The Nordkapp is one of the most well known sea kayaks in the world, first launched in 1975, it was designed by Frank Goodman, for the expedition to the northern most point of Europe. Actually Knivskjellodden, a nearby headland lies 1450 metres north but there is no road to the point and the name isn’t that user friendly, so Nordkapp, has become the most northerly point in popular culture.
Several years ago the Jersey Canoe Club organised a Nordkapp weekend, in response to the number of classic kayaks, which were being refurbished and given a second lease of life by some of the members. Last weekend saw the Second Nordkapp meet, in Jersey, and this time we attracted a couple of Nordkapp enthusiasts from the UK in addition to the local aficionados.
The weather wasn’t great, preventing the offshore paddles taking place but it did result in some fun conditions on the day trips. Saturday started with the inevitable photo shoot at St Catherine’s, the home of Jersey Canoe Club before we headed onto the north coast. Lunch was eaten on the beach at Egypt, a favourite location with Jersey paddlers, before we ventured into the more entertaining conditions off Belle Hougue, the tallest headland of Jersey. There were numerous excellent surfing opportunities, created by the wind against tide.
On the Saturday evening we enjoyed an excellent BBQ, courtesy of Louis and his enthusiastic band of helpers. This proved to be an ideal opportunity to catch up with paddlers you hadn’t seen for a while and share stories about paddles, many involving this classic kayak.
Sunday’ forecast was for increasing winds so it was decided to do a one way paddle along the south coast of the island, taking advantage of both the tidal flow and the following wind. It was a few hours of real pleasure, with wind right on our sterns, reaching force 6 in the afternoon. There wasn’t much opportunity for chatting but there were a significant number of very smiley faces. For some reason, we don’t tend to do that many one way downwind paddles. They should be on the agenda for the autumnal low pressures.
The Sunday evening saw the sharing of people’s 5 memorable sea kayaking photos, it was amazing how many places the group had paddled. We also had the quiz which, Angus, Kate and Catherine had devised, whilst attending the Women’s Sea Kayak Festival, the week before, however, there was one controversial question and answer.
The question was “what does HM stand for, in relation to the Nordkapp?” I have always thought that it was “hatches and modified hull”. Angus through his diligent research had discovered that it stood for ‘hull modified’. I had to accept his marking but I am not sure that his source was correct. Does anybody else have a view on this discussion point? Other Nordkapp’s with H in their designation include the HS, H2O, LHR etc. A small point, which in no way detracted from making it a great evening.
The Monday paddle was along the south coast cliffs, a part of Jersey which, I always think looks more Mediterranean than English Channel. We reached Corbiere, probably the most photographed location on Jersey and didn’t waste the opportunity to grab some pictures of this famous landmark.
Returning to St Brelade’s for a celebratory pint, in one of the Canoe Club’s favourite watering holes, the Beau Rivage. We reflected on the success of the weekend, with the conversation turning towards whether we should recreate the paddle to Nordkapp. We did run a trip to Nordkapp in 1986, when we paddled north from Tromso and succeeded in paddling underneath the most northerly point of Europe.
2 years time, will see the 50th anniversary of the launch of this iconic kayak, and I am sure there will be appropriate celebrations to mark this significant milestone in the development of sea kayaking.