We left Sjoa on Thursday morning, after attending the infamous Pimp and Hoe party run by Gene 17, and began the 5 hour drive over to Dala-Floda. Using some local knowledge from Anton we found a tiny road leading straight up over the mountain and along a huge plateau above the tree line, the views were epic.
We arrived in Dala-Floda to find a lovely little white water course along with one of the best run kayak clubs I have seen. Our dealer James from Kayaktiv came across to meet us and show us around his shop.
Friday, the first day of the festival saw several clinics run by Kayaktiv staff and ourselves on the white water course and huge expanse of flat water below the course. Dala-Floda has the privilege of also having a beautiful area for kayak touring and stand up paddling, so many people from all disciplines are on site doing their own branch of the sport, and some even doing both.
Saturday was competition day with 20 competitors competing for the Masters of Water title. The competition combined 3 events, with the person collecting most points overall becoming the “Master of the Water’. The first event was the Pyranha Speeder event, which ran in a WWR format sprint race, top to bottom as fast as possible. This brought a new experience for many of the white water paddlers using a boat that is designed to track rather than white water. The results from this were then used to seed for a Boater X event that would take place later that afternoon.
The freestyle event was held next, with young and old all taking part in a multitude of current and old-school boats. The hole was quite flushy, making it tough to stick moves but with a rodeo type format, and the 2 best tricks from each ride scoring, everyone had a fantastic time. We had the Van set up beside the feature so we ran commentary along with local, David Levren.
After a break for lunch from the Kayak Club BBQ burger stand (These guys love BBQs!) and a sleep in the sunshine it was time for the final event, the Boater X. Heats of 4 were lined up at the top of the course, which consisted of 5 gates including two upstream gates beside the decking were the crowd had gathered. The competition was tough, with a good amount of carnage throughout all rounds, making this event a crowd favourite!
The final results saw the positioning from all events being added together for a final score. Due to good results in the racing I managed to take the title with local boys Mats and Eric coming closely behind in 2nd and 3rd positions.
The main event was still to come however; James and his Kiwi companions had organized a big BBQ party in celebration of Kayaktiv’s 20 year anniversary. Loads of people turned up from the event as well as old work colleagues, friends and family. The food was fantastic and both Barney and myself were made up with quality and excessive meat after spending 3 weeks budgeting in Norway. Live music was provided all evening where the kids danced and old friends caught up over a glass of wine.
http://kajaktiv.se