the play shown is on stationary features (hole and wave) and not simply down-river tricks, it is immediately apparent when footage of surfing Phil's Hole is shown that the boat design of the time still completely lacks the capacity to allow for freestyle maneuvers in a feature with such characteristics. What could potentially be serious hole play with today's modern boats or even with the boats a decade later is instead some serious beatdown footage with the boats frequently stuck in a sidesurf. Surprising to me, though, is the amount of play on green waves (on the waves above Phil's and on the tongue at Horseshoe); paddlers are both frontsurfing and backsurfing. One squirt boater does a some vertical axis-tilted flatspins (no longer flat). Squirt boating ahead of K1?
Videos - 1994: Augsburg Rodeo
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G0NCfVrKqMU
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=97EU4-Ofq0s
These two edits feature footage of the 1994 Augsburg Rodeo. As a highly organized competition, this likely shows the highest level of paddling at the time, or close to it - and the selection of footage from the competition makes clear what moves were highly prized. This is useful in showing how dominant cartwheel-based maneuvers were in competition at this time, although here full cartwheels aren't seen as often as just getting one end vertical without a second consecutive one. Competitors in these clips don't show exceptional boat control in comparison to more modern freestyle norms but their ability to utilize such a steep feature in boats of such considerable size is impressive. Shown also are a squirt (an old school downriver classic) or two as a pre-entry move of sorts. The boats seem Perception Dancer-like in shape, generally - this is shortly before the RPM. A separate squirt boat class showcases very similar tricks.
Video - 1999: Canadian Team Trials
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bQa0fhXT9uI&feature=c4-overview&list=UUGn_bj2r2GFM7dP94dhZDlg
This edit shows the team trials for the Canadian Whitewater Freestyle Team in 1999. It showcases the best freestyle paddling Canada had to offer at the time, and Canada has consistently tended to produce very strong paddlers - meaning it is an example of some of the best kayaking at the time. The edit screams "cartwheels". Vying for a spot as the most dominant trick in freestyle kayaking history, the cartwheel is seen in what could arguably be it's golden era during this period. The video shows kayakers performing end after end with impressive control, with some splitwheels and flatspins thrown in as well. The footage shows that if boats have gotten any shorter within the past decade, it hasn't been by too much. The bows and sterns of the kayaks are noticeably more tapered at the bow and stern than boats of 5 years prior, with greater flair and less volume at the ends (the thinner the ends, the "slicier" the kayak and the easier it is for the paddler to perform cartwheels). Perhaps the greatest value of this edit comes at the beginning when kayakers are shown blowtorching the stern of a kayak (to make the plastic softer and more pliable) and then driving over it with a truck wheel to make the stern thinner, decreasing its volume and making it slicier. The kayaker is taking into his own hands a continuation of a design change in playboats and is preceding even more drastic volume reductions in commercial boats. It serves as a very visible example of a trend that was present at the time and symbolic of a more drastic continuation of the trend in the years to come.
Video - 2000: Ocoee Rodeo
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=msDDPxAxYMM
This 10-minute mini-documentary produced in 2000 by Travel Channel's Shane Reynolds highlights the 2000 Ocoee Rodeo held in Ocoee Tennessee. The video is a good example of what a major competition involving some of the most talented paddlers of the time looked like in the year 2000. Cartwheels and closely related tricks are still completely dominant, as nearly nothing else aside from off-axis spins (as if tilting the horizontal plane vertically, not on edge) are shown. There is one clip of a kayaker plowing his bow under the foam pile, somewhat reminiscent of plugging to initiate a loop, and a 180 degree spin performed on a green wave, but it's obvious that paddling was still firmly in the cartwheel era at the turn of the century. Boats have clearly progressed from Perception Dancer/Dagger RPM-like boats of past decades to dedicated playboats like the Dagger Ultrafuge; the footage shows that dramatic volume reduction in the ends to increase "slicyness" has occurred, in addition to some length reduction, but the standard of the time in boat design still awaits the dramatic drop in kayak length that characterizes modern playboats.
Video - 2002: Chambly edit
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b-Dg9--sgOI&list=UUGn_bj2r2GFM7dP94dhZDlg
This short edit shows a few kayakers demonstrating wave freestyle in Canada. The level of kayaking looks to be fairly expert for the time. It is the first marker I have so far of the rapid shortening in boat design that took place in the early 2000s; the boats shown in this footage are all dramatically shorter than those popular at the turn of the century, although they would still be considered to be long playboats, especially in the stern, by today's standards. Their thin, slicey ends are a long ways away from the volume packed bows and sterns required for today's most progressive hole play, and distribution of volume still shows that the boats were designed with cartwheels more in mind than loops. Boats shown are made by Wavesport, Necky, and Riot. In this footage, we at once see the makings of modern wave freestyle; air blunts, backstabs, Pan-Ams, helixes - one of the best I have ever seen by Steve Fisher (trick's inventor, green Riot) - and even an air screw or two. The similarity between this playboating and the playboating a decade later is striking, with one of the few differences being the progression in combo moves during freestyle's most recent years.
