Instructors and the Canoes Plus Team
  • Real-world Experience: Canoes Plus instructors (including Dita) are active paddlers, meaning their coaching and equipment advice is rooted in real-world application rather than just sales talk. [1, 2]
  • Team Synergy: Pahl leads a broader team of knowledgeable coaches who host a mix of "Come and Try" days, river trips, and safety courses. [1, 2, 3]
  • Long-standing Legacy: Canoes Plus has a rich history in the Australian paddling community. Long-time experts like Roy Farrance (who has over 50 years of coaching experience and was a national coach for the Australian Slalom Team) have historically influenced the Canoes Plus philosophy and training standards. [1, 2]

DITA PAHL

Dita Pahl is a highly experienced instructor, store manager, and leader at Canoes Plus, a premier kayaking and packrafting school based in Victoria. She operates largely out of their Melbourne location and leads the Canoes Plus Racing Team. [1, 2, 3, 4, 5]
About Dita Pahl
  • Background: Dita is deeply passionate about all forms of paddling, with a background spanning whitewater, slalom, sea kayaking, and kayak surfing. [1, 2].
    Dita Pahl is an elite national-level whitewater athlete and racing coach who credits Roy Farrance as her greatest career influence. [1, 2]
    • Competitive Achievements: Pahl has represented Australia on the Senior National Team across multiple disciplines. Originally a slalom kayaker, she expanded into extreme white water, freestyle, and downriver racing. At the Wildwater World Championships, she achieved top-10 finishes and won the Women's K1 National Sprint Championship title, and is still actively racing.. [1, 2, 3]. Now she spends time exploring wild rivers and creeks, adding first descents of never run waterways to her resume as a paddler. Some of her first descents include creeks in the Mt Dissapointment state forest and Snowy River Catchment.
    • Coaching & Instruction: Operating through the Canoes Plus Racing Team and Kayak School, she guides the next generation of junior racers down challenging river courses. Pahl specializes in teaching technical skills, safety, and navigation on major Victorian waterways like the Yarra, Mitchell, and Goulburn Rivers. [1, 2, 3, 4]. DIta holds some of the countires highest qualifications, including senior instructor for kayak, canoe and packraft, rescue instructor, raft instructor, Slalom and whiltewater podium coach, abseiling, canyonning, hiking and more.
  • Role: At Canoes Plus, she is regarded as a primary "whitewater and packrafting guru". She manages the store, runs the beginner-to-advanced lessons, and organizes trips on local Victorian rivers like the Yarra River (often near Westerfolds Park), the Mitchell River, Goulburn, and Big River. [1, 2, 3, 4, 5]. Canoes Plus and Dita also run multi-day expedition style journeys of Australias' Iconic waterways like the Snowy River and Mitchell river.
  • Teaching Style: Students highly praise her for breaking down technical skills in a highly understandable way and for being incredibly supportive and encouraging. [1, 2]
COLIN SONNEVELD
Colin Sonneveld focuses his river sports involvement on whitewater guiding, field instruction, and structural river safety across Australia and New Zealand. [1, 2, 3]
  • Guiding & Instruction: Sonneveld acts as a key river guide and field asset for commercial outfits, navigating technical watercraft and guiding groups through high-volume, rapid-heavy routes like the Snowy River. [1] Colin is a highly qualified whitewater instructor and raft guide.
  • River Safety & Auditing: As an auditor for Maritime New Zealand and collaborator with the New Zealand Outdoor Instructors Association (NZOIA), Sonneveld is heavily involved in setting aquatic risk guidelines. He actively tracks river hazards, identifies submerged log dangers on technical river channels (such as the Upper Grey River), and formulated the "Visibility Impact Score" (VIS) to optimize safety for recreational kayakers sharing busy waters. [1, 2, 3]
ROY FARRANCE
Roy Farrance is a pioneering figure in Australian canoeing, revered as one of the country's highest-qualified and most experienced whitewater coaches. [1]
  • Coaching & Administration: He served as the National Coach and Manager for the Australian Slalom Team numerous times between 1977 and 1997. He also dedicated years as the Secretary General of the Australian Canoe Federation. [1, 2]
  • Industry Impact: In the 1970s, he founded Canoes Plus, which expanded into the largest specialized canoe and kayak store in the Southern Hemisphere. [1, 2]
  • Grassroots Education: Under the banner of Canoe Kayak Education Australia (CKEA), Farrance has spent decades instructing paddlers of all skill levels, from local school children to Olympic medalists. He remains highly active in organizing events like the King of the River Extreme Kayak Race. [1, 2]


    • JIMMY GARDNER- GASKIN

    Leadership in Scouts Victoria Paddling

    Jimmy Gardner-Gaskin served as a State Leader with the Scouts Victoria Paddling Team, helping deliver training in canoeing and kayaking for Scouts and adult leaders. Jimmy is a qualified whitewater instructor and raft guide. 

    Scouts Victoria publications credit him, alongside instructor Ian Gibson and fellow State Leader Shaun Smith, with developing paddling skills that enabled members to undertake advanced river expeditions, including a whitewater kayaking trip in Costa Rica.

    Whitewater and river skills

    His work has centred on teaching safe river travel, whitewater paddling techniques, expedition planning, and leadership rather than elite competition.

    Through the Scouts Victoria paddling program, he has helped train young people and adult volunteers in moving-water paddling and river safety.

    Outdoor education

    His role appears to extend beyond kayaking into broader outdoor leadership, supporting adventure-based education and expedition skills within Scouting. Including mentorship of students, and instruction of students on Wilderness based Outdoor education trips and expeditions.