OC1 - A Paddler's Guide
Europe - The final frontier France leads the charge The European OC1 scene has been painfully slow to evolve and it's a mystery why. VI were certainly present long before OC1 on account of Tahitian service men being posted to Southern France, ensuring they had a supply of V1 to paddle, courtesy of the French Navy, who shipped them direct from the islands. OC1 paddling is however practiced in Germany, Switzerland, Italy, France, England and a few other areas. France remains the strong hold of growth, driven by key paddlers and manufacturers. Jim Foti has been coming to Italy for quite a number of years now (following his Italian roots) in support of his association with All Wave and of their major race the All Wave Cup (European Championships) held in Italy. Together, we ran a clinic during the event in 2011. It combines OC1, OC2, Surf Ski and V1 and well worth the trip. The UK now imports All Wave canoes from Italy through Outrigged UK and has done so since around 2010. Imiq Paddle Sports (Cameron Taylor) based in London now imports the Hurricane and Scorpious since 2013. Since the middle of 2000 the sport begun to find appeal and gain traction. Stand up paddle boarding has partly helped shift the interest. In the South West of France, the first OC1s used were supplied by All Wave canoes based in Italy. Franรงois Xavier Maurin and Peyo Lizarazu traveled to Rome in 2006 to buy 2 OC1 Tsunami built by All Wave. From 2006, Ludovic Dulou imported into France All Wave OC1 such as the Tsunami and OC2 Tsunami Duo followed in 2007 by the Oracle OC1 (with a pocket seat and more volume for open ocean) and OC2 and later in that same year, Ludovic imported some Hypr Vantages and Outrigger Connection Hawaii canoes, including the Fusion and the Stingray OC2 followed by the Zephir and Fuze. The Zephir was a big success in France with some paddlers using it in the Molokai Solo race. Later the Osprey a small volume OC1 by
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