Video - 2002: "Phat Philm" edits
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=loSjq6w7Vto
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ek_MYDRHuQA
A diversity of boats are shown in this multi-discipline edit, which is from 2002 but includes some freestyle footage with boats that seem to be from at least a couple years prior; the majority shows boats and paddling that seem to fit with trends of 2002, though, so I believe the dating I've labeled it with is at least fairly reliable if I am selective with what footage I consider to represent 2002. Shown are a variety of boat lengths, widths (pointiness/bluntness) of bows and sterns, volume distribution, and hull shapes. The footage is indicative of companies still experimenting with boat designs after a relatively rapid shortening of overall length (a dramatic change for the industry), as even amongst the advanced paddlers shown there is not nearly the relative uniformity in boat shape that is present today, where differences between the designs of major competing boat retailers are more subdued. We see some design features that have since passed, including forked sterns, especially on Necky boats, and even a forked bow. Also recognizable are many of the same features that are popular today with big-wave freestyle, making comparisons between the moves shown and the moves of today much easier to draw. Many locations are shown that I am also familiar with from surfing there myself, including Garburator Wave, Corner Wave, and Horseshoe Hole of the Ottawa River and Big Joe Wave of the St. Lawrence Waterway. Tricks in this edit are as varied as the boats - plenty of cartwheels in holes but also more modern wave play as seen in the Chambly edit. Potentially the biggest landmark shown in this footage is the earliest loop I have seen on film so far. A "Part 2" features more footage with the same themes. One clip in particular shows a loop followed by multiple cartwheels - representative of an early stage in the transition between the cartwheel era and the loop-based trick era that is present today.
Video - 2010: The original "Stakeout"
http://vimeo.com/8208615
This landmark kayak movie was put together in 2010 by modern freestyle greats Joel Kowalski and Rush Sturges. Filmed during the spring flood-levels in eastern Canada, "Stakeout" kickstarted a tradition of publicizing the highly-progressive, pro-level freestyle paddling that takes places on the world-class waves of Ontario and Quebec. Despite being somewhat quirky and goofy (unavoidable in today's kayaker-produced film), this is a very reliable source in terms of showing the best paddling of the time, as a good hand-full of the best paddlers of the 2010 decade are shown, including Kowalski, Stuges, Ben Marr, and Patrick Camblin. The tricks performed cover the same modern wave-freetyle basics (blunts, Pan-Ams, airscrews, etc.). We now see plenty of combos moves - the footage included generally represents a mid-way point of sorts between the prevalence of single, stand alone tricks and the most modern sequences combining the most difficult of individual wave tricks. In "Stakeout" we see bread and butters (a Pan-Am to backstab combo - potentially the first combo move - invented by Camblin) and many similar combo moves, especially from Marr and Camblin, that rely heavily on spins, roundhouses, blunts, or backstabs to give the move its combo-status. This is representative of the film overall - progressive at the time but long enough ago to still not be considered representative of the most modern paddling. The boats are diverse even amongst the smaller number of paddlers represented - some look closely reminiscent of the most modern boats but many older boats are shown. Marr, for example he paddles a split-stern Necky; I imagine the choices were made for the boats' hulls. The features surfed are pretty much all the same ones that were popular in 2013 in this region.
Video - 2012: All tricks demo - 2013 ICF World Championships "Preview"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h_MmGEXFYGM
This compilation of trick demonstrations was posted on YouTube in 2012 in anticipation of the 2013 ICF Freestyle World Championships. It was posted by a channel that aims to promote tourism in Bryson City, North Carolina, which was the site of the championships. It doesn't seem to have any affiliation with the ICF, but the kayaking speaks for itself - this is a solid resource with well-performed ticks, representing very well the moves that were in fact showcased in the championships. Everything from cartwheels to a clean back loop are shown, although it's mostly "new-scool", loop-based tricks: McNasties, phonics monkeys, space Godzillas, etc. I would classify all boats as 'most modern' with the exception of one Pyranha Rev(?).
Video - 2012: "French Style Demo" edit, Mathieu Dumolin, wave freestyle, great variety of tricks
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bEjRRYa8QGc
This "demo" put out by talented professional kayaker Mathieu Dumolin showcases him performing a wide variety of wave tricks in Lyon, France. This serves as a good example of 2012 kayaking - although it lacks the absolute most progressive combo moves that have been done (likely more of a result of the feature than much else), the style and degree of ease which Dumolin portrays show that the level of kayaking is alongside that of the most progressive modern paddling. Many combos, carbon boat, big wave... it's easy to see that the most modern trends of freestyle at the moment are present in this edit from barely a couple years ago.
Video - 2013: Progressive modern big wave freestyle (Airborn Kayaking's "FRESH" series Ep. 1)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G0ugCmM5Yzc
This short edit, titled "Fresh Melt" and produced by the Airborn Kayaking team, is part of Airborn's "FRESH" YouTube series on Epic TV. It shows what is in my opinion some of today's most progressive big wave freestyle kayaking performed by the kayaker who the episode centers on, Devyn Scott. Included are advanced combo moves and huge air by Scott and other pro kayakers, who demonstrate a wide variety of wave moves, often in carbon boats, at multiple famous waves in Canada. The video shows the traditional order of difficulty of moves in a combo sequences at times being reversed - an air screw might follow a flatspin or blunt rather than the other way around. Bigger moves than in the past are shown being performed clean (verify). This is a prime example for my research of the cutting edge of freestyle at the moment and the culmination of well over three decades of freestyle history.
