Canoe Wales is the national governing body for paddle sport in Wales. We:

  • Manage the National White Water Centre which is located on the river Tryweryn in Bala, North Wales
  • Represent the interests of our club and individual members
  • Advocate on behalf of the interests of the sport in Wales
  • Provide coaching and development programmes from local to international level
  • Stage national and international competitions.

End Manoeuvre

End Manouvre 1When the wave finally closes out and there is no more unbroken wave to plane along the surfer needs to finish the ride by performing an end manoeuvre. At times it may even be necessary to finish the ride prematurely, due to the particular circumstances at the time (obstacles such as rocks, piers or other water users).

The simplest way to pull off a wave, is to turn up wave and climb up and over the back before the whole thing collapses and becomes a heaving mass of soup.

On occasion it is not possible to exit over the top of the wave, forcing the rider to either straighten out and ride the white water, or punch through the wave - the punch out.

The alternative to pulling off the back of the wave is to straighten up and use the white water to perform an end manoeuvre unique to kayaks. The easiest of these manoeuvres are the loop and pop-out.

Loop and Pop-Out

End Manoeuvre 2By continuing to lean forwards as the breaking wave lifts the back of the boat, the nose will dig in. As the wave continues forwards the tail will rise and as the wave passes the now vertical kayak the volume in the bow that is displaced under water will cause the kayak to shoot upwards. It is possible for the nose of the kayak to clear the water, when this happens it is called a sky rocket.

End Manouevre 3If the tail of the boat travels over the nose of the boat in the vertical plane, causing the paddler to land in a capsized position, then a loop has been performed. If however, the tail doesn't pass vertically over the nose of the kayak, but instead returns to its original position a pop-out has been performed.

It is possible through body positioning to control these end manoeuvres. By leaning the body forwards you are more likely to perform a loop. If you lean back whilst vertical you are more likely to perform a pop-out. By the use of body rotation, when vertical, the kayak can be spun on its vertical axis, thus enabling the performance of dry loops and pirouettes.

Pirouette

End Manoeuvre 5Having forced the kayak into a vertical position, the kayak can be spun on its vertical axis. A 180° degree spin as part of a loop is termed a dry loop. A 360° degree spin or even a 720° degree spin is known as a pirouette.

Cart Wheel

End Manoeuvre 4The cart wheel is performed as a means of a forward and then reverse loop on the same wave. The trick with the cart wheel is to land the kayak after the first forward dry loop in front of the wave in a position where a reverse loop can then be performed.

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Introduction - Wipe Out - Paddle Out - Take Off - The Ride - End Move