So it’s here. They say it’s the best playspot Prague has ever seen. Although it is still a kind of underwater eddyline, as EJ and many others used to call it back in 2008 during the World Cup, it is said that you can do all the moves to both sides there. I haven’t tried the new Muzzle yet, because of a shoulder injury but I believe it is as good a playspot as we are likely to get now. We tried to find an optimal solution for the current shape of the bottom of Troja whitewater course; all that with regard to the needs of other paddlers, especially for whitewater slalom. And I think we did it.

But if we want to have a world-class playspot, a kind of Czech Plattling, we have to keep working. The results from the Czech Technical University hydro-lab confirmed that the course section, where the feature is situated, has great potential, the results show that our dreams of a wave playspot may yet come true. But not without some serious changes to the profile of the bottom. We have decided to keep going.

Testing the model in CVUT lab

The tedious work on the Muzzle model has brought results. We built the model according to precise geodetic measurements which we’d had to pay for. When, afterwards, we adjusted the flow rate in the 1:13 ratio, the very same pulses and disturbances we had in the real Muzzle at that timed appeared. We knew then we were doing it right. Jana Sindelarova, a student of CVUT, under the supervision of Dr. Bares, made tens if not hundreds of experiments as part of her bachelor thesis. She always tried to find the best solution possible. She did a great job, we turned the lab results into reality on first attempt.

The new Muzzle and its characteristics

The shallowest place of the centre of the playspot is 82 cm (32 inches). The foam drags you to the right side of the centre, where the depth is only around 45 cm (18 inches). Keep this in mind when trying loops. The first testing of the new Muzzle was on 25th of May 2012. A symmetrical, stable feature appeared- a hole suitable even for beginners.

Thank you for all your help

We often worked nights and weekends. Over the last 6 months it would have made a half-time job for one person. All help, financial or physical is extremely valuable to us. For instance 26 people arrived to help with rebuilding the Muzzle. I was moved. I had’t expected such support. We finished in no less than 4 hours. It was dark by then and I could’t thank everybody. You were awesome. Nothing ever builds itself on its own. There’s people behind every dream come true and these people have names. It is my pleasure to present the people without whose efforts and enthusiasm we would still be dreaming, not paddling: Ing. Miloš „Tatko“ Trnka, Martin „Maty“ Kučera, Jan „Bubáč“ Bubník, Ing. Tomáš „Slunda“ Pospíšil, Ing. Vojtěch Bareš Ph. D. and Jana Šindelářová, BA. Hopefully next month we will have new results from the lab. We intend to test different shapes of the bottom. Will there be a wavehole at the Troja slalom course, or even a wave? We shall see. We need all the support we can get.

A project of a non-profit organization CNAWR o.s.
Photographers: Petr „Pepe“ Prause, Ladislav „Džembís“ Hamala, Jana Šindelářová, Maty, Slunda and others
Author: Slunda
Translation: Zoid
Transparent EUR account at the Fio Bank: 2700198280 / 8330