Testing the “Ultimate Touring Kayak” at the TRAK Pacific Rim Surf Camp - May 2017

June 13, 2017 1 Comment

 

 

The twenty-person-strong team, cryptically entitled the TRAK 20/20 Team, consists of a handpicked selection of TRAK Pilot/Ambassadors and ACA instructors. Vetted according to their experience, expertise, enthusiasm, and personalities, and brought onboard to provide feedback at a critical time, we assembled (most) of the team in Tofino, BC, to accomplish the critical mission of testing and feedback on TRAK 2.0. This West Coast venue was selected as the perfect theatre in which to tackle the difficult task of articulating the required feedback for a number of reasons: it is a verified paddling mecca with varyingly intense conditions, getting there required the team to travel with their TRAK via plane – an important aspect of TRAK ownership, and for the secluded and remote environment that would allow for a focused experience that was free of distractions. A better choice could not have been made.

Skills Progression Training - Surf Clinic

We achieved our goals out there by tactically intermingling a surf progression clinic within the context of our TRAK 2.0 project. Contrived flat water testing is no substitute for the dynamic volatility and randomness of an open coastal environment, and our setting was a crucial player in testing the prototypes that we had brought along for trial. A mix of focused on water testing, spontaneous “oops!” moments, and collaborative group workshopping channeled the insightful thoughts of the team into indescribably valuable feedback.

Below: An excerpt of the training, a Sea Kayak Risk Management "primer"

 

The team was able to glean a lot of insight for themselves (and about themselves!) from the surf skills progression element of the trip. Top notch instructors Fabio Raimo de Oliveira from Brazil, Jaime Sharp from New Zealand, and Hans Trupp delivered the team an experience that was both informative and challenging. They gave participants choices on how to sharpen some skills and push their capabilities and, in plenty of cases, develop an entirely new toolset and perspective on how to approach open coastal and surf kayaking.

What They Had to Say

Here is a collection of interviews with members of the TRAK 20/20 Team, after testing the preliminary prototypes, and in the midst of their “stoke” during rough water play and amazing times had by everyone in Tofino.

 

 

 

 

 

Here is a blog written by one of the 20/20 Team members, Whitney Sanford: On TRAK to Adventure in Tofino, BC

   

What’s Next

Our Pacific Rim Surf Camp was, undoubtedly, an amazing success that brought together a group of strangers and created a passionate team of friends and comrades. The buzz around the TRAK office about how much of a precedent this has set for subsequent adventures into expedition planning and surf skills progression training for all TRAK owners.

Let us know if you’re interested. So far, we have these dates set for future camps:

• Baja California, Mexico - Baja Expedition Planning & Training (March 11-17, 2018)
• Tofino, BC, Canada - Pacific Rim Surf Camp (May 17-21, 2018)

 

Find TRAK 2.0 on Indiegogo!

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