Video - 2013: Pro demo of the Carbon Fiber 2014 Jackson Rockstar
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bWe4OpDZiKg
This promotional video for the carbon fiber version of the 2014 Jackson Rockstar, produced by members of the Jackson Kayak team, shows Dane Jackson and Nick Troutman - easily two of the best and most progressive current freestyle kayakers - in one of the most advanced boats on the market. The 2014 Jackson Rockstar is of course characteristic of current playboat design with short length, moderate rails, completely flat hull, and gradual rocker. It's volume distribution is comparable to the field of current designs as well; ends are relatively low in volume for the less popular yet ever present carwheel and related tricks while volume is packed around the cockpit to achieve maximum pop while performing loop-based tricks. The fact that the video advertises a generic (non-custom) carbon model of an originally plastic boat for the consumer market is indicative in the resurgence of composite boats in the past few years - we've seen plenty of pros in their custom models for a quite few years now, but now they're more accessible to less talented boaters, which is indicative of the growing trend. The paddling is some of the most progressive to date, notably featuring Dane Jackson's triple airscrew combo (the first to do it?) along with double air screws, many combo sequences with over two components, and sequences culminating in a more difficult trick than was started out with (as described above). As for hole freestyle, the video makes a point of showing the paddler continuous motion, at points in long combo sequences combining technically difficult moves. This shows the clear trend toward combo moves that not only increase in length of the sequences but also in the difficulty of the moves performed - different from when competition was essentially based how many cartwheels could be performed in a given amount of time.
Video - 2013: Coverage of 2013 Freestyle World Championships
http://www.freestylekayaking2013.com/
This site was the official webpage for the 2013 ICF Canoe Freestyle World Championships ("Canoe" including kayaking), during which the best paddlers in the world - from a broad, international pool - competed in North Carolina. The site offers video recaps of all the stages and events day by day, showing what the top boats (including the Dagger Jitsu, Pyranha JED, Jackson Rockstar, and WaveSport Mobius) look like and more importantly - considering what artifacts I have so far - what timed hole competition, not just an edit combining a trip's worth of best tricks, looks like in 2013.
Video - 2013: "Stakeout Progression" Short Film of the Year Entry - progressive modern big wave freestyle
http://vimeo.com/69164186
This entry for the whitewater kayak Best Short Film of the Year Awards, put out by Nick Troutman, compiles footage from a continuation of the annual Stakeout tradition of searching out the biggest waves of Quebec and Ontario's flooded rivers in the springtime (Gladiator, Ruins, Bus Eater, etc.). Showcased is big air and big combos from a group of elite freestyle kayakers. The video is similar to "Fresh Melt" video and the 2014 carbon Rockstar demo video in content, and serves as another example of progression in wave freestyle's most recent years.
Video - 2013: James Bebbington in Dagger Jitsu "Pringles Summer Sessions" edit
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5W5d9v1lirk
This edit shows footage of James Bebbington, an elite freestyle kayaker and hole freestyle competitor, training in Spain and France. His boat, 2013's Dagger Jitsu (here in carbon fiber), is representative of the field of the most modern playboats - and his paddling of the top competition-oriented hole-boaters in the world. It's helpful in understanding the type of competition-driven style that characterizes competitive hole play today.
Blog post - Article on Freestyle Kayak Judging by Clay Wright
http://jacksonkayak.com/blog/2011/06/22/freestyle-kayak-judging-how-do-they-know-who-wins/
This blog post is essentially an article about how freestyle kayaking is judged. Written by Clay Wright, who is certified as an ICF judge and is a member of the USA freestyle team, the article is relevant to my research because highlights many important aspects of modern competitive freestyle and details how competitive freestyle works.
OTHER LINKS
Video - 2013: Team Jackson at Trailer Park Wave - hole & wave play
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1McGCnEvyx8&list=PLtDLRBQGvjWcZ4Efr2kRQUz7CKKJskdio
Video - 2013: Rush Sturges tests the Dagger Jitsu
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RxmRFt4QFHw
Video - Rush Sturges highlight reel - includes footage dating back to _____
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cf8rnNCBFuQ
Video - Tribe Rider's 2014 Whitewater Grand Prix "Countdown" Promo Video, ft. Devyn Scott
http://vimeo.com/88531813
Video - Stephen Wright in Reno with carbon Rockstar
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qzlLw4TGAsU
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ken_Whiting
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BkyP4EjafPI&list=PLF9EC23AB5EB333B0
http://jacksonkayak.com/blog/2011/06/22/freestyle-kayak-judging-how-do-they-know-who-wins/
Boat Design
GENERAL
Web page - NRS design terminology breakdown and descriptions (chines, rocker, etc.)
