21 days to go .... finally my boat sinks

Today I had the most awesome squirt boating session.

Whirlpool filled eddyline

Plattling is renowned for its freestyle venue but it is rarely talked about as a squirt boating destination despite it appearing to look like an almost perfect squirt boating competition spot with its calm yet flowing deep eddy and whirlpool filled eddyline. I remember being here last year and hearing stories of the Japanese team paddlers getting epic downtime in the floods. I remember there being talk about fast, deep, long beautiful rides that slammed you around the whirlpool eddyline before eventually spitting you back up for air.

Practising my flat water routine

Excited by the prospect of a powerful mystery spot I set about testing it in low water and found that despite its appearance and potential power the first few feet didn’t have the dynamics to allow a good drop. But there was defiantly something down there, as it had been providing entertainment to a number of boaters through the week who had jumped in for a swim and found themselves on deep long rides that saw them having to swim up gasping for air.

Tom's wallet and its contents drying in the sun after a swim mystery session

A little disheartened I set out again today in the hope that a little more water would allow me to finally tap in and find the charc and I wasn’t disappointed. In not a lot of time I had begun to figure out the spot and had an awesome mystery exploration session cumulating in a 6 second ride.

The ultimate ab workout

The seam surges and you have to be on it with your position and timing. It is a very quick drop entry spot, if you get it right, that takes you deep, fast and then allows one of the smoothest and most controlled rides in which you can change direction of your spin and play as you cruise down the eddyline.

Smooth eddyline will allow some good flatwater routines to be performed that will really showcase the sport at this event

Just this short little session has filled me with a lot of excitement and left me eagerly awaiting more. There is scope to go deeper, to ride for longer and to roam. I look forward to more squirt boaters arriving so we can really explore this 3 dimensionally plattling playground.

Check out this little video from the session ...