The Global Paddling Community

Interview with top paddler Clay Wright. Clay speaks about his recent achievements, his plans for the future and explains the design theory behind Perception's latest creekboat: the Java.

PLAYAK.COM: So Clay what have you been up to since Sort?

Clay Wright: While I wasn't pleased with my results, once the Worlds was over I had a lot less pressure to stay healthy and got to enjoy kayaking hard again. Spent 4 days on N. Fork of the Payette, then Rolled into Gorge Games feeling good, ran Little White a bunch, got 7th in the event, and headed straight up to British Columbia for some action. Perception hosted "Jr Training Week" at Skookumchuck - took the best underage paddlers in the world to the biggest glassy wave on the planet at max-flows and watched the action. Sicko! Took em up to Whistler after that for a taste of Creekin' the Upper Check and Callahan, too. OR called, so we did major 'carpet time' while working the show, but blew off the steam by winning Gore Race (under 8' class in my Java) and partying with our Colorado friends. I actually ended up in Polk Deiters van heading back to BC - skipping out on the Ottawa, Black, and Gauley rodeos to creek with Scott Lindgren Productions and film a Dean River expedition. BC has incredible whitewater and the latest creek season in North America. LOVE IT!!! Didn't re-join the RV tour till Gauley Fest. But then - Gauley!!! The Gauley ran for 14 days straight - 70 degree weather, 60 deg water. Too many playspots to count. Then Russel Fork, the Extra-sport Challenge frestyle event there (wow- freestyle through big rapids!), and then back to NC for the Green Race. This is clearly the toughest race course going and I was Psyched to get 3rd in a strong field of talented locals. Since then; Rock Island, Rock Island, Rock Island! Warmest 'winter' on record and hardly ever a line.

It was a good competition wasn't it? Best yet?

That's tough. GREAT competition and organization, best scoring system ever, and an incredible town. But Augsberg was my first, and it was just SUCH a great vibe amongst the competitors when the event was 5 times smaller . . . I think the night event was the climax - such a great show! Kinda wish it had ended there.

How do you see it progressing through to Graz in 2003?

Hmm - the bar has been raised and the pressure is on to top it! Instant scoring required, a "winners board" with the top 10 scores needed, and the site has got to allow either air-loops or air-screws or we'll all be disappointed. Arndt Shaftlein (sp) seems confident and that's good enough for me.

So what is with this new Java? It certainly looks the business.

A smaller creek boat designed with bigger drops in mind. A creeker with enough performance and play to not only get down the toughest runs, but also provide enough fun to leave my playboat at home more often.

Run us through the new features.

Rounded hull with release rails for straight-line planing, crisp carving, and soft landings. Medium volume so experts can wave-wheel, freewheel, and splat while smaller paddlers get a full-on creeker that fits smaller proportioned people. Rounded deck and balanced volume for controlled re-surfacing, and a rigid bow pillar connected to the seat to fortify the cockpit rigidity and provide an escape "step" to help exit in the event of a vertical pin.

So what is with the size, not going fit the pie eaters in there are you?

No, but their hot little sisters will love it! I've paddled most every creek boat invented and there are very few I found small enough for my weight and style. There are loads of longer, bigger boats on the market and we can all bob down the river well enough in them. But I think it is about time smaller paddlers and women had a true creek-boat designed for talented smaller paddlers, and us mid-sized folks had one we could boss around. There are waves and splat-rocks on many tough runs ...

I weight 160 and am comfortable wearing boots AND running serious class 5. Overnight potential is limited for my weight - warm California-style trips only. But lighter friends have done 3 days out of it repeatedly. I hope to work on larger, "Phat-plus" sized boat in the future and focus on expedition-style paddling.

Word is you have been ripping up Rock Island in a new toy, Full Tilt is it?

Yup - I'm bouncing around between the Lucid - a larger cartwheeler, the Full Tilt, and the Spin. The Spin is the smaller version of the Full Tilt. It rips on the shoulder, but I goes under the hole sometimes. It is really designed for women and much smaller guys than me. I'm pretty settled on the Full Tilt, as it is getting the biggest air for me of the three.

Do you like the way boat design is progressing?

Of course! Finding new things to do in a kayak is what keeps the sport fresh and exciting year after year. The "short" Jedi and Corsica opened up steeper creeks (for us yanks with no Topos), Jimi and Jesse took us down under with Squirting, Stunt-bat / Hurricane / Pirouette brought cartwheels to plastic boaters, the Jive / X took the fear out of planing and made it a necessity, and Javid made the Disco "pop" off the water like nothing before it. Boat design not only allows athletes to outperform the competition at rodeos, but also removes the limits of what we can do with rivers and boats. The evolution of kayaking is sicko - I mean, we've had bigger breakthroughs than parabolic skis or large-head tennis rackets year after year. This sport is dynamic! Even if you see the short 'poppy' boats as a tangent, you've got to experience the freedom and exhilaration of air-time before you buy a new boat. I can't wait to paddle again today - and it is 25 degrees and cloudy...

What can you see happening in design over the coming seasons, both in freestyle and in river running?

Seasons... wow - pretty fast-moving story to predict too far down the line. But hey they do "weekly forcasting" on the weather channel, so here goes . . . Freestyle: The volume required for the Air-loop makes flatwater tricks tough for those just learning. Look at the steps WaveSport, Riot, and Dagger have made with the Ace Dom and Id - back to cartwheeling boats with slicey ends and lower volume overall than the EZ, Disco, or EGO. The trick scored huge with the atheletes and the crowd, but sacrificed the squirty tricks so many paddlers are hot for. The EZ mated forgiving edges and simple-rolling sidewalls with top paddlers, but didn't cut it in the deep-hole 'huckathon' -style rodeos. SO: I feel the next step in freestyle is to refine to hulls to maximise the 'hop' needed to air-blunt, Pan-am, and air-screw and then combine some volume for "pop" with slicey ends for scoring points. We're going to challenge those who haven't learned the bow-stalls and flatwater ends already, but reward them with a much more paddleable boat in terms of river-running, comfort, and versatility. We'll need several lengths of each boat, but we're going to see more adjustability from one boat soon, too.

What does the future hold for Mr Wright?

Lots of quality kayaking and continued involvement within the industry and sport itself. One side of me wants to design boats. The continued progression of what I want the kayak to do keeps my head spinning with ideas, shapes, and concepts. Another part wants to further the exploration of what is paddeable: expeditions, first descents, and lots of map-work. I love the hunt for the next "Bear Creek" whether after a hard rain in the SE or travelling abroad where roads are scarce. Discovering quality whitewater turns me on. Then still another part of me feels the need to contribute something more. So many rivers endangered, access points threatened, and watersheds fouled out there a paddler can't help but feel the need to get involved in the politics that protects our sport. Right now I'm so entranced with the Perception Road Trip and kayaking competitively that I haven't thought more of Law School or activism since college. Rodeos, extreme races, films and videos; I know there is more to life and more to the sport, and I very much look forwards to exploring new options. But right now Rock Island is running, and the sun just popped out. Gotta go work on my air-loops...

Interview by Tim Sadler for PLAYAK.COM, January 2002

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For more information on Clay's Java and other Perception boats visit their website.

Picture of Brian Kirk by Luke Hopkins. Picture of Marlow Long by Tom McKee