Boofing practice on wave trains for packrafters

As paddling guru Ken Whiting writes "Boofing is the act, or art, of keeping the bow of your kayak from diving underwater, and it is without a doubt the most important skill to learn for paddling creeks. Most notably, you can boof waterfalls and steep drops, but you can also boof holes, pourovers, reactionaries, and even eddy lines".
It is just as important for PACKRAFTING on steep creeks as it is for kayaking them. So day 2 of our advanced course for Paddle Tasmania saw us getting participants to work on perfecting their boofs. Here Dan Hall shows how you can work on the timing and stroke placement as you paddle down through wave trains. As you can see Dan manages to get the boat fully airborne numerous times and he makes it look incredibly easy. It actually takes years to master but given it is perhaps the most valuable skill you can have as a paddler, start working on your boof technique now! The ability to boof will keep you MUCH safer on steep creeks & rivers as it keeps you in control of your boat rather than the water controlling it.
Don't be tempted to throw your body back (a personal bad habit of mine) as timing and stroke placement is MUCH more important than power or speed! Look at the microsecond that Dan holds his blade in the water before he pulls on his paddle - this allows water and pressure to build up on the blade and gives him something to pull on. Obviously this is in 4x slow motion and is not in real time
Note that a really good paddler like Dan can make almost any packraft boof however many packrafts do not have sufficient rocker to do it well and are not designed to be paddled on edge which is a big asset when boofing. You also want to have your packraft as rigid as possible so a hand pump to inflate your boat to a higher pressure is a big advantage.

[@user-yv4uq2df2b]

🔥👍🎖️

[@rrinvisible]

Is that Nirvana raft a self-bailer? Are self-bailers good in whitewater?

[@MarkOates]

It is definitely a self-bailer. It is actually not a Nirvana despite it saying so on the side as it is a prototype that Dan got given to test. I much prefer self-bailers in whitewater but it depends on what environments/rivers you are going to use them on as to which is best. For the environments I paddle here in Tasmania, Australia (narrow steep, shallow drop-pool creeks with lots of rapids and lots of wood) a self-bailer is a lot safer. As to whether they perform better - everyone has a difference of opinion. Some discussion here at: ua-cam.com/video/MDiU4GT0Sas/v-deo.html I'd also say that it very much depends on which self-bailer you are comparing as the different designs each have their own pros and cons.

[@rrinvisible]

@@MarkOates thanks for the reply, and the link- helpful & very interesting!