Last weekend saw the first ever River’s Source Whitewater Symposium at the River Dart, Devon, UK. The event is set to become a favourite fixture on the UK whitewater calendar with something for every paddler interested in whitewater!
Contributions from every corner of the industry provided an excellent range of courses, from learning new skills on the river with coaches at the forefront of whitewater paddling or hands on boat welding workshops through to tips on how to get your articles published and how to create the perfect exposure to go with them! They were also excellent value for a full days course with some, such as Canoe Kayak Magazine’s photography course, being completely free! To see the scope of the diverse selection of courses have a look here!
Paparazzi on the river during the free photography clinic! - Photo: Tom Foster
Team Pyranha were out in force with Team Coaches running a variety of courses, Team Paddlers on hand to help outfit your boat or take you through the features of the full fleet of demo boats. Pyranha’s owner and head designer Graham Mackereth and industrial designer Rich Taylor gave fantastic presentations on Saturday evening. Graham’s insight to the history of kayaking was outstanding, Rich then brought us right up to date and showed us how to design the Shiva using the latest CAD packages with CNC prototypes before a live audience!
Rich takes us through the process to design a modern whitewater kayak. - Photo: Tom Foster
Of course no trip to devon would be complete without a run down the upper Dart. Although levels were low, the Shiva was great for rock moves all the way down!
Paula cruising Euthanasia in the small Shiva! - Photo: Stuart Watson
Tom Foster about to go over the edge in the large Shiva! - Photo: Stuart Watson
Looking forward to 2013 event already. If you can’t wait to get back to the Dart come join us on and off the river at Dart Fest on the weekend 18th / 19th February.