Boofing vertical drops in Packrafts

Boofing over small holes, pourovers and into eddies is incredibly useful but on medium to larger sized drops a good boof can be critical. A boof can often be needed to clear the base of the fall and avoid being stopped by the hole at the bottom of the drop. If you nose dive off small-medium drops you will likely get grabbed by the recirculating water at the bottom which can twist you sideways and cause you to capsize, or at best simply stall you and slow you right down. Whilst being slowed by the stopper may not seem like a big deal what it actually means is that you are out of control for a short while and at the mercy of the water. This is particularly the case for self-bailing packrafts as when full of water they can take 30 seconds or so to drain and in this time you can be pushed into the next rapid or into places you really don't want to be. Boofing is perhaps less critical for whitewater decked packrafts (when the decks hold) but plugging holes in a packraft is never a great idea - far better to use the advantage of their light weight to fly over them with a good 'boof'.
The trick I believe is to get the timing right for the boof stroke with most people, including myself, often trying to go too early. Here you can see that expert kayaker Dan Hall does not power off his boof stroke until the bow is over the lip and starting to drop. This allows the boat to drive forward from the boof rather than it being simply driven up and then falling back down again (and taking you with it).
Try to lift your heels to your chest as you pull and stay forward. Some paddlers like Dan can utilise a really powerful hip thrust but I find that many packrafters struggle with this and instead it causes them to throw their body back. Moving your body backwards results in the bow being driven down which is not want you want. The aim is to get out and away from the drop.
Prior to landing make sure you have worked out whether you will need to lift one edge due to side currents and try to get forward. Be ready to quickly apply a forward or support stroke.

[@ronactive]

Very nice moves. Greetings ronactive

[@almighty123T]

frikkin awesome m8!