http://www.nrs.com/kayaks/kayak_terminology.asp
OLDER BOATS
CURRENT BOATS
JACKSON ROCKSTAR
Web page - 2014 Jackson Rockstar, jacksonkayak.com
http://jacksonkayak.com/jk-kayaks/whitewater-kayak/2014-rockstar/
Video - 2014 Jackson Rockstar Team Promo Review (also freestyle footage artifact)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QlB56NwzmaI
Video - 2014 Jackson Rockstar Promo Review
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BufICOm8h2Y
JACKSON STAR SERIES
Web page - 2010 Jackson Star series main page
http://jacksonkayak.com/jk-kayaks/whitewater-kayak/star-series/
Web page - 2013 Jackson Star series main page
http://jacksonkayak.com/jk-kayaks/2013-all-star/Video - Dagger Jitsu Promo Review
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2XyPWhKQyoM
WAVESPORT MOBIUS
Web page - Wavesport Mobius main page
http://www.wavesport.com/product_category/index/products/north_american_products/freestyle_us
Video - 2013 Wavesport Mobius promo
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s9ByoIZFcSs
DAGGER JITSU
Web page - Dagger Jitsu main page
http://dagger.com/products/whitewater/freestyle/jitsu-5-9
Video: Dagger Jitsu design
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XigX0pq8Fts
Video: Dagger Jitsu overview/team test promo part II
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2XyPWhKQyoM
PYRANHA JED
Web page: Pyranha Jed main page
http://www.pyranha.com/kayaks.php?kayak=Jed
Composite Construction
Comprehensive info on composite construction, potential source for materials and equipment, and potential contact http://www.sweetcomposites.com/
Book - How to Fabricate Automotive Fiberglass & Carbon Fiber Parts
Daniel Burrill, Jeffery Zurschmeide
Detailed blog on home construction of a composite kayak, potential contact
http://worldkayakblogs.com/billsblog/2008/09/22/building-a-new-old-classic-part-1/
Mountainbuzz.com public forum: "Building a Carbon Fiber Kayak"
http://www.mountainbuzz.com/forums/f15/building-a-carbon-fiber-kayak-46482.html
Small composite kayak company (that has made carbon fiber Jackson Rockstars), potential contact
http://murkywaterkayak.com/
Small composite kayak company, does not do playboats, potential contact
http://www.westsideboatshop.com/
Basic kayak construction info with composite material overview http://www.useakayak.org/equipment/boat_constuction.html#Carbon_fiber
Outfitting design feature: belt
https://www.facebook.com/clay.wright.75/media_set?set=a.10202933213637846.1073741852.1428381834&
TED Talk
Steve Fisher speaks on running rapids (TEDx Athens)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dcdXzQq84PU
This was the closest TED talk I could find to my subject. In this speech, professional kayaker Steve Fisher talks about the risks of dangerous kayaking such as running a series of waterfalls. Fisher was one of the best and most progressive freestyle kayakers earlier in his career but has in recent years become most renowned for tackling big water. In the talk, he explains how he breaks down a problem that has never been solved before - in his case a first decent of challenging whitewater - by separating the challenge into smaller pieces and mitigating risk. While the talk focuses on whitewater kayaking, it does not speak to any aspect of freestyle kayaking and as a result is not very relevant to my research.
Web episode - Ottawa River's influence in evolution of freestyle
http://vimeo.com/54163364
This web series is created by the kayak film producer five2nine; this episode focuses on the influence of the Ottawa River, a long-time freestyle mecca, in the evolution of freestyle kayaking. It offers a thorough retelling of kayaking on the Ottawa through the ages through a variety of footage and contains many interviews with accomplished paddlers that speak not only about the Ottawa River but also about the progression of kayaking as a whole. As a result, this video offers a good amount of information relevant to my questions involving the nature of progress in the sport.
Web page - Great overview of wave and hole tricks
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Playboating
While the overall goal of this article is to explain freestyle kayaking (or "playboating") to those not familiar with the sport, it offers a very comprehensive listing with descriptions of today's - and yesterday's - freestyle tricks. This is a wikipedia page, but it is obviously written by a very knowledgable kayaker or group of kayakers and has proved to be one of the most exhaustive and accurate compilations of freestyle trick descriptions. It has been very useful in getting my bearings with all the different names for each trick and the evolution of freestyle can be seen throughout the progression in tricks - the reader is taken from enders and pirouettes all the way to some of the recently emerging big wave combo moves and "new school" hole tricks. So while it's probably not a sufficient source for research, I definitely owe this well-written overview some credit for helping me with things like better understanding what I am seeing when I review footage.
Web page - NOC Freestyle Kayak Overview, basic history
http://www.freestylekayaking2013.com/whatsKayaking.html
This web page served as an introduction to freestyle kayaking as a sport for the recent 2013 Freestyle World Championships in North Carolina. It offers a brief, not especially detailed history of freestyle kayaking. Its information is useful, however, in putting together a rough timeline and understanding a few major themes in freestyle kayak history, including the rise of extreme sports in the 80s, a boom in competitions in the 90s, and more recent improvements to the boat manufacturing process within the past decade.
