A blast from the past

[pblanc]

Here is a video covering the very early days of whitewater slalom and downriver racing in the US. The footage is shot on the Nantahala River and showcases some very old school kayaks, canoes, C1s and paddling gear.

 

[stevet]

Looks like it took some real muscle to move some of those old designs. Thanks for posting.

 

[Jabberwocky]

Ah, styrofoam or inflatable vests, icehockey helmets, fibreglass battleships with tons of displacement… Those were the days Thanks for posting.

 

[Patrick Corry]

showcases some very old school kayaks, canoes, C1s

Careful... that "very old" gear was the high-tech of my youth! That red C-1 looked very much like my 1968 John Berry C-1. I had lots of fun playing in that boat. Thanks for posting.

 

[Glenn MacGrady]

Good stuff. Thanks, Pete.

 

[TomP]

Great video for this nostalgic old guy here. The opening credits say 1971, which even predates the founding of my former employer, NOC, as well as the introduction of plastic boats, ABS, Royalex, linear Polyethylene, and so forth.

The "aluminum class" for downriver races became so popular back in the day, they even made an aluminum Jensen type look alike called "The Beaver". There were several of these boats in the New England racing scene back then.

I love seeing the old reverse gates. These were present into the 80s as I recall.

I have a photo I must locate of my father and I paddling a reverse upstream gate in the Covered Bridge slalom on the Housatonic in W Cornwall, CT. I am guessing early 1980s for that one. It was the only reverse upstream gate I ever encountered.

Thanks for posting!