LW 2024 race analysis with Evan Garcia

[@sethezekielwest]

I love everything about this.

[@chmith27]

pls, more of this vibe this is just awesome stuff

[@Famousleif]

@@chmith27 I'll see what I can do.

[@samutalkarri3201]

This was awesome to watch and listen to. Thank you.

[@Famousleif]

@@samutalkarri3201 it was fun to make, too!

[@MatthewBrookKayaking]

Love the editing you did to annotate the rapids with what you and Evan were saying. So helpful! Also lovely to hear the humility of such skilled paddlers - truly appreciate it!

[@Famousleif]

@@MatthewBrookKayaking if I do another of these, I'll have a secondary camera like a GoPro or something pointed at the screen so I can be sure what we were pointing at and talking about. I had to trust my memory and wow, it was more work than I thought.

[@MatthewBrookKayaking]

@Famousleif I thought it worked excellently! Appreciate the work you put in.

[@bfosterkayaking]

You gotta love this! Two legends breaking down video and talking about their craft at the highest level. That X stern is so narrow and rockered that it often makes the boat jump out on edge instead of straight ahead. I think that's one of the negative implications of that design. They really should make a 10-foot Scorch XL for bigger paddlers with a wider stern end.

[@Famousleif]

@@bfosterkayaking yes exactly, multiple sizes of the x! Also Evan is a legend but I feel like I'm just a chill guy.

[@oscarhenry6243]

Hey, amazing video! Super interesting to hear you and EG. In my opinion, it seems like you're losing some time during your boof receptions by landing too flat, which causes your tail to get pushed. This slows you down and sometimes makes that first stroke after landing require a lot of effort. There could be several reasons for this. Maybe you're leaning back a bit too much, or your seat position might be set too far back. It’s also possible your boof timing is a little early, which keeps your boat too flat in the air. I think the Scorch’s shape might amplify this effect, unlike Waka design which tend to be more stable at boof receptions. To counter it, I am delaying my boof timing to ensure my nose hits the steady water more vertically, and during the whole skip, I am leaning forward powerfully. I could be wrong, but I thought these observations might be helpful to you !

[@Famousleif]

@@oscarhenry6243 nice yeah definitely something to think about. I think I'm so averse to having any water come up over the bow that maybe I've overcorrected (at least for some moves).

[@eldril1009]

GREAT VID

[@kayakkootenaybc]

How many people get to have a pro with hundreds of LW laps analyzing their lines? Very cool interview.

[@gemmawatson6100]

For what it's worth (from another X paddler) that bow does look a little higher and more likely than mine and I needed to move forward to get a bit more control over it - was more than just lean forward to engage drive and change the pivot point. Didn't take much, and definitely worth a try

[@Famousleif]

@@gemmawatson6100 I really should experiment. I've been wanting to try to move it back, too, and see what that does.

[@gemmawatson6100]

@@Famousleif Didn't take much, like in terms of just enough to mimic a permanently forward posture and get the bow chines engaged a little more, though it also made skips a bit cleaner (less of a thing on our continuous North Fork style boulder flood runs). So much potential in that boat, I hope Pyranaha don't stop making it

[@Famousleif]

@gemmawatson6100 I'm hoping they make an X2, and make multiple sizes. Me and Natalie both paddled Xs for a bit there. A full size one for me and a slightly smaller one for Natalie would be so perfect.

[@gemmawatson6100]

@@Famousleif Yeah a S+M+L range would be really nice. I think it was a leap of faith to even make one, and after doing time at Bliss-Stick back in the day I know even making moulds on a shoestring's is bloody expensive. But if we're talking wishlist then an X2 range and a new Nano for the tiny tiny stuff cos nobody makes boats for those runs anymore