Web page - Kayak History, kayaktohell.com
http://www.kayaktohell.com/kayaking/history
This page from the website kayaktohell.com, a kayaker-produced resource intended for paddling in western-Canada, offers a fairly thorough survey of whitewater kayaking history. The most relevant information on freestyle can be found in a timeline that overviews main boats and/or trends in freestyle from the '96 RPM onward. The information offered from the turn of the century onward is lacking compared to that of what's offered for the late '90s, but luckily I need the most information about the time period it chronicles best. The site is less professional than others I've come across in my research and represents an amateur work by research standards but has offered the the best written chronology of freestyle history that I've come across so far; I've found no inaccuracies. Also on this site is an exhaustive listing of various kayaking terms - many of which are freestyle moves, pertain to boat design, or are otherwise relevant to freestyle history - with corresponding descriptions/definitions that have been helpful.
Video - Early 1980s: Old-school play and carnage at McCoy's, Ottawa River
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FtXZ2xtmKsE
This old-school footage from McCoy's Rapid on the Ottawa River shows kayaking from the early '80s, although I don't know the origins and the exact ability level of the paddlers. This is the earliest footage of stationary play in a kayak I have seen to date. The parts of the video of paddlers in Phil's Hole - a large and relatively violent hole - show some "carnage" (many of the paddlers have next to no control in such a feature, it seems). I was surprised to see, though, the frontsurfing of small green waves, even in boats of such great length; the boats did have the advantage of great speed - much greater than that of playboats today. Play in Horseshoe Hole is confined to controlled sidesurfing. Boats are very traditional in design.
Video - Early 1980s: Frontsurf
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w1PkYo5jQZ4&list=PLF9EC23AB5EB333B0
A kayaker, likely from "PA's Whitewater Challenger Crew," frontsurfs an unknown small wave in this clip. Posted by the same youtube user as the footage listed above, and likely filmed by the same person or group. Same credentials and of similar aid to my project as the artifact above.
Video - 1988 or 89: "Ottawa Old School Style" footage, example of early play in stationary features
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e-wmysaDnwI
This footage posted on YouTube by a random user showcases some classic old school paddling at McCoy's Rapid on the Ottawa River, at Rightside Horseshoe Hole and at Rightside Phil's Hole, two features I've surfed myself many times and know well. This footage has been very helpful in identifying trends in paddling and boat design in the late 1980s. For example, while the play shown is on stationary features (hole and wave) and not simply down-river tricks, it is immediately apparent when footage of surfing Phil's Hole is shown that the boat design of the time still completely lacks the capacity to allow for freestyle maneuvers in a feature with such characteristics. What could potentially be serious hole play with today's modern boats or even with the boats a decade later is instead some serious beatdown footage with the boats frequently stuck in a sidesurf. Surprising to me, though, is the amount of play on green waves (on the waves above Phil's and on the tongue at Horseshoe); paddlers are both frontsurfing and backsurfing. One squirt boater does a some vertical axis-tilted flatspins (no longer flat). Squirt boating ahead of K1?
Videos - 1994: Augsburg Rodeo
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G0NCfVrKqMU
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=97EU4-Ofq0s
These two edits feature footage of the 1994 Augsburg Rodeo. As a highly organized competition, this likely shows the highest level of paddling at the time, or close to it - and the selection of footage from the competition makes clear what moves were highly prized. This is useful in showing how dominant cartwheel-based maneuvers were in competition at this time, although here full cartwheels aren't seen as often as just getting one end vertical without a second consecutive one. Competitors in these clips don't show exceptional boat control in comparison to more modern freestyle norms but their ability to utilize such a steep feature in boats of such considerable size is impressive. Shown also are a squirt (an old school downriver classic) or two as a pre-entry move of sorts. The boats seem Perception Dancer-like in shape, generally - this is shortly before the RPM. A separate squirt boat class showcases very similar tricks.
Video - 1999: Canadian Team Trials
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bQa0fhXT9uI&feature=c4-overview&list=UUGn_bj2r2GFM7dP94dhZDlg
This edit shows the team trials for the Canadian Whitewater Freestyle Team in 1999. It showcases the best freestyle paddling Canada had to offer at the time, and Canada has consistently tended to produce very strong paddlers - meaning it is an example of some of the best kayaking at the time. The edit screams "cartwheels". Vying for a spot as the most dominant trick in freestyle kayaking history, the cartwheel is seen in what could arguably be it's golden era during this period. The video shows kayakers performing end after end with impressive control, with some splitwheels and flatspins thrown in as well. The footage shows that if boats have gotten any shorter within the past decade, it hasn't been by too much. The bows and sterns of the kayaks are noticeably more tapered at the bow and stern than boats of 5 years prior, with greater flair and less volume at the ends (the thinner the ends, the "slicier" the kayak and the easier it is for the paddler to perform cartwheels). Perhaps the greatest value of this edit comes at the beginning when kayakers are shown blowtorching the stern of a kayak (to make the plastic softer and more pliable) and then driving over it with a truck wheel to make the stern thinner, decreasing its volume and making it slicier. The kayaker is taking into his own hands a continuation of a design change in playboats and is preceding even more drastic volume reductions in commercial boats. It serves as a very visible example of a trend that was present at the time and symbolic of a more drastic continuation of the trend in the years to come.
