Hi i just wandered how many girls actually paddle ????

I can remember 4 in Iceland, but there are more starting. This means 10% of us paddelers are women.

That is good to here i am not female myself i am just wandering because there just does not seem to be any female paddlers and i think paddling with blokes all the time you get into a matcho thing (no im not gay either) and paddling gets really tedious. I enjoy creek boating and it woul be nice to paddle with women as well as men. i know this sport is mainly men but i dont see why as it is not that hard and you dont need mega strength.

Ade P

Our club has more and more women each year at the moment we have about a
3:2 ratios of men to women.

This is a good thing but sitll when i go out on play rivers like the tryweryn (wales uk) i see non. that is a very good ratio in our club rapidrunners we are getting more interest by women now but when it comes to the winter they all dissappear again .

If there is anyone male or female that want to paddle give me a shout i am slowly running out of people to paddle with mainly due to freinds getting married etc

realtionships kill more kayakers each year than any other cause of death. why don't we have a protection from that?

I have a girl friend but she does not kayak tho am trying to convice her. Is tht true about relation ships ??? Solution you either kayak or have a relationship. i would rather kayak

[quote:292b29516a="skirnir"]realtionships kill more kayakers each year than any other cause of death. why don't we have a protection from that?[/quote:292b29516a]

I would rather say:

kayaking kills more relationships each year than any other cause



Believe me, if your girl isn't into kayaking yet and you love her, leave it that way. I lost 2 girls that way.... It doesn't necessarily go wrong in each case of course, but exactly because there are so few girls in kayking, she'll get a massive overdose of male attention, especially if she's good looking.

that's still not a 100% guarantee for things to go wrong of course, but so much male attention is extremely tempting and possibly an ego-overbooster for most girls...

there is a nother thing to note. before stealing girls away from your kayaking partners you should always consider how mad they will get. a girl is not worth having to swim extra laps in a man eating hole while your partner gets his revenge by not throwing a rope

... so I guess the moral is, no babes while boating

women as paddeling partners that is an ok thing... but after a while I stop looking at them as women and see them as what they are paddeling partners

I know exactley what you guys mean but i woul still like to see more women paddlers. Tho i did paddle with a girl a few times and my girlfriend at the time thought i was sleeping with her. My girlfriend at the moment has severe back problems (ie her spine is slightly twisted since birth) so i dont think she will be a creek boater or play boater but i find it relly nice just to chill out on a lake with her. Oh beleve me guys though i have seen some nice looking girls on the river i just treat them as friends and paddlers as this is my main sport.

I totally see where you are comeing from. as a girl i rekon that paddling with a partner would not be half as much fun as it would be if you where with your mates. And yeah there are not that many female paddlers but our numbers are on the up. I guess we just look into things too much eg. omg i am goin to get mullered in that hole .....best not then. And as for creeking where can you go in the UK or Scotland tell me and i will see you there. Coz the old playboating is getting a bit boring now.

i went white water rafting at the river tryweryn and my instructor hwo was a girl had a riot flair 47 and she was pretty good

Hiya,

I'm a chick and I boat, I'm often the only girl and if not it's because I've dragged other girls along to keep me company. There's a few things I really want to say about girls and boating now all these are generalisations and so they won't be true all the time but there's probably some things that might help you help some female boaters.

First of all girls worry more about consequence than guys. If they don't have a solid roll, if the water's cold if the feature is munchy they are more likely to let this stop them giving it a go. Encouragement may help but patience is the main thing, let them take their time.

Girls won't put themselves forward the same way guys will, make sure that the girl in the eddy is taking her turn on a feature - it's easy for us to sit back and let guys push in it means we don't have to face the consequences (above). Some of the guys I paddled used to say "you have to take one turn for every two of mine" when I was started to play boat. Otherwise I would have just sat in the eddy.

On the same note, girls tend to underrate their ability. If you've sent an email round about a trip that might be good for some of the girls in your club then send them a personal one, just say "hey I think this trip will be good for you" - again they think about consequence and tend not to talk themselves up. I know several girls who wouldn't go on class III-IV trips on the club email because they felt they couldn't paddle class IV but in reality the boys that went were not even as good as them.

Girls get scared and yes every now and again we cry on a river. Boys never seem to know what to do when this happen but the best thing you can do is give moral support - comments like "you've paddled the hardest stuff it doesn't get any worse from now on" and HUGS help. A reminder that everyone has bad days on the river, a reminder that it's ok to be scared and a reminder that you can portage (assuming you can).

