How to make a hydrospeed...
White-water sledging is something most of us will only do on holidays - there aren’t many of us who’ll do it more than once a year, and most hydrospeeds are ‘one-size-fits-all’. For those people who hydrospeed more regularly, there’s a partner passion for customising and optimising your hydrospeed : it’s a skill that requires time, a dust proof space and foam. Thanks to Covid, we’ve had more time than usual and an empty base! Jeremy bought foam ages ago with the notion of learning to make a hydrospeed, so when the lockdown happened various river sledgers got together, draped our base in plastic, and over a series of 5 Saturdays in March and April 2021, cut, shaped, heated and sanded to create a little fleet of hydrospeeds!
Step 1 : make a template and cut the foam. Each float is made from several levels of foam so the hollow on the inside is built rather than carved out.
Step 2 : Sandwich it all together, do shape adjustments
Step 3 : Heat & stick
Step 4 : stand back and admire....