Video - 2000: Ocoee Rodeo
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=msDDPxAxYMM
This 10-minute mini-documentary produced in 2000 by Travel Channel's Shane Reynolds highlights the 2000 Ocoee Rodeo held in Ocoee Tennessee. The video is a good example of what a major competition involving some of the most talented paddlers of the time looked like in the year 2000. Cartwheels and closely related tricks are still completely dominant, as nearly nothing else aside from off-axis spins (as if tilting the horizontal plane vertically, not on edge) are shown. There is one clip of a kayaker plowing his bow under the foam pile, somewhat reminiscent of plugging to initiate a loop, and a 180 degree spin performed on a green wave, but it's obvious that paddling was still firmly in the cartwheel era at the turn of the century. Boats have clearly progressed from Perception Dancer/Dagger RPM-like boats of past decades to dedicated playboats like the Dagger Ultrafuge; the footage shows that dramatic volume reduction in the ends to increase "slicyness" has occurred, in addition to some length reduction, but the standard of the time in boat design still awaits the dramatic drop in kayak length that characterizes modern playboats.
Video - 2002: Chambly edit
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b-Dg9--sgOI&list=UUGn_bj2r2GFM7dP94dhZDlg
This short edit shows a few kayakers demonstrating wave freestyle in Canada. The level of kayaking looks to be fairly expert for the time. It is the first marker I have so far of the rapid shortening in boat design that took place in the early 2000s; the boats shown in this footage are all dramatically shorter than those popular at the turn of the century, although they would still be considered to be long playboats, especially in the stern, by today's standards. Their thin, slicey ends are a long ways away from the volume packed bows and sterns required for today's most progressive hole play, and distribution of volume still shows that the boats were designed with cartwheels more in mind than loops. Boats shown are made by Wavesport, Necky, and Riot. In this footage, we at once see the makings of modern wave freestyle; air blunts, backstabs, Pan-Ams, helixes - one of the best I have ever seen by Steve Fisher (trick's inventor, green Riot) - and even an air screw or two. The similarity between this playboating and the playboating a decade later is striking, with one of the few differences being the progression in combo moves during freestyle's most recent years.
Video - 2002: "Phat Philm" edits
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=loSjq6w7Vto
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ek_MYDRHuQA
A diversity of boats are shown in this multi-discipline edit, which is from 2002 but includes some freestyle footage with boats that seem to be from at least a couple years prior; the majority shows boats and paddling that seem to fit with trends of 2002, though, so I believe the dating I've labeled it with is at least fairly reliable if I am selective with what footage I consider to represent 2002. Shown are a variety of boat lengths, widths (pointiness/bluntness) of bows and sterns, volume distribution, and hull shapes. The footage is indicative of companies still experimenting with boat designs after a relatively rapid shortening of overall length (a dramatic change for the industry), as even amongst the advanced paddlers shown there is not nearly the relative uniformity in boat shape that is present today, where differences between the designs of major competing boat retailers are more subdued. We see some design features that have since passed, including forked sterns, especially on Necky boats, and even a forked bow. Also recognizable are many of the same features that are popular today with big-wave freestyle, making comparisons between the moves shown and the moves of today much easier to draw. Many locations are shown that I am also familiar with from surfing there myself, including Garburator Wave, Corner Wave, and Horseshoe Hole of the Ottawa River and Big Joe Wave of the St. Lawrence Waterway. Tricks in this edit are as varied as the boats - plenty of cartwheels in holes but also more modern wave play as seen in the Chambly edit. Potentially the biggest landmark shown in this footage is the earliest loop I have seen on film so far. A "Part 2" features more footage with the same themes. One clip in particular shows a loop followed by multiple cartwheels - representative of an early stage in the transition between the cartwheel era and the loop-based trick era that is present today.
Video - 2010: The original "Stakeout"
http://vimeo.com/8208615
This landmark kayak movie was put together in 2010 by modern freestyle greats Joel Kowalski and Rush Sturges. Filmed during the spring flood-levels in eastern Canada, "Stakeout" kickstarted a tradition of publicizing the highly-progressive, pro-level freestyle paddling that takes places on the world-class waves of Ontario and Quebec. Despite being somewhat quirky and goofy (unavoidable in today's kayaker-produced film), this is a very reliable source in terms of showing the best paddling of the time, as a good hand-full of the best paddlers of the 2010 decade are shown, including Kowalski, Stuges, Ben Marr, and Patrick Camblin. The tricks performed cover the same modern wave-freetyle basics (blunts, Pan-Ams, airscrews, etc.). We now see plenty of combos moves - the footage included generally represents a mid-way point of sorts between the prevalence of single, stand alone tricks and the most modern sequences combining the most difficult of individual wave tricks. In "Stakeout" we see bread and butters (a Pan-Am to backstab combo - potentially the first combo move - invented by Camblin) and many similar combo moves, especially from Marr and Camblin, that rely heavily on spins, roundhouses, blunts, or backstabs to give the move its combo-status. This is representative of the film overall - progressive at the time but long enough ago to still not be considered representative of the most modern paddling. The boats are diverse even amongst the smaller number of paddlers represented - some look closely reminiscent of the most modern boats but many older boats are shown. Marr, for example he paddles a split-stern Necky; I imagine the choices were made for the boats' hulls. The features surfed are pretty much all the same ones that were popular in 2013 in this region.
