Vlieland 2008 - Heel-hook

Picture of the day 3 - by Axel Schoevers

In the morning one of the participants did a part of the assessment for NKB-sea kayak coach: " PvB 3.1. - het geven van een les" . A group of intermediate sea kayakpaddlers was introduced to the so called heel-hook- (or foot-hook) rescue.
The heel-hook is a method of re-entering the kayak where the swimmer pulls himself up the rear deck of his kayak by using his leg muscles. In order to do so, the swimmer hooks his heel (or foot) inside the cockpit right under the front deck (or under the thigh braces of a keyhole cockpit). In Dutch seakayak-courses mostly the X-rescue with a re-entry between the kayaks of the rescuer and the swimmer is practized. Advantage of the heel-hook re-entry is that it requires less upper body strength and flexibility.