Ewan Scott wrote:

Oh I'm not sure that it isn't flexible. At the risk of upsetting a few folks
by a traceable anecdote...

snip

Not /quite/ the sort of flexibility I mean ;-) For example, skulling
for support at 90 degrees in a sprint K1 with no spray deck is not
really going to work, so for someone doing just sprint there just isn't
much point at all in being able to do it. OTOH, wing paddle technique
would be very useful to our notional sprinter, and pretty much
completely useless to an aspiring surfer. Perhaps some sort of points
scheme where the sprinter can get through choosing skills applicable to
what a sprinter needs, and so on.

However, I do know what you mean and I know of some unqualified paddlers who
are much better than some highly qualified ones I have seen in operation.

Indeed. I wonder if the Greenland rolling champion has as much as a
Canoe Safety Test to their name...

Pete.
--
Peter Clinch Medical Physics IT Officer
Tel 44 1382 660111 ext. 33637 Univ. of Dundee, Ninewells Hospital
Fax 44 1382 640177 Dundee DD1 9SY Scotland UK
net http://www.dundee.ac.uk/~pjclinch/

Here we use BCU and CRCA ( Canadian Recreational Canoe Association )
awards when describing club tours.
We find at a club level it allows us room to warn brand new out of the
box beginners that this trip may be a little over their head.
We qualify it by saying CRCA 1 ( BCU 3) or equivilent.
We make no attempt to enforce our dictetes because there are some
exceptional paddlers here that have never taken a course.
The reason to allow people to pre qualify themselves works well as the
olly rational for such qualificatiobns is not so much to keep people
safe as to ensure some other club member is not forced into a 4 KM tow.

Renters here have moved from asking little skitt testing questions, to
asking about leadership and qualifications then back to asking nothing.

The reasoning is legal.
To ask someone about a skill level then rent them a piece of equipment
is a suggestion that that skill, that equipment and these people are
capable of paddling around what ever place they mention. Conditions
change and participants lie.
Just my views
Alex