Filming new sea kayak DVD

I love this photo! It show an astonishing level of practical creativity at work. Click it for a closer look.

They want to film, in close up from above, the detail of what a top sea kayaker does in really rough water. How he paddles, weight shifts and other subtelties he probably doesn't know he's doing.

A safety boat wouldn't work. The camera would bob around out of phase with the paddler; there'd be a risk of collison; and it would give a side shot, not a top shot. Hence the microlite. Brilliant!

So who is it? It's part of a DVD being made by Olly Sanders on rough water boat handling which will be out at the end of the year. I reviewed his kayak safety DVD which is still available. You can also listen to a Podcast with Olly talking about paddling in Norway - it's in the Podcast Library.

The paddler is Aled Williams of TideRace at Penhryn Mawr, and they have lots of good footage at the stacks as well. Olly told me "It's amazing how different it all looks. We have a lot of good coaches and paddlers giving input , so hopefully it will give people some ideas about big water paddling".

Apparently, the P&H boats we used for the Canoe Boys recordings are heading down to Olly for more filming this weekend.

Get it on your Christmas list. Now!