The unofficial king of stern squirts is here to reveal his secrets for getting the fun (and trending) trick dialed. You may recognize this polyonymous trick by one of its regional colloquialisms: the squirt, the taillee, the pirouette, the whoopie, or even the whirly. Regardless of its name, the fundamentals of the move remain the same.
The stern squirt is a classic move that can be practiced on high-volume runs as well as low-volume, slow-moving water. To initiate the move, a kayaker will drop their upstream edge as they cross an eddyline, while simultaneously taking a backstroke on their downstream side to initiate the stern submersion. Once the stern is fully underwater, the kayaker will throw their weight backward to keep the boat’s stern submerged. The paddler will simultaneously take some bow draw strokes on the same side, to keep the boat moving in a pirouette motion.
In this video, professional kayaker Bren Orton walks us through the move in three easy-to-follow parts–-with some additional, not-so-common advice thrown in there. To try this trick for yourself, you’ll simply need a slow current and an eddyline with some aeration.
