Whitewater Kayaking - History

History

Paddling on rivers, lakes and oceans is as old as the Stone Age. The raft, the catamaran, the canoe and the kayak evolved depending on the needs and environment of the indigenous peoples in different parts of the world. The modern day kayak most likely originated about 8,000 years ago along the Siberian coast line by the Yupik and then transformed from the open canoe, via the Aleut and Inuit, into an enclosed kayak. Simplified, all the ethnic groups of the entire polar region are called Eskimos and their various boat versions Eskimo kayaks/canoes.

The Greek, Herodotus, 484-425 BC, wrote in his travel diaries about boats with which merchandise was brought from Armenia to Babylon. The boats were made of a wooden framework that was covered with animal skins. Mules hauled the precious skins back to Armenia.

The Russian, Grigori Ivanovitch Langsdorff, reported from his trip around the world (1803–07) on the ease and elegance of paddling Eskimo kayaks/canoes. The Scot, John MacGregor, came back from his North American trip full of excitement about the kayak/canoe and in 1860 started building six boats that closely resembled Eskimo canoes/kayaks, weighing app. 80 lb (36 kg). In 1866 he published the book A Thousand Miles in the Rob Roy Canoe. The timing was right and the book became a resounding success. With the Industrial Revolution leading to more leisure time in the middle of the 19th century, people in Europe started to enjoy floating down rivers in all kinds of contraptions taking in nature previously only available to a selected few.

• 1905, Alfred Heurich, an architectural student from Leipzig, Germany, invented the "Faltboot", a folding kayak called Folboat in the US. Heurich went on to paddle over 100,000 km (62,000 mi) on rivers and lakes.
• 1907, Alfred Klepper, a master seamster from Rosenheim, bought the patent, improved the rigidity with a lever system and started production. Born was the Western culture's invention of a paddle craft that for the first time in human history that allowed hardy enthusiasts to see wild river sections and canyons never before seen by the human eye. The design made it not only suitable for whitewater (WW) but also easy to travel with and affordable. World War I stopped any progress.

• 1920s, boating on WW with Folboats developed. Boaters flocked to rivers and lakes by train or bus. During that time, the Austrian, Edi Hans Pawlata reinvented the Eskimo roll.
• 1927, Franz von Alber, and then, Klaus and Arndt von Rautenfeld, claimed to have independently developed a roll with their sea kayaks.
• Early 1930s, Walter Frentz, Herbert Rittlinger and a handful of others became pioneers and advocates of WW kayaking with documentaries and books.
• 1933, Adolf Hitler started to dissolve kayak clubs. They did not serve his plan and the impact on the sport was devastating. World War II brought the paddle sport to a total halt.

1946/48, Depending on the region, the Allies gradually lifted the ban on river travel in Germany. Paddle clubs were again allowed to form.

• 1952, Walter Frentz, published an inspiring book In den Schluchten Europas (In the Canyons of Europe) that gained popularity. The book was based on his river trips prior to World War II. Publications in those days told great stories with awesome pictures of first descents but with little information regarding river conditions. The tough times of the post war era had come to an end and people traveled abroad again looking for adventures with Folboats and canoes.
• 1955, Herbert Baschin in Stuttgart built the first polyester/fiber kayak. Despite the much improved maneuverability and material, Baschin’s hard shell was received with skepticism by paddle sport enthusiasts who were in love with their folboats and depended on public transportation. The ice broke when owning an automobile became affordable. The hard shell kayak was easily hauled to rivers and remote put-ins that were not accessible before. In the late 60s the WW sport started from Europe to spread around the world and transformed from adventure trips into a hardcore sport. With it came safety consciousness and protective gear.

• 1973, Tom Johnson, a racer and trainer from Kernville, California designs and markets the Hollowform: the first roto-molded polyethylene boat. It was mass-produced by a garbage can manufacturing company. These virtually indestructible boats revolutionized the sport, and quickly took off in California. Paddlers no longer had to constantly repair their boats during and after trips. They began to be able to use rocks as part of the strategy of negotiating difficult rapids. Hard runs became more accessible to less-skilled paddlers.
• 1980 the manufacturer Prijon in Rosenheim introduced polyethylene to Europe which made WW boating virtually maintenance and repair free in giant contrast to the Faltboot which had started it all.
• 1980 Holger Machatschek, together with ESKIMO kayak company in Landsberg, Germany, developed the first 2.2 m (7.2 ft) playboat called Topolino which galvanized kayaking into many new and exciting forms of extreme sports.