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A play boat to practice in
A river with some steeper drops
How to Properly execute the Boof Stroke
When to use this stroke
How to articulate your body to properly influence the movement of the raft
In this lesson, Trevor and Kailee are discussing an intermediate paddle technique called the Boof Stroke. This stroke builds upon the 5 basic paddle strokes found in in Beginner Rafting Series. Understanding and properly executing the Boof stroke can help rafters operate more effectively in class IV or higher rivers by helping to prevent the boat from swamping as well as taking advantage of super critical flows to drive you through large features.
The Boof Stroke in a raft is an adaptation of a kayaking stroke designed to propel the boat horizontally off of a steep drop. The purpose of this is to keep your boat gliding across the water without penetrating the water’s surface. A boat will more easily be able to maintain it’s tracking as it slides across the top of the water. In the case of a raft, your boat will be less likely to fill with water and swamp out when you hit the bottom of the drop. Additionally, the rafting stroke incorporates throwing yourself backwards making it less likely that you will fly out of the front of the raft.
The boof stroke consists of 2 major elements:
A forward paddle followed immediately by;
A lay back on the tube behind you
Performing both of these elements in unison will prevent the bow of the boat from dropping down and scooping the water up at the bottom of the drop. In an r2 scenario it is important to communicate exactly when you want to make a boof stroke so your partner knows when and how you want to execute the stroke. In many cases it will be obvious, however if one partner to he other begins the stroke early it can send the raft flying off the drop sideways which can lead to swims, pins, dump trucks, or flips.
The forward paddle element of the stroke requires you to build a bit of momentum as you are falling off of the drop. Ideally it is good to get a couple forward strokes before you reach the drop to help propel you over the drop. When you reach the drop, you will want to reach over the drop and grab the super critical flow pouring off the drop with your paddle blade. This will give you a slight increase to your forward momentum as you will be grabbing supercritical flow with higher momentum. This will allow you to gain a huge amount of purchase with your blade and provide even more force as you fly off the drop.
Footwork is everything with this stroke and to properly execute it requires that you pull up with the foot or feet you have in the forward position. If you sit behind a thwart then you will find that the top of your foot should be pulling the thwart up as you rock back. This helps to pop the raft up as well as stabilizing you as you go off the drop. When you complete the stroke, pulling up will help you leap forward back into your paddle position. If you use a 2 feet forward method, you will find that both of your feet will pull up and you may find that this technique is even more effective at getting your bow up. Having 2 feet forward is most effective when:
You are facing a drop taller than your raft is long
You have low mobility on your inside leg
When you are running a vertical pour over drop
You want to really look cool in front of kayakers
It is important to note though that having both feet forward can reduce your lateral stability so if you are in a situation where you are unsure if you may fall sideways off the drop, it may be a good idea to keep one foot back to help you brace properly. Alternatively, if you are entering a large type C hydraulic jump you may need to keep your back foot locked in to help you spring forward to get out more on this later).
The lay back portion of the stroke represents 2 sub-parts that complete the stroke. As you begin to fall into the drop you will want to throw your weight backwards to establish your momentum away from the direction of the fall. This will help to keep you from flying forward out of the front of the raft when the bow connects with the bottom of the drop. If you are impacting a hydraulic jump (which you most likely are) then the sub-critical flow at the bottom will provide a large amount of resistance in the form of upstream momentum. As you pass through the Critical Flow Zone your momentum will experience a violent reduction in speed due as a product of the following factors:
Your boat’s forward momentum
The drag you boat exhibits
The size of the drop
The relative velocity of the subcritical flow
It is hard to estimate these things in the field, but if we take them one by one you can make some general assumptions as follows.
The faster you are going downstream the harder the hit.
The blockier your boat’s waterline is the harder the hit will feel.
The taller the drop the more gravity will accelerate your raft creating a harder hit when the boat ultimately plunges into the sub-critical flow.
If the sub-critical flow has negative velocity (that is to say if the sub-critical flow is moving upstream in relation to the main current) the harder the impact will feel.
To properly complete the stroke, you want to do a small crunch just before impact by tightening your abdominal muscles. This will also help to get the bow up in the last fraction of a second before impact, and can keep the raft gliding across the top of the water rather than plunging into to critical flow.
The Boof Stroke is useful anytime you are encountering a horizon line AKA a vertical drop. You would also want to use this stroke when you are trying to catch an eddy behind a pressure wave. You can Boof over the pressure wave to counteract the force of the pillow and slide seamlessly into the eddy. The most important use of this stroke is when you are encountering a large type B or C Hydraulic Jump. By boofing into the feature, you can gain a last-minute burst of speed to punch through the hole in the wall and make it through. Additionally, when you are punching a large type B or C Jump you may not make it all the way through the feature and the recirculating top water may grab your raft. If you set yourself up with a one foot forward, one back setup you can easily spring forward at the bottom of the drop and grab the outflowing current to help dig out of the hole and ultimately prevent a big surf or carnage.
