Dutch Water Dreams

From Wikipaddle

Dutch Water Dreams
Grade	3(+)

Distance	~300m

Location
Country	Netherlands
Region	South Holland

Dutch Water Dreams is a new Olympic standard artificial white water course located in Zoutermeer in The Netherlands. It officially opened on October 21st 2006. The course itself is world class and it is reported to be the training ground for the current Chinese Slalom and Freestyle teams prior to their own course opening for the Bejing 2008 Olympics. In the land of the flat, this place is a godsend!

The course is approximately 300m long and is a fast flowing grade 3(+). The height drop is ~5.5m.

The course kicks off with a Sydney style conveyer belt, thus you can play for hours without getting out of your boat. The most interesting part for playboating is the wave Casper van Kalmthout designed and built together with Dutch team trainer Rene Boom. Although it is quite shallow you can throw nearly every hole move in there: easy cartwheels, (super)cleanwheels and splitwheels. When making loops or other air moves you will very probably hit the bottom but you'll be able to minimize that in a few runs. The course continues with a few drops, a big and very sticky hole and some nice kickflip wave trains.

Kayak storage on site is now possible and the venue will boast a outdoor cafe/bar from late April 2007. You can also rent high quality gear if you leave yours at home.

The site also contains 3 large 'flowriders', artificial waves where much fun can be had surfing or body boarding. There is also beach volleyball and trampolining available.

[edit]