International Canoe Federation

19th-century sportsmen adopted two types of Canoes: a covered, decked Canoe propelled with a two-blade paddle and an open Canoe propelled with a single-blade paddle. The modern decked Canoe, modelled on the craft used by native peoples from the Canadian Arctic, emerged in the UK in the late 1850s.

This modern, decked Canoe, or “Kayak”, was popularised by John MacGregor, an intrepid Scottish barrister whose adventures in his Kayak were documented in his book, A Thousand Miles in the Rob Roy Canoe. Since then, sportsmen have adopted the decked Canoe for both touring and racing.

Meanwhile, in North America, early explorers and settlers were using a simpler open Canoe crafted from birch, white cedar, spruce root and gum. The design of these elegant log Canoes soon became moulds for a more durable and rugged, wood plank Canoe which, by the 1870s, were being turned out in numbers in the Peterborough region of central Canada. These smooth-skinned Canoes became the essential craft for travelling in the Canadian wilderness.

Within 20 years, the Canoe virtually replaced the Kayak in North America, the Kayak was reserved as a racing sailing canoe, which few sportsmen could afford to build and fewer still could sail. The open canoe was exported to Europe, establishing a small niche for itself especially among touring canoeists. The wooden open Canoe evolved into the sleek craft we now know as the racing C1.

In today’s sport Canoe Sprint and Canoe Slalom, as well as all other Canoe Disciplines, technically use the same type of craft but the boats are extremely different. All disciplines require a great deal of speed, but while in Canoe Sprint (as well as Canoe Marathon and Ocean Racing) the boats are long and streamlined, in Canoe Slalom (and other Whitewater Disciplines) the boats are small, light and agile, allowing for greater manoeuvrability so that athletes can navigate their way through gates, rapids, eddies, holes and waves through to the finish.