Participating were:
    Tim
    Bill
    Dave
    James
    Steve
    Carol
    George

I have paddled with all of these people before in various CKF and SBKA events. Some of them have been to this class more than once. It was Tim's fourth time. Those of you who have seen Tim paddle realize that he is not a slow learner. He says that he learns something new every time and reinforces prior learning.

It was a windfall to have an entire day's personal attention and expertise of one of the world's leading experts, and an excellent and humorous teacher in the bargain, for less than $100. I admit that I was a little skeptical, suspecting that Derek might be trading on former glory, but am pleased to report that his reputation is very well-deserved.

A retired teacher of the British school system, Derek is extremely dedicated, regards himself foremost as a coach and knows how to get the best out of his charges. He is famous for his mildly sarcastic, but somehow gentle humor, used to motivate and make his points. He also regaled us with numerous informative, entertaining tales and somehow kept us going until four in the afternoon, with only a lunch break.

What I found most amazing is that he was able to manage a group of people of very different levels of experience and all of them were quite satisfied with the experience and learned a lot. I, for example, have had training from some of the top instructors in Southern California, such as Wayne Horodowich of USK, Harold Tervort of Southwind, Jennifer Kleck of Aqua Adventures and Jeff and Chris of Paddlesports in Santa Barbara. Yet, exactly as advertised, Derek helped propel me to a new level in kayak awareness and control, bracing, edging, sculling and turns. This was excellent preparation for the upcoming BCU (British Canoe Union) Three Star Certification test. Carol has never edged, leaned her boat, sculled or braced much, but she did every single maneuver in the class.

Derek and Wayne started out, on land, by explaining some of the fine points of paddles, holding and using them. Derek has studied this in incredible detail and can explain the dynamics of paddles, waves, water and kayaks, down to the molecular level and somehow makes it sound interesting.

He has a lot of criticism for some American manufacturers, for pandering to the market and making substandard equipment. He's clearly unconcerned with being politically correct and you can rely upon him for a fairly unbiased opinion. He pointed out that winged paddles are inappropriate, even potentially hazardous, for most recreational use and that asymmetrical paddles are not as good as symmetrical ones for sculling and bracing. He also felt that there is unwarranted emphasis on using light construction materials, to the detriment of strength, durability and paddle momentum.

BTW, he offers his own sturdily built, but rather heavy symmetrical design paddle, which sold a couple of copies in the class, in addition to personally autographed books. Derek has embraced capitalism with the best of the Yankees. Some might say that he is just pushing his paddling designs, others would conclude that he put his money where his mouth was.

He also gave us advice on edging and bracing, highlighting these as chief differentiators between novice and skilled paddlers. He set high expectations, by promising to help make our kayaks "dance" and even "fly." These campaign promises were largely, if figuratively kept.

Derek announced that kayaking and this class were dry sports and that no one needed to get wet. In spite of this, we had thrills and spills galore when people blew difficult maneuvers. These presented ample opportunities for Wayne to demonstrate rescues and for Derek to critique Wayne's rescues in a very loud voice.

We did not cover rolling in the class. Derek's stated position on this is that rolls are very valuable, are an indispensable last resort for tough situations and for helping to avoid messy rescues, but a a brace is preferable to a roll and discretion and skill trump them both. He grants compliments to those who roll well but criticizes them for screwing up and needing to roll in the first place.

Mr. Hutchinson was sufficiently humble to pay homage to the original kayakers, from Alaska, Greenland and other icebound regions, occasionally citing the roots of current designs. He covers this extensively in some of his books.

Derek is getting on in years. At 68, he has the pains of an older man, but the cherubic appearance and exuberance of a boy. Once in his own design "Current Designs" kayak in the lagoon at UCSB, he was like a fish in the water, paddling backwards faster than most of us in forward stroke mode, running rings around us, constantly coaching and exhorting us to get more out of our boats. I noticed that he also knew when to sit and rest while we wore ourselves out practicing each move, until we showed significant improvement. One thing I liked about the class is that you could work as hard as you wanted to improve, but Derek did have choice comments for those who he didn't feel were investing the minimum effort necessary to progress.

Derek and Wayne put us through our paces, studying and critiquing techniques of various strokes and maneuvers, throughout the day, showing patience and helpfulness, even for people with short-term memory problems like yours truly.

We covered forward strokes, edging/leaning, front and rear sweep, brace, draw, scull strokes in several dimensions, backward paddling, rescues, repair technique at sea, even standing up. I could honestly say that I could do these all passably well by the end of the class, with what little energy I had left. But, I suppose that I will have to clean up my form and technique a bit to get past the BCU Three Star examination on 6 April.

I think that his most important skills were:

• Being able to convey the importance and even the history of certain kayaking practices
• The gift of analyzing problems and helping us to visualize how to do things right.
• Humor and motivation

My only critique of the course is that no satisfactory rest room arrangements were made until lunch time, a belated relief.

Afterward, we met in the parking lot to pack up, recover, chat, congratulate Derek, Wayne, ourselves and purchase various Derekwares and Horodowich videos. I was almost embarrassed to find myself joining the fan club to glom autographs, et al.

Wayne, thanks for organizing this! Readers- Don't miss this opportunity if it comes again.

Other comments:

Carol: "Never thought that I would edge my boat and am looking forward to making it 'dance' the way Derek promised. Also looking forward to the next class- Derek- when are you coming back?"

Tim: "I have taken this class four times and get something out of it each time."

Steve: "Prior to this class, I paddled my kayak---now I am learning how to kayak. I will definitely be taking this class again the next time Derek is offering it. Before I paddled with Derek, I felt my boat was slow and although I could lean it to turn, I had never been able to lean it to the point of having my skirt under water---That's all changed now---and------my boat has gotten a lot faster too."

James: "I think a key point to take home is the point of view of instruction. When Derek was talking about athletes teaching courses, paddling styles, paddle design, etc., he showed his experience and knowledge base concerning the sport. Similarly, Wayne has shown comparable depth of knowledge and experience. Both of them have taught a diversity of people in a diversity of environments. In the last 2 years, I've taken a class from Southwest Kayaks (Ed Gillet's shop); 2 classes from Wayne; 2 classes from Derek; a class from Aqua Adventures; and a class at Paddlesports. I have learned the most from Derek and Wayne. I think you and Carol now understand why Tim keeps coming back for more, and why I wanted to take the class again. I'd be curious to hear your comparison between the BCU 3 star course and Derek's conversion class."

George's response to James: The BCU 3 Star class covered some of the same areas and was well-done. I learned a lot that helped me to do better in Derek's course. So, exactly how does one compete with "the father of modern sea kayaking?"

So, why would you want any other instructor? Well, for openers, they're here. Secondly, they are very good-- we are blessed with some excellent, competent, dedicated local instructors. I have no complaints with them, but couldn't resist trying out the legendary Derek Hutchinson, kayaker extraordinaire for the ages.

Click on picture to expand to full size

School's in session	Break time- Bill, Steve, Carol, Tim	Derek teaches Carol how to fly	Hey! I can't reach the pedals!	Derek demos extended paddle sweep stroke
Carol leans into high brace	Derek shows us a one-handed reverse sweep, with panache	Is this Scotland?	James checks Bill's passport, while Steve impounds boat, with enforcer Dublin Dave standing by	Derek and Carol debate who is taller (230 mm standard is displayed)
Wayne Horodowich, organizer, enforcer and translator, from British to American English	Bill is saying "The worst day kayaking is better than the best day in the office"	Derek is asking, "Did this guy pay?"	Carol applying lessons learned: Tea time

    George Miller

Submitted on March 26, 2002