When I was working for the Paddle Sport Development Team I soon learnt that the biggest block to youth development wasn’t the lack of youths, but the lack of adults to supervise them. I believe that the main purpose of a ‘Canoe’ club is to provide access to the water, they are the gate keepers to our sport and I wanted to make opening that gate easier. This meant that we either needed more coaches, or a different approach to the job. I come from a competitive background so the coaching ladder is a little alien to me but I have always loved boats and lateral thinking!

It is very unusual for anyone to progress through our sport without a big input from their family, even more so now that the scouts & guides are finding it more difficult to provide canoeing as a regular activity. I wanted a boat that would enable a novice adult to provide a meaningful duty of care for young people afloat & ease the burden for existing coaches.