Dan Hall carving a packraft at half speed

I shot this footage at our Paddle Tasmania Intermediate - level 1 Packraft Course on the Forth River in NW Tasmania, April 2023. I am showing it at 50% normal speed so that it highlights the paddler's flow better. This is Dan Hall (elite level kayaker) who I work with on our courses and he is simply showing basic carving in and out of grade/class 2 eddies and S-crosses across a short fast current. This is what we teach on the second of our four levels of technical whitewater packrafting courses.
Have a look at where his eyes and head are looking as well as at the placement of his strokes. Lots to learn from watching a good paddler in action. We encourage all packrafters to learn to edge so that they can CARVE their turns rather than simply SPIN their turns or do ferry glide entries all the time.
You don't need to edge as much as Dan but all whitewater paddlers should be working towards learning to use their edges to 'grab the water' and to stop the packraft sliding sideways across the water. Although there are a lot of elements that need to be combined to carve a packraft (I'll put a list of some things to consider below) the ultimate key is proper edging. Lots of packrafts do not naturally edge well so in that situation you may need to actually 'lean' or 'Ledge' as some people have nick-named it. This works but does not allow for snappy edge to edge carved turns as it takes time to move your body all the way from one side of the boat to the opposite side.
Both of the boats Dan demonstrates with here are designed to be aggressively edged. The video finishes with Dan's first run and first 30 seconds in an Alpacka Valkyrie. Note that the yellow boat Dan is paddling is NOT a Nirvana. It is instead Kokopelli prototype that Dan and I have been paddling since 2019. Looking forward to seeing the new fully revised version of this self-bailer very soon.
Have a look at:
- starting POSITION on the water (is it aiding the build up of cross-current momentum or is it in fact setting the paddler up for failure by producing lots of downstream momentum that will take the paddler past the eddy rather than into it).
- the ANGLE of the boat as it heads towards the eddy as well as the angle that it will cross the ‘eddy line’ or ‘eddy zone’
- how much SPEED is being produced (& whether the paddler might benefit from more or less speed for this particular eddy situation). Is the paddler creating enough speed to drive deep into the eddy (if a larger eddy).
- where is the paddler LOOKING with their EYES, HEAD & SHOULDERS as they approach the eddy line and then as they cross it
- when and where is EDGING being applied to the boat and is it being held throughout the full turn or is the edge being dropped too quickly (often accompanied by a stroke on the outside of the turn which encourages the edge to be dropped and lost)
- what STROKES are being applied and when & where. Andy perhaps the most important question is WHY are they doing their stroke there and is it setting them up for success or failure? Have a look too at what happens when the paddler takes their paddle out of the water. There are times when a good paddler will slice their blade to the next stroke rather than taking the blade out of the water.
- the finish POSITION of the paddler. Was it too high, too low or just right in the eddy/main current? Did their position set them up to use the moving water in the eddy (or the main current) to their advantage so that they could keep the boat moving into the next manoeuvre?
Also have a look at whether they are using the natural shape of the water features to assist them or are they fighting the water.
Don’t forget that with packrafts we are often trying to SLOW THE TURN to produce a carve rather than simply letting the water (both in the eddy and in the main current) spin the packraft too quickly. Stroking on the inside is one way of slowing the initial part of the turn, driving deeper into the eddy/main current but then allows for a quick finish of the carve through changing the blade angle and pulling on the stroke.

[@GaryTischer]

This is great to recap the course and watching Dan at half speed is awesome to review his technique. I (a mere mortal 😃) can only dream of such grace.

[@jamtastical3]

Well I just spent a half hour re-watching ten second segments over and over. Thanks for posting Mark! These technique videos are super useful. One thing I notice is that Dan takes an outside stroke just before the eddy, which causes his turn to be much tighter than just allowing the currents to initiate the turn. I tend to drift out the other side of an eddy, so this technique will help.

[@MarkOates]

Thanks James. Planting the final stroke on the downstream side does make for super quick eddy turns. Partly it helps initiate the turn but perhaps even more importantly it allows the last decent stroke to be in fast green water and from this you can gain a lot of power. This power can be used to lift the bow up and over the eddy line / eddy zone and really drive the boat into the eddy. In spots where the water drops quickly beside a rock you can use a boof stroke (simply a more dynamic stroke with full body commitment) to drive the packraft up and almost over the rock whilst getting a lot of power out of the stroke. You then initiate a fast edge change and plant strokes on the inside of the turn. In micro eddies you need to plant that inside stroke right in the sweet spot of the eddy. The boat should then snap around this stroke. Sticking to the inside for additional strokes then maintains the edge and allows you to carve back out again. If you go for a stroke on the outside the boat will flatten and be more inclined to spin and/or drift rather than carve forward towards the top of the eddy or exit point.

[@RiverogueLander]

Is this a prototype Nirvana? Will they update their boat soon?

[@MarkOates]

Hi Scott. Yes it is. It is actually Kokopelli's 2019 advanced whitewater prototype and is not a Nirvana at all (despite the labelling). I think at the time Kokopelli was considering calling it the 'Nirvana Pro'. Both Dan and I are fortunate to have each had one since mid 2019. They are awesome to paddle and we both love ours. As you might be able to tell they are quite narrow and hence tippy but this makes for super quick edge to edge transitions and assists in carving. They also boof better than any other packraft I have tried and are quite fast. It is more like the 2017 Nirvana self-bailer but faster and is nothing like the 2018 and later Nirvana's or the Recon, etc which have minimal rocker and are very rectangular. This prototype rides over seams, boils, holes and drops amazingly well. They are currently in the process of further testing additional prototypes based on this model so hopefully next year we will see something similar available for purchase.