The kayak had a special impact on my life during the 15 years that I spent working in the Raid Gauloises [adventure races], creating the diffusion of the greatest competition that has existed of sport in nature, and there I gave my life to great kayak journeys around the world (Patagonia, Sea of China, South Africa …), and when this event disappeared it was clear to me that I had to bring the kayak to the city of Barcelona ; it was the years of the first surfskis, the transformation of competition at sea was a reality, the sprinter and the traditional kayak giving way to surfski, and the great struggle began to find a space for kayaking on the coast of Barcelona. Today I have a space and I have managed to create a competition team with which we are present in races all over the continent.
The first traditional kayak trips I did with Raid Gauloises; much later, in 2009 I started training kayakers in Barcelona, first in traditional kayaks in the C.N. Bétulo, and then at the Municipal Sailing Center of Barcelona, and finally I started training in the port of Badalona where I founded the Kayak Club of Barcelona.
Thanks to the collaboration with Banyoles Nautical Club we were able to get the first “skis” in 2010, and we formed the first training groups, and began training young and not-so-young paddlers who were looking to make the transition from traditional kayak to surfski. This modality requires the technique of modified track paddling, combined with knowledge of the sea. We have thousands of paddling techniques and traditional kayak techniques and knowledge, but surfski is still creating its own base. My training comes from the hand of great paddlers of calm waters, counterpointed by the training in traditional kayak, as well as closely following the training stream of Oscar Chalupsky (Olympic medalist and pioneer of surfski in South Africa).
