BOATS

The following provides good descriptions of the various terms used in paddle sports, all credit due to Brookbank website.

White Water Kayaks

Whitewater kayaking is the sport of paddling a kayak on a moving body of water, typically a river. Whitewater kayaking can range from a fun, carefree, splishy-splash float trip to a challenging, adrenaline-filled sport.

The kayak (or just 'boat') used in Whitewater kayaking is different from those used in Whitewater Racing or Sea Kayaking. Traditionally, kayaks were made of animal skins stretched over wooden frames. Early Whitewater kayaks were fibreglass or Kevlar. Today boats are typically made of a tough plastic (super linear polyethylene) that is slightly flexible and very durable. Whitewater kayaks can range in size from barely long enough to hold the paddler (around 6 ft/1.8 m long), up to 12 ft (3.6 m) or longer.

There are four 'sub-categories' in Whitewater kayaking:

If you are looking for a first river kayak look in All Round kayaks

All Round River Boats

Whitewater kayaks in this section are designed as a compromise between river running and river play. They are the ideal choice for many people who want the one boat to do everything.

Creeking & River Running

River Running can be thought of as a tour down a river, to enjoy the scenery as well as experiencing challenging whitewater. River Running includes short day trips as well as longer multi-day trips. Multi-day kayak trips often entail the use of gear-toting rafts to allow a more comfortable experience without a heavily-laden kayak. Whitewater Racing is the competitive aspect of this sub-category, racing canoes or kayaks down a river as fast as possible.

Creeking is perhaps best thought of as a subcategory of River Running, involving very technical and difficult rapids, typically in the class IV to VI range. While people will differ on the definition, Creeking generally involves higher gradient (approaching or in excess of 100 feet per mile), and is likely to include running ledges, slides, and waterfalls on relatively small and tight rivers, though some will allow for very large and big volume rivers in their definition. Kayaks used for Creeking usually have higher volume (more gallons of displacement) and more rounded bow and stern, as these features provide an extra margin of safety against the likelihood of pinning, and will resurface more quickly and controlled when coming off larger drops. E xtreme racing is a competitive form of this aspect of whitewater kayaking.

Freestyle Park & Play

Freestyle or park and play boats are designed to make performing tricks and moves easy on both whitewater features and also flat water too. Short, low in volume and limited in thier river running capability they are usually available in several sizes to suit different paddler sizes.

Sea & Touring Kayaks

A Sea kayak or touring kayak is a kayak developed for the sport of paddling on open waters of lakes, bays, and the ocean. Sea kayaks are seaworthy small boats with a covered deck and the ability to incorporate a spraydeck. They trade off the extreme manoeuvrability of whitewater kayaks for cargo capacity, ease of straight-line paddling, and comfort for long journeys.

Sea kayaks are now used around the world for marine journeys from a few hours to many weeks, as they can accommodate one or two (occasionally three) paddlers together with room for camping gear, food, water, and other supplies. The sport of sea kayaking (sometimes called ocean kayaking) combines much of the appeal of hill-walking with a maritime aspect, few access issues and an almost infinite area to enjoy. Weekend trips with overnight camping are popular amongst recreational kayakers, and many people combine kayaking with watching wildlife. Modern sea kayaks are designed to carry large amounts of equipment, and unsupported expeditions of two weeks or more are conducted in environments from the tropics to the arctic. Expedition kayaks are designed to handle best when loaded, so it may be necessary to ballast a boat on shorter trips.