Encourage girls to lead - like playboating girls often sit back and let others lead and pick the lines. Make a conscious effort to put the girls in front every now and again. Let them take their time and don't let them back out unless they really really want to. Encourage rational thought process, ie. rational evaluation of the consequences - what's the worst thing that will happen here? A roll? A Swim? Sometimes fear is not in proportion to the dangers and it helps to discuss.

Anyway there's quite a few up and coming girls in my group now, and I encourage them as much as possible. In turn I get heaps of encouragement from the boys and the guys I paddle with are wonderful. I know some other girls that aren't so lucky, the boys exclude them from trips and don't acknowledge their ability.

As for relationships, don't teach your own girlfriend to paddle. If she's keen send her on a beginners course - she's less likely to blame her bruises, swims and fear on you plus she's more likely to listen to what she's told. But really, if shes only paddling for you it'll end in tears she's gotta love it or she won't enjoy it.

Just my two cents
Sarah

[quote:0793b87bde="Jeroen"][quote:0793b87bde="skirnir"]realtionships kill more kayakers each year than any other cause of death. why don't we have a protection from that?[/quote:0793b87bde]

I would rather say:

kayaking kills more relationships each year than any other cause



Believe me, if your girl isn't into kayaking yet and you love her, leave it that way. I lost 2 girls that way.... It doesn't necessarily go wrong in each case of course, but exactly because there are so few girls in kayking, she'll get a massive overdose of male attention, especially if she's good looking.

that's still not a 100% guarantee for things to go wrong of course, but so much male attention is extremely tempting and possibly an ego-overbooster for most girls...[/quote:0793b87bde]

Well said

I've paddled with about 10 females this year and going paddling with 2 this weekend.I see a lot of females on the class 2 rivers nearby which I think is great for our sport.I'm also married and my wife does not paddle,but she has no problem with me paddling or even me doing overnight trips with some of the females I paddle with.She trusts me which is the key to any relationship, and she knows that she is the only one I want for sex but I could always use a nother paddling partner

Sarah, that is great advice!! I may have to borrow that list

Tim

As a woman who kayaks I would have to say that Sarah nailed it. Everything she said is right on about what myself and my girlfriends who paddle face. I live in Florida and don't get to practice much on whitewater, so when I get up to the rivers I'm more than happy to let others lead and to skip anything I fear. I dislocated my shoulder a year ago so I'm even a bit more careful now, though I'm getting my confidence back (I still can't believe I snuck Broken Nose on the Ocoee in the fall). More and more women pick up kayaking every year, but remember, we don't start out as a Class IV boater...it takes time to get there. Heck, I'm still not there, but soon!

Nicole

I agree with Sarah also. Patience is really the key. Men prefer to learn at a different curve than women. Women need to feel comfortable with each level before progressing on. I learned in very small steps but at 49 I had to be more careful with myself. This last summer I was on the river 3 to 5 times a week and can only count about 5 women that I paddled with. It would be good to see more out there!
Nora

I'm a female who kayaks, and I haven't been boating with a girl who kayaks... yet... Sarah - we have to hook up!

If you want your girl to kayak guys, introduce them to it GRADUALLY! Start on EASY whitewater, then work harder. Don't just throw them on your latest fly in first descent, and expect them to cope.

2. A pool session will help to let them know what to do. My first experience in a kayak of any description was floating down (now easy) grade 2 whitewater scared out of my wits cause I didn't even know how to hold a paddle let alone how to get out of the boat after I'd flipped! After I destroyed a pfd by riding a 30 cm deep grade 3 on my back with the boat on top of me, the guys FINALLY decided to teach me some stuff. I enjoyed kayaking a lot better after that. If you take a girl into the pool and teach her some basic paddle strokes first, I think she'll enjoy it a heap more

3. Bring other beginners on the trip - don't have you and your Class 6 mates taking a single beginner on a trip - it will make her feel inadequate. If there are a couple of beginners it will help them to feel as if they aren't in it alone.

I think people are right when they say that girls need to feel as if they are in control when they paddle. Guys are much more likely to jump in the deep end, and enjoy the thrill of figuring it out.

My 2 cents worth anyway.
steff

oi ade! im a girl and iv paddled with u loads before including the tryweryn!

