Derek Hutchinson is a famous (perhaps infamous) British kayaker and kayaking instructor. He came out to “the colonies” for a week and gave a series of workshops on extended braces and turns. The first day he was in the neighborhood he gave a talk about his famous first crossing of the North Sea by kayak. He is an engaging speaker, and this continued when my turn came around to take the bracing class from him. He shouts like a drill sergeant “Kayaking is a dry sport”! Then when asked to teach us how to roll he responded “You guys don’t pay me enough to get wet for you”! Derek has strong opinions about everything and does not like the way the American Canoe Association (ACA) teaches the forward stroke or the head position for rolling and bracing. “I don’t want to see that ACA ‘head dink’ stuff”!
He did teach a large number of sweep and bracing strokes, many of which required holding onto one end of the paddle the way Greenland kayakers do. Unfortunately, he is not fond of Greenland paddles and I was not allowed to use mine during the class. One kayaker, Sue Estey, took the class from him twice with the understanding that the second time she would be able to use her Greenland paddle.
Many of Derek’s braces and turns require that you edge your boat way over. Many kayakers are afraid to lean their boats over, so one of the many good things about this class was how Derek got us all very used to edging our boats. The last few tricks he taught were some bracing turns, and the very last one was the “Tilly Hat Turn”. You brace your blade with one hand and the upper paddle behind your neck. This frees up your other hand to tip your hat at people on the dock as you turn to a stop. What good is a maneuver like this? Derek says “It’s great for pissing off your friends”!