Hans W Pawlata, known as "Edi", was an Austrian pioneer of the sport of kayaking; who in 1927, claimed to be the first European to perform a Kayak roll, a skill developed by the Eskimo people. In fact, a number of other Europeans had already learned to roll a kayak, but Pawlata is widely credited with the feat. Born 19 February 1900 in

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

, Pawlata had a passion for paddling the ''faltbooten'' or

folding kayak A folding kayak is a direct descendant of the original Inuit kayak made of animal skins stretched over frames made from wood and bones. A modern folder has a collapsible frame made of some combination of wood, aluminium and plastic, and a skin ...

s that were popular in Europe after World War I. He studied written accounts of the kayaks and skills of the

Greenlandic Inuit Greenlanders ( kl, Kalaallit / Tunumiit / Inughuit; da, Grønlændere) are people identified with Greenland or the indigenous people, the Greenlandic Inuit (''Grønlansk Inuit''; Kalaallit, Inughuit, and Tunumiit). This connection may be r ...

, especially the work of

Knud Rasmussen Knud Johan Victor Rasmussen (; 7 June 1879 – 21 December 1933) was a Greenlandic–Danish polar explorer and anthropologist. He has been called the "father of Eskimology" (now often known as Inuit Studies or Greenlandic and Arctic Studie ...

, Fridtjof Nansen and

Hjalmar Johansen Fredrik Hjalmar Johansen (15 May 1867 – 3 January 1913) was a Norwegian polar explorer. He participated on the first and third '' Fram'' expeditions. He shipped out with the Fridtjof Nansen expedition in 1893–1896, and accompanied Nansen ...

. From his research, he designed a folding kayak which he believed was "purebred" and more faithful to the original Arctic boats. The 4.9 metre long kayak was built for him by the firm of Otto Hartel in Graz, and he called it "Aijuk". On 30 July 1927, on the Weissensee, he publicly demonstrated his ability to capsize his kayak and right it again without leaving the cockpit. The method he devised, which involved gripping the far end of the paddle blade, is now known as the Pawlata roll and is still used as a training or

sea kayaking A sea kayak or touring kayak is a kayak developed for the sport of paddling on open waters of lakes, bays, and the ocean. Sea kayaks are seaworthy small boats with a covered deck and the ability to incorporate a spray deck. They trade off the ma ...

technique. In the following year, he published a book called ''"Kipp kipp hurra! Im reinrassigen Kajak. Eine ausführliche Anleitung zum Sichwiederaufrichten im Kajak (Faltboot)"'' ("Tip tip hooray! In a purebred kayak. A detailed manual for righting oneself in a kayak (folding kayak)") In it he says: ::''"Quite contrary to the expectations of the old experienced paddler, on 30 July 1927, I succeeded as the first European sportsman to right himself again after capsizing in a kayak. Thus was the curse of the centuries-old Eskimo secret broken and kayaking ceased to exist in name only."Paddelpioniere – ''Edi Hans Pawlata''
''Ein virtuelles Kanumuseum'' – kanugeschichte.net (in German) Actually, a number of European missionaries and

explorer Exploration refers to the historical practice of discovering remote lands. It is studied by geographers and historians. Two major eras of exploration occurred in human history: one of convergence, and one of divergence. The first, covering most ...

s had previously learned how to roll from the

Inuit Inuit (; iu, ᐃᓄᐃᑦ 'the people', singular: Inuk, , dual: Inuuk, ) are a group of culturally similar indigenous peoples inhabiting the Arctic and subarctic regions of Greenland, Labrador, Quebec, Nunavut, the Northwest Territories ...

of Greenland,

Paul Egede Paul or Poul Hansen Egede (9 September 1708 – 6 June 1789) was a Dano-Norwegian theologian, missionary, and scholar who was principally concerned with the Lutheran mission among the Kalaallit people in Greenland that had been established by his ...

probably being the first in the 1730s. Rolling was demonstrated in 1889 at

Sandviken, Norway Sandviken is a traditional neighbourhood of the city of Bergen in Vestland county, Norway. Location Geographically, it is located northeast of the city center, in a small bay off the Byfjorden. The neighbourhood begins north of Bergenhus Fortre ...

by Oluf Dietrichson, a member of Nansen's 1888 Greenland expedition.''A Greenland Rolling Timeline''
, Sea Kayaker Magazine Pawlata died in Vienna on 13 December 1966.

References

1900 births 1966 deaths Kayakers {{Austria-bio-stub