Greenlandic Comprehensive!!

Cheri and Turner are back in Cape Ann offering their qajaq expertise to beginners looking to try traditional rolling for the first time to advanced students looking to hone their skills and everyone in between. All abilities are welcome!

In this small class (4 to 1 student to instructor ratio), you will receive individual attention in the traditional paddling techniques. Rolling topics will include sculling for support, balance brace, the standard Greenland roll and variations. For more advanced students, norsaq and hand rolls, forward finishing rolls, and combat rolls. Strokes covered will be forward, sliding, high/low braces, sculling, sweep, draw and rudder, and various stroke combinations. Skin on frame kayaks, tuiliks and Greenland paddles are available during these sessions.

So if you’ve never tried a Greenland boat and paddle this is a unique opportunity to go green and learn from two of the top mentors in the country. There will be two sessions available – morning and afternoon.

About the Coaches:

A paddler for 18 years, Cheri has taught Greenland-style kayaking for three years at several national kayaking symposia, including Delmarva Paddlers Retreat, Michigan Training Camp, Mystic Seaport Arctic Boat Weekend, Sea Kayak Georgia BCU Week, Sweetwater BCU Week, Vermont BCU Week, Paddlesports in New Jersey, and the East Coast Canoe and Kayak Festival held annually in Charleston, SC.

Cheri competed in the Greenland National Kayaking Championships in both 2004 and 2005, in events ranging from rolling to individual and relay races, winning a dozen gold medals. She has won several rolling competitions in the United States and is widely regarded as one of the best Greenland-style kayak rollers in the world. She has offered demonstrations of Greenlandic kayaking techniques to many groups across the country, and she has given many presentations relating to Greenlandic kayak technique and Greenlandic culture.

A skinny sticker for 10 years, and one of those rare paddlers outside of Greenland who began paddling with same, Turner Wilson has taught Greenland-style kayaking for 5 years, at several national kayaking symposia, including Delmarva Paddlers Retreat, Michigan Training Camp, Mystic Seaport Arctic Boat Weekend, Sea Kayak Georgia BCU Week, Sweetwater BCU Week, the Wooden Boat Show, Vermont BCU Week, SSTIKS, and the East Coast Canoe and Kayak Festival.

Turner competed in the Greenland National Kayaking Championships in July of 2005, in events ranging from rolling to individual and relay races, winning 6 gold medals. He has demonstrated Greenlandic kayaking techniques from Maine to New Zealand. Turner has also judged many rolling competitions, always with the idea that spectators can learn just as much as the participants. He has presented several talks relating to Greenlandic kayak technique and Greenlandic culture, as well as skin on frame kayak construction to participants of events across the country and beyond.

Check out their website at: www.kayakways.net and the latest “This is The Sea 3” DVD which features Cheri.

Class Date: Saturday June 2, 2007

Times: Morning session 8:30am – 12:30pm. Afternoon session 1:30pm-5:30pm

Location: Chebacco Lake, Hamilton/Essex MA

Cost: $140 per session

Number of Participants per Session: 8

To Register: Send an email to the class facilitator, Paula, at [email protected] by May 26th. (These sessions are popular so be sure to sign up early!) Include your boat description, emergency contact name and phone number. Also indicate which session (morning or afternoon) you want to attend.

Paula will tell you where to mail your check and will keep the registration list and a waiting list. Paula will only hold your slot when she receives your check made out to NSPN. If you cannot attend you will receive a refund only if your slot can be filled from the waiting list. If the class is oversubscribed Paula will ask if you want to be placed on the waiting list.

All NSPN-sponsored commercial events are run on a “pass-through-the-cost-basis.” NSPN may include a very small markup over actual costs to cover incidental expenses and support club activities that benefit the membership as a whole. The club does not subsidize activities that benefit only the participants in classes with limited enrollment. Therefore, in the highly unlikely event that the class is canceled due to extreme weather, there will be no refunds. Lightning will obviously keep us off the water, but much can be learned from these talented teachers on shore