Flipping is part of boating. These are my flips on the Upper Clackamas: my 2025 kayak flip broken down, the raw footage, and a lateral I hit wrong, plus the lessons I keep coming back to. It's my story, not a how-to. Learn rescue from a qualified instructor.
Disclosure: SOLWYRX Paddle Gear sells SOTAR and Go North Rafts gear, and I earn money when you buy it here. SOTAR also sponsors me as an athlete. Go North Rafts is a sponsor and partner of SOLWYRX.
Breakdown of My Kayak Flip on the Upper Clackamas
This is a step-by-step breakdown of my SOTAR SL inflatable kayak flip and swim on the Upper Clackamas in 2025.
Read this first. This article doesn't teach paddling or rescue technique. Those depend on the river, the flow, your boat and your group, and they're learned hands-on from a qualified instructor. A river's class rating alone doesn't make it safe. Wear a properly fitted PFD and a helmet, dress for cold water, and boat with a capable group. Find training: ACA courses, American Whitewater safety, NPS river safety.
Video: Breakdown of my kayak flip on the Upper Clackamas, By Jacob Linkhart, 2025 on the SOLWYRX Paddlesports YouTube channel.
Filmed: 2025
This video is sponsored by SOTAR.
Everybody swims. What matters is learning from it. In this video I slow the flip down and walk through it piece by piece: the approach, the moment the boat started to go, what I did right after I was in the water, and what I'd change.
Why I made this
Everybody swims, and watching your own swim slowed down is humbling. My flip started when I took a feature sideways. Afterward I got myself back together and back in the boat, which is the skill I'd tell anyone in an IK to learn in person. This video shows what happened to me; it isn't a lesson. For why self-rescue matters and where to learn it, see What My Flips Have in Common, and for the mindset, Don't Flinch, both further down this page. Watch the unedited version in Upper Clackamas Kayak flip raw footage.
Upper Clackamas Kayak Flip: Raw Footage
This is the raw, unedited footage of my SOTAR SL inflatable kayak flip on the Upper Clackamas in 2025.
Video: Upper Clackamas Kayak flip raw footage By Jacob Linkhart 2025 on the SOLWYRX Paddlesports YouTube channel.
This video is sponsored by SOTAR.
No music, no slow motion, no commentary. Just what it looked like in real time. Watching it raw shows how fast a flip happens: by the time you realize the boat is going, you're already in the water. That's why the habits that prevent flips need to be automatic.
For the slowed-down, step-by-step analysis, watch Breakdown of my kayak flip on the Upper Clackamas. For why IKs flip and why self-rescue matters, see What My Flips Have in Common, further down this page.
The boat is my SOTAR SL.
Carnage on the Upper Clackamas: How Not to Hit a Lateral
I hit a lateral wave crooked on the Upper Clackamas and flipped my AIRE Lynx. It's 17 seconds of how not to hit a wave.
Video: carnage on the upper Clackamas on the SOLWYRX Paddlesports YouTube channel.
What's a lateral?
A lateral is a wave that forms at an angle to the current, usually where water bounces off a rock or a wall. Taking one on the side of the boat, like I did here, is a common way to flip.
How to handle a lateral depends on the wave, the flow and your boat, so it's one to learn on the water with someone experienced. For why IKs flip and why self-rescue matters, see What My Flips Have in Common, further down this page. For a longer look at a flip, watch Breakdown of my kayak flip on the Upper Clackamas.
What My Flips Have in Common
Most inflatable kayak (IK) flips I've been part of, my own included, started the same way: the boat got caught sideways or I stopped paddling at the wrong moment. This isn't a how-to. It's what I've seen, how IKs differ from hardshells, the gear that matters, and why self-rescue is the skill to go learn in person.
What I've seen flip boats
Watching my own videos back, my two Upper Clackamas flips have the same start: I took the feature sideways. OARS lists getting caught sideways and freezing up among the common causes in its beginner tips (OARS). Knowing the causes tells you what to ask about in a class. It doesn't tell you what to do in a particular rapid, because that depends on the feature, the flow and the boat.
Inflatables aren't hardshells
A hardshell paddler sits inside the boat and can roll it back up. In an IK you sit on top of the boat, held in only by thigh straps if you use them, so staying upright and recovering work differently. That's why hardshell advice doesn't always carry over, and why it's worth learning in an inflatable specifically.
Gear that matters
- A whitewater-rated IK, not a lake or pool inflatable: self-bailing floor, separate air chambers and solid valves. See What to Look For in a Whitewater Inflatable Kayak. I sell the SOTAR SL kayaks and the Rondel.
- A properly fitted PFD and a helmet, every time.
- Clothing for the water temperature, not the air.
- Thigh straps, if you choose them. They add control (RiverBent), but anything that holds you to the boat can make it harder to get out in a flip, and the ACA flags systems that could stop you from falling out during a capsize (ACA). Learn to set them up and get out of them with an instructor. For packrafts, I sell Go North thigh straps.
Self-rescue is the skill to learn
In an IK, a flip usually means a swim. Being able to get yourself and your boat back together quickly is one of the most important IK skills there is: it shortens your swim and takes pressure off your group. It's also exactly the kind of skill to learn from an instructor, in calm water first.
A good IK or swiftwater course typically covers swimming in current, when to hold on to your boat and when to let go, getting back into the boat, staying away from strainers, and how a group handles a swim. Read the American Whitewater Safety Code before your class; it's free. Where to find training is in Picking Your Boat.
Sources: American Whitewater Safety Code · American Whitewater safety · National Park Service river safety · OARS · RiverBent · American Canoe Association
Don't Flinch
The most common mistake I see, both before I became an instructor and now, is flinching.
People see a rock or a wave and instinctively pull away. They stop paddling or rowing right when they most need to stay engaged.
In my own videos, flinching is usually when things go wrong: the boat drifts sideways, and that's when rafts pin and kayaks flip. What the right move is depends on the feature, the flow and the boat, and some features, like strainers and undercut rocks, you stay away from entirely. That's what training and time on the water teach you; an article can't.
The instinct to flinch is natural. The goal is to attack whitewater instead of reacting to it.
The same goes for panicking after a swim. Fight-or-flight kicks in, and many people freeze or get confused. The answer is training, because we don't rise to the occasion. We fall to our level of training. Get it in person: ACA courses, American Whitewater safety, or Picking Your Boat.
Personal trip report: flows, wood and hazards change, and what worked for me that day isn't a rule for your boat or group. Check current conditions, scout, and boat within your training.
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Updated October 31, 2026 · By Jacob Linkhart, owner of SOLWYRX Paddle Gear · Spot a mistake? Email me and I'll fix it.
