When we start thinking about the final project, we thought about different options such a prosthetic hand and also a game to help people after suffering a stroke. Finally we chose the project that Adriana offer to us, which consist of creating a seat and other improvements in a kayak to make it as comfortable and efficient as possible for Katherina.
Katherina is a German Paralympic athlete that competes in Paracaoning discipline using the kayak and the Va’a canoe as well. In this case the vessel that Katherina want to customize is the kayak. The aim of this project is to help Katharina to achieve her goal of going to the Olypmics
This project is something personalized for her so we got in touch with her and her trainer. Due to our lack of awareness about the rules of this sport the first thing that we did was to make some research about the sport and look what was the margin that we had to modify the kayak in order to adapt it for her.
The aim of a Paracanoe competition is for people to race each other in kayaks and Va'a boats over a clearly defined unobstructed course over 200 meters in the shortest possible time according to the rules. According with reglament the adaptation equipment is not regulated. It is included as part of the weight of the boat if it is securely attached. Only adaptations used during classification may be used in subsequent competitions.
The weight of the kayak can not exceed 12kg, and the weight of the Va'a can not exceed 13kg including hull, alma and iatco. The legnh and width of the kayak are 520 and 50, measured 10cm form the bottom of the hull, respectively. The lenght of the Va'a is longer 730.
Katharina is going to use this new type of paracanoe from the company Nelo (Portugal) . This boat is much more tippy but even for sure much faster , a must to reach her goal , the paralympics Tokyo 2020. She will start to use this boat in our training camp in Sevilla in beginning of february 2019. In the new Nelo boat the seat is fixed from the top - so we have no handicap to use a higher backrest.
Once we had that information, we start investigating on our own which were the materials that should be used to maximize the speed and the comfort of Ktherina at the same time. We got the conclusion that the material that would be ideal was the carbon fiber because it is stronger than steel but lighter than aluminium.
In addition, Katherina´s trainer, Volker Briel, sent us some pictures and measurements of the seat that Katherina has in that moment.
Therefore we already knew more about the rules, materials and measurements, which encompass the technique part of the project. However we did not know anything about the main part of the project, which is how Katharina feels in the kayak and try to understand better her movements, due to she is a paralympic athlete.
For this reason, we went to her training center, to take some notes and photos, and film videos, that helped us to find out more about the movements she makes in the kayak from a biomechanic point of view.
Moreover to make this seat fits as much as possible to her, we count with the help of Hodey, which give us an scanner of Katharina’s body sitting in a vacuum bag.
In addition, we made an scanner of the actual kayak seat with the help of proffesor Danjou, to obtain the under part of the seat.