... or do i not count

molly (of richard!)
now based in york so you r boating nearby giv me a call

My wife and kids paddle with me.

For this I am insanely lucky.

Sarah has got it right:

My wife is starting slow. Progresses at a different pce and does not move forward to the next task until the last one is right. Which means that until she is comfortable she will not be found in class 3 water.

The key for guys is to give her help and coaching and tips when and IF she asks for it. Oterwise sit back and watch from far with all sorts of positive reinforcement.
I think when we sign on to the deal (girlfriend or wife) there is a clause that says we will not try to teach our partner.. It is really hard to do 'cause we tend to have a lot less patience for our partmenr than we do for our friends and people we do not know well.
My wife (Sylvie) really enjoys instructional videos and books. As well as some formal class and the "occasional" help from me.
I have taught ll sorts of friends to paddle and roll successully over the last 20 years but to do this in my own familly is really hard.

FYI: The same goes for kids.


Got to get more women and kids into the sport.
They are also generally smoother paddlers and when running rivers they inject a good dose of caution to counter the guy tendency to "give it a go...".

patience patience and more patience... uhhh what is that anyways.

It pays off eventually. We did our first river run (class II and an easy III) as a family in 2005. It was great. Now I got to wait for further progress from them.

[quote:1b9188e07d] Hi i just wandered how many girls actually paddle ????[/quote:1b9188e07d]

How long is a piece of string!????

Just messing, but this has turned out to be an interesting topic. I have paddled with lots of girls and a many of them are really good boaters. When I say good boaters, I mean way more solid than some of the male paddlers I have boated with.

In addition to that, my girlfriend is a boater. She, too, is a solid creeker and a very competent playboater. Having a paddling girlfriend is really great, especially when it comes to going on road trips and radom paddling holidays!! I think what makes it a lot easier is that we are both of similar paddling ability so neither one of us feels like we are in over our head or that we are bored.

In saying that, there are those inevitable days when things are terrible but to be honest its usually the paddling that sorts this out. A good day on a nice big wave or nailing a line on a sweet creek and any fight or argeument is quickly forgotten!!

But Sarah is dead on with everything she said. Patience and understanding are necessities when paddling with some girls. I dont say that in a bad way but one needs to understand how some girls operate and that they may not want to run something or that their confidence could be lower than testosterone driven guys!!!

In fact, there is a DVD coming out shortly called [b:1b9188e07d]Huck'd[/b:1b9188e07d] that has a sweet extra in it where Rosie Cripps is interviewed and talks about her feelings while padlding, the problems she and other girls face, life on the road with group of male boaters and lots more! Its actually pretty interesting and for all you guys who aren't sure how to handle paddling girls then this could help you a lot!! Check out huckd.blogspot.com/ and huckdnews.blogspot.com/ for more info on the DVD. For more info on the Arctic circle expedition see liveoncemedia.com/Expeditions.htm (scroll down!!) and www.thamesweirproject.co.uk/mt.htm

Girls do face some of the same problems guys do too.....

Rosie and Matt Tidy
[img:1b9188e07d]liveoncemedia.com/photos/norway%20photos/rosiecripps.gif[/img:1b9188e07d]

Cheers

Al
____________________
Are you Huck'd?

[color=cyan:63e7ce55d3][/color:63e7ce55d3]It's amazing how many views this topic has recieved! Check it out..

we all just wished more women would paddle with us

I taught my gfriend to paddle. She was doing well. Learnt to roll. Paddled a 40km, overnight, class 3 river which she enjoyed.. Things were awesome, then she booted me Almost 3 years for nothing! WARNING: be careful when teaching your partner to paddle... Invest wisely...

Such an interesting topic indeed!!! In fact, we've got an update on our site dedicated to the girls we paddle with - Some sweet pictures of the girls too... and then there's me making a balls of a line!!


Check it out!

HuckdNews.blogspot.com/

I think Oscar Wilde said it best when he said...

"Women are meant to be loved, not to be understood."

Ain't that right K!?

Oscar has it nailed down

im a girl and i paddle!!!!!!!! i know 4 other girls that paddle in my area

i know of three girls that paddle in texas but i'm sure there are plenty more out there my mom used to paddle

girls can rip just like the guys the river is the ultimate equalizer.


it will thrash you the same if you are girl guy black white green or yelllow