Video - 2012: All tricks demo - 2013 ICF World Championships "Preview"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h_MmGEXFYGM
This compilation of trick demonstrations was posted on YouTube in 2012 in anticipation of the 2013 ICF Freestyle World Championships. It was posted by a channel that aims to promote tourism in Bryson City, North Carolina, which was the site of the championships. It doesn't seem to have any affiliation with the ICF, but the kayaking speaks for itself - this is a solid resource with well-performed ticks, representing very well the moves that were in fact showcased in the championships. Everything from cartwheels to a clean back loop are shown, although it's mostly "new-scool", loop-based tricks: McNasties, phonics monkeys, space Godzillas, etc. I would classify all boats as 'most modern' with the exception of one Pyranha Rev(?).
Video - 2012: "French Style Demo" edit, Mathieu Dumolin, wave freestyle, great variety of tricks
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bEjRRYa8QGc
This "demo" put out by talented professional kayaker Mathieu Dumolin showcases him performing a wide variety of wave tricks in Lyon, France. This serves as a good example of 2012 kayaking - although it lacks the absolute most progressive combo moves that have been done (likely more of a result of the feature than much else), the style and degree of ease which Dumolin portrays show that the level of kayaking is alongside that of the most progressive modern paddling. Many combos, carbon boat, big wave... it's easy to see that the most modern trends of freestyle at the moment are present in this edit from barely a couple years ago.
Video - 2013: Progressive modern big wave freestyle (Airborn Kayaking's "FRESH" series Ep. 1)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G0ugCmM5Yzc
This short edit, titled "Fresh Melt" and produced by the Airborn Kayaking team, is part of Airborn's "FRESH" YouTube series on Epic TV. It shows what is in my opinion some of today's most progressive big wave freestyle kayaking performed by the kayaker who the episode centers on, Devyn Scott. Included are advanced combo moves and huge air by Scott and other pro kayakers, who demonstrate a wide variety of wave moves, often in carbon boats, at multiple famous waves in Canada. The video shows the traditional order of difficulty of moves in a combo sequences at times being reversed - an air screw might follow a flatspin or blunt rather than the other way around. Bigger moves than in the past are shown being performed clean (verify). This is a prime example for my research of the cutting edge of freestyle at the moment and the culmination of well over three decades of freestyle history.
Video - 2013: Pro demo of the Carbon Fiber 2014 Jackson Rockstar
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bWe4OpDZiKg
This promotional video for the carbon fiber version of the 2014 Jackson Rockstar, produced by members of the Jackson Kayak team, shows Dane Jackson and Nick Troutman - easily two of the best and most progressive current freestyle kayakers - in one of the most advanced boats on the market. The 2014 Jackson Rockstar is of course characteristic of current playboat design with short length, moderate rails, completely flat hull, and gradual rocker. It's volume distribution is comparable to the field of current designs as well; ends are relatively low in volume for the less popular yet ever present carwheel and related tricks while volume is packed around the cockpit to achieve maximum pop while performing loop-based tricks. The fact that the video advertises a generic (non-custom) carbon model of an originally plastic boat for the consumer market is indicative in the resurgence of composite boats in the past few years - we've seen plenty of pros in their custom models for a quite few years now, but now they're more accessible to less talented boaters, which is indicative of the growing trend. The paddling is some of the most progressive to date, notably featuring Dane Jackson's triple airscrew combo (the first to do it?) along with double air screws, many combo sequences with over two components, and sequences culminating in a more difficult trick than was started out with (as described above). As for hole freestyle, the video makes a point of showing the paddler continuous motion, at points in long combo sequences combining technically difficult moves. This shows the clear trend toward combo moves that not only increase in length of the sequences but also in the difficulty of the moves performed - different from when competition was essentially based how many cartwheels could be performed in a given amount of time.
Video - 2013: Coverage of 2013 Freestyle World Championships
http://www.freestylekayaking2013.com/
This site was the official webpage for the 2013 ICF Canoe Freestyle World Championships ("Canoe" including kayaking), during which the best paddlers in the world - from a broad, international pool - competed in North Carolina. The site offers video recaps of all the stages and events day by day, showing what the top boats (including the Dagger Jitsu, Pyranha JED, Jackson Rockstar, and WaveSport Mobius) look like and more importantly - considering what artifacts I have so far - what timed hole competition, not just an edit combining a trip's worth of best tricks, looks like in 2013.
Video - 2013: "Stakeout Progression" Short Film of the Year Entry - progressive modern big wave freestyle
http://vimeo.com/69164186
This entry for the whitewater kayak Best Short Film of the Year Awards, put out by Nick Troutman, compiles footage from a continuation of the annual Stakeout tradition of searching out the biggest waves of Quebec and Ontario's flooded rivers in the springtime (Gladiator, Ruins, Bus Eater, etc.). Showcased is big air and big combos from a group of elite freestyle kayakers. The video is similar to "Fresh Melt" video and the 2014 carbon Rockstar demo video in content, and serves as another example of progression in wave freestyle's most recent years.
