Greetings from the World Surf Kayaking Championships

Greetings from the World Championships

Hello Shred Ready nation, Nathan “Yellowboy” Eades and myself have spent the last 10 days competing in the World Surf Kayaking Championships in Basque Country, Spain.
The contest was a blast, utilizing excellent breaks at Bakio and the world famous break at Mundaka. Before the contest we were surfing huge shore break at Bakio, scaring ourselves a bit and smiling the whole time. Nathan is frequently busting airs in the Fusion 7'7', a boat he designed for Dbxclusives. I made it to the second round of the individual event in the short boat competition, and came away with a first and two seconds for my team, US East, in the team event. Nathan battled his way through the toughest heats and made it to the Quarter-finals, finishