In article , S I Lent
wrote:
Apparently 28 times world champion Birgit Fischer and French manufacturer
Nautiraid have developed a folding racing K1.

Has anybody paddled it in the UK and is it any good?

BTW Fischer as a former East German athlete must have had coaches in the
Krassimir Ivanov mould (cf. Allan's posting) but she remained a class act
after the collapse of that regime, won gold in Athens etc so she is probably
'for real'.


....and would almost certainly have won Gold medals in LA if not for the
boycott, which would have made her more successful than Steve Redgrave. He
was the first to win golds at 5 successive Olys, which Fischer did shortly
afterwards in Sydney, despite missing out in '84.

Re folding boats: there have always been 2 problems with producing
high-performance folding boats - weight and surface integrity. I don't think
these have yet been overcome.

Although a bit before my time, I have heard stories (from the paddlers
themselves) that competitors would arrive at a race venue from the train,
unpack their boats and race, fold them up again and return home on the train.


PS - it helps if you don't post anonymously...

Allan Bennett
Not a fan of excess packing


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