Video - 2013: James Bebbington in Dagger Jitsu "Pringles Summer Sessions" edit
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5W5d9v1lirk
This edit shows footage of James Bebbington, an elite freestyle kayaker and hole freestyle competitor, training in Spain and France. His boat, 2013's Dagger Jitsu (here in carbon fiber), is representative of the field of the most modern playboats - and his paddling of the top competition-oriented hole-boaters in the world. It's helpful in understanding the type of competition-driven style that characterizes competitive hole play today.
Blog post - Article on Freestyle Kayak Judging by Clay Wright
http://jacksonkayak.com/blog/2011/06/22/freestyle-kayak-judging-how-do-they-know-who-wins/
This blog post is essentially an article about how freestyle kayaking is judged. Written by Clay Wright, who is certified as an ICF judge and is a member of the USA freestyle team, the article is relevant to my research because highlights many important aspects of modern competitive freestyle and details how competitive freestyle works.
OTHER LINKS
Video - 2013: Team Jackson at Trailer Park Wave - hole & wave play
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1McGCnEvyx8&list=PLtDLRBQGvjWcZ4Efr2kRQUz7CKKJskdio
Video - 2013: Rush Sturges tests the Dagger Jitsu
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RxmRFt4QFHw
Video - Rush Sturges highlight reel - includes footage dating back to _____
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cf8rnNCBFuQ
Video - Tribe Rider's 2014 Whitewater Grand Prix "Countdown" Promo Video, ft. Devyn Scott
http://vimeo.com/88531813
Video - Stephen Wright in Reno with carbon Rockstar
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qzlLw4TGAsU
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ken_Whiting
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BkyP4EjafPI&list=PLF9EC23AB5EB333B0
http://jacksonkayak.com/blog/2011/06/22/freestyle-kayak-judging-how-do-they-know-who-wins/
Boat Design
GENERAL
Web page - NRS design terminology breakdown and descriptions (chines, rocker, etc.)
http://www.nrs.com/kayaks/kayak_terminology.asp
OLDER BOATS
CURRENT BOATS
JACKSON ROCKSTAR
Web page - 2014 Jackson Rockstar, jacksonkayak.com
http://jacksonkayak.com/jk-kayaks/whitewater-kayak/2014-rockstar/
Video - 2014 Jackson Rockstar Team Promo Review (also freestyle footage artifact)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QlB56NwzmaI
Video - 2014 Jackson Rockstar Promo Review
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BufICOm8h2Y
JACKSON STAR SERIES
Web page - 2010 Jackson Star series main page
http://jacksonkayak.com/jk-kayaks/whitewater-kayak/star-series/
Web page - 2013 Jackson Star series main page
http://jacksonkayak.com/jk-kayaks/2013-all-star/Video - Dagger Jitsu Promo Review
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2XyPWhKQyoM
WAVESPORT MOBIUS
Web page - Wavesport Mobius main page
http://www.wavesport.com/product_category/index/products/north_american_products/freestyle_us
Video - 2013 Wavesport Mobius promo
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s9ByoIZFcSs
DAGGER JITSU
Web page - Dagger Jitsu main page
http://dagger.com/products/whitewater/freestyle/jitsu-5-9
Video: Dagger Jitsu design
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XigX0pq8Fts
Video: Dagger Jitsu overview/team test promo part II
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2XyPWhKQyoM
PYRANHA JED
Web page: Pyranha Jed main page
http://www.pyranha.com/kayaks.php?kayak=Jed
Composite Construction
Comprehensive info on composite construction, potential source for materials and equipment, and potential contact http://www.sweetcomposites.com/
Book - How to Fabricate Automotive Fiberglass & Carbon Fiber Parts
Daniel Burrill, Jeffery Zurschmeide
Detailed blog on home construction of a composite kayak, potential contact
http://worldkayakblogs.com/billsblog/2008/09/22/building-a-new-old-classic-part-1/
Mountainbuzz.com public forum: "Building a Carbon Fiber Kayak"
http://www.mountainbuzz.com/forums/f15/building-a-carbon-fiber-kayak-46482.html
Small composite kayak company (that has made carbon fiber Jackson Rockstars), potential contact
http://murkywaterkayak.com/
Small composite kayak company, does not do playboats, potential contact
http://www.westsideboatshop.com/
Basic kayak construction info with composite material overview http://www.useakayak.org/equipment/boat_constuction.html#Carbon_fiber
Outfitting design feature: belt
https://www.facebook.com/clay.wright.75/media_set?set=a.10202933213637846.1073741852.1428381834&
TED Talk
Steve Fisher speaks on running rapids (TEDx Athens)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dcdXzQq84PU
This was the closest TED talk I could find to my subject. In this speech, professional kayaker Steve Fisher talks about the risks of dangerous kayaking such as running a series of waterfalls. Fisher was one of the best and most progressive freestyle kayakers earlier in his career but has in recent years become most renowned for tackling big water. In the talk, he explains how he breaks down a problem that has never been solved before - in his case a first decent of challenging whitewater - by separating the challenge into smaller pieces and mitigating risk. While the talk focuses on whitewater kayaking, it does not speak to any aspect of freestyle kayaking and as a result is not very relevant to my research.