Folding Kayaks in 1936 Olympic Games in Berlin

Mon - February 27, 2006

In my post on Birgit Fischer's folding K1 kayak I mentioned that folding kayaks were raced in the 1936 Olympics over distance of 10,000m. The results of medalists in solo and double folding kayaks are really astonishing:

F1, 10 000 m
1. Gregor Hradetzky, Austria 50:01.2
2. Henry Eberhardt, France 50:04.2
3. Xaver Hörmann, Germany 50:06.5

F2, 10 000 m
1. Sven Johansson, Erik Blandström, Sweden 45:48.9 (on the picture)
2. Wilhelm Horn, Erich Hanisch, Germany 45:49.2
3. Pieter Wijdekop, Cornelis Wijdekop, the Netherlands 46:12.4

Obviously, there were no women in paddling sports.

However, I couldn't find any more detailed information on folding kayaks paddled in these races. My post on the Birgit Fisher and Nautiraid kayak in the folding kayak forum (look under Nautiraid) brought some results.

According to Tom Yost the folding kayak class in the Berlin Olympics was mostly commercial kayaks of the day. There is a Retro-Olympics competition in Germany that includes folding kayaks. Anne explained that different rules existed for folding (F) and rigid kayaks (K) at the Olympics:

K 1 : 520cm 51cm
F 1 : 450cm 65cm

K 2 : 650cm 55cm
F 2 : 550cm 75cm

Tom did further research and inquired at the faltboot.de forum. He received several responses that lead to the picture above of the winning folding tandem in 1936. All that text is in German. Maybe, somebody will be willing to translate?

So, the 1936 folding kayaks racing at the Olympics (520x51cm or 17'0.7"x25.6") were not so skinny and long as Birgit's Nautiraid folder (520 x 39cm or 17'0.7"x`5.4"). They were much slower than the rigid kayaks in the 10K race, e.g., the winners of F1 and K1 (men) had the following times: 50:01.2 and 46:01.6.

Short and fat folding kayaks, no wing paddles. 10 km in 50 minutes. It's about 7.5 mph !!! In my Sisson Nucleus I would be 2 km behind these guys ...

There are several modern folding kayaks that are narrower and potentially faster than the 1936 folders, e.g.,
- Bergans ALLY 560 (18'4"x23", 49lb)
- Feathercraft Katsalano (17'9"x22", 45lb)
- Feathercraft Jet Stream (19'3"x20", 45lb)

I would love to see more folding kayaks in my virtual races.

Birgit Fischer - Nautiraid folding kayak

Posted at 04:32 AM

fitness paddling: exercise, train, race by kayak & canoe

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Mon - February 27, 2006

Folding Kayaks in 1936 Olympic Games in Berlin

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