Hi Everyone, (Landis Arnold Here)

Wildwater Racing has some of the following problems in my opinion. These
absolutely need to be weighed against the wonderful beauty of the
sport as well as the fun and challenge too! But these are some problems.

1: It is not an olympic sport (caveat here is that Olympic sports are getting
more an more "so what" in their plentitude - and this comes
from someone whe benefited from his primary sport having been an Olympic one.)

2: Modern DR equipment (Boats and Paddles) are quite difficult for many people
to use. If one looks at the 20 year trend on this boats
have become tippier (and yes faster). I have heard it said that the degree of
difficulty has decreased because of this. I remember as a
kid having Wildwater races rage through the Numbers on the Arkansas. Not
recently for sure. What about the Mascoma, Crystal or Savage?
Are races taking place there.

2 a: Unfortunately boats are too expensive to want to risk damaging. They
really take a lot of work and it is difficult to make money with
them.

2 b: A bigger problem still is that as "volumes" have been pumped up in the
boats the thickness of the boats has gotten thinner in order to
stick close to the weight limit. This means, perhaps, they are not as durable.

Enough w/ the outline structure

3: I also feel that ergonomics are an issue for outsiders coming in. Small,
Small Cockpits. In the rest of the world cockpits have gotten
much bigger. Sure, a bigger cockpit might leak more water, but it is a lot
easer to get in and out of. Also, high high decks. High Decks
are harder to roll (ie tuck forward) than a lower deck. Sure they are not as
fast, because the buoyancy of the boat is less, but who needs
a sternum hit when you just had the air taken away by 50 degree water.

4: Finally, weight. Heavier boats are more durable boats. They ship better,
they endure more. They are conceivably less expensive to
build. I do think modern vacuum epoxy layups are very strong for their weight
but.. again, as measured per square inch of surface from
bigger and bigger boats... you get the point.

This is all hard stuff to sort out, but from the outside these are my
observations. I would love to see an ICF plastic class that has, for
instance, a 35 lb weight limit on boats and see what would come from that in
terms of making boats more affordable and widespread.
Ideally, being able to work with dealers would help evangelize a lot of racing.
When everything gets channeled through "direct lines' the
intersected web is much smaller.

I appreciate reading your posts. I finally figured out how to change my email
backwards to my old one and post (assuming this goes through
on the 4th try).

Landis Arnold

Prijon / Wildwasser Sport USA, Inc.

tel: 303-444-2336 ext 11
fax: 303-444-2375
www.wildnet.com



wildwater@yahoogroups.com on Wednesday, November 05, 2008 at 2:10 PM -0700
wrote:
>What about a viable equipment pool? The Speeder races that Pyranah has
>been putting on, have been super popular, and reduce the barrier to
>entry as the boats are supplied.
>
>Seems like Wildwater boats are hard to come by, stateside, and most
>options involve purchasing abroad and shipping them. I understand that
>there may be some inroads being made on importation of one brand.
>
>If folks could show up and race, with a manufacturer offered very low
>cost rental boat, you'd probably engage more people, even if it's only
>a plastic fun division.
>
>It's the same problem as many other sports - windsurfing comes to
>mind. It's hard to get the equipment into people's hands so that they
>may try the sport. And, the equipment is expensive and very fragile.
>
>Paul
>
>On Wed, Nov 5, 2008 at 2:53 PM, Chris N <[ mailto:mhc_antigen%40yahoo.com
]mhc_antigen@...> wrote:
>> So what are your opinions Dan? A complete lack of local domestics races
>> that can build participation seems to be an issue.
>>
>> Chris
>>
>> ________________________________
>> From: lakesurfer52 <[ mailto:dmurn%40frontiernet.net ]dmurn@...>
>> To: [ mailto:wildwater%40yahoogroups.com ]wildwater@yahoogroups.com
>> Sent: Wednesday, November 5, 2008 10:14:40 AM
>> Subject: [wildwater] Poor attendence in WW racing
>>
>> Hi
>> Why is WW racing fading? Is there a reason(s) we can not draw new
>> paddlers to enjoy this sport?
>> I have been promoting the sport for 25 years. hosting many regional
>> races and the Nationals.
>> I have my opinions! Would like to hear from our group why the sport
>> does not move forward.
>> Dan
>>
>>
>>
>
>
>