2014 10 05 DWD in the Gumotex Safari with WildWaterAcademie

Update 26-03-2017 The track is now being used again under the flag of Wildwateracademie, but it is still very uncertain what the future will bring. You are invited to support their effort to keep the track open by joining the wildwater academie community for only 5 euro:
www.eventbrite...
Update 18-03-2015: Dutch Water Dreams is closed because of technical problems inside the building. Maybe it will reopen in fall? Has anybody got 2 million euro to spare?
About the Gumotex Safari:
The Gumotex Safari “Ducky” is a very versatile inflatable, self-bailing sit-on-top. It is fast enough to paddle calm waters, yet fully able to handle wild water up to class III. Unlike many other inflatable wild water duckies, it has a narrow hull, which requires the paddler to use all normal kayak skills like leaning away from the current and low and high bracing. If you cannot paddle a class III in a normal kayak, you will not be able to do it in this ducky either.
Pro’s and Con’s:
Pro: it is a fun boat!
Pro: it is light, only 12 kg
Pro: it folds up in a small enough package to take it as cabin baggage during air transportation
Pro: it turns very quickly, yet it is faster then the average creek boat (eg 4 km in 40 minutes on a lake)
Pro: the sit is really comfy
Pro: it is very easy to climb back into the boat after a capsize (great safety feature when paddling alone on open water!)
Pro: the material is very strong
Pro: the boat comes with a heavy duty backpack, which also can be used as a waterproof bag
Con: it is pretty hard to fold this backpack correctly, to make it really waterproof.
Pro: it is in-expensive. 500 euro in Germany, 400 euro in the Czech republic and I got mine for a mere 300 euro directly from a Czech web shop.
About rolling: it is harder than in a normal kayak, but it can be done. eg with a long role: • kayak rolling a inflat... , but I have a friend who can roll it pretty well with a normal screw role.
This boat is sold as the Innova Safari in the states and is there a bit more expensive.
Other video’s on the Safari:
• Rivière du Jura en kay... - This shows two Fench heroes (ab)using the Safari for low-volume creeking. It clearly demonstrates how tough the rubber is.
• Kayak Surfing, Poland #2 - A true Polish hero surfing the Safari in what seems to be a storm. I have no idea how he ever managed to paddle through that surf.
About this video:
This video shows that the Safari also handles well on a class III with quite a bit of volume. It was only the second time, that I paddled the Safari on white water. Yes the first time, I had quite a few swims. This time, I only capsized when I tried to surf.
About Dutch Water Dreams:
Located in Zoetemeer this white water track constitutes, what Dutch paddlers in these lowlands have dreamt about for generations: white water in our back yard. It is a challenging track, more suited for intermediate and advanced paddlers, than for beginners.
About NKB WildWaterAcademie:
The volunteers of WildWaterAcademie organize training sessions on DWD every three weeks. A very big advantage of these sessions is the absence of rafts. That is, if you do not consider my small ducky to be a raft.
During normal business hours, there can be a lot of rafts on the track, which make a descent of DWD even more challenging.

[@kristaps2010]

Thanks for good links in description and pros.

[@fid0308]

Very cool 😎🔥🔥🔥😎🤘

[@ronactive]

Sehr beeindruckend, was mit dem Safari alles geht. War damit auch 2 Wochen in Albanien unterwegs und kam gut durch. Habe auch Videos davon eingestellt.

[@vincentnlt601]

so cool! :)

[@jack00scarecrow]

very cool

[@Liochman.]

it was my favourit 9 min in my life !!!!! (I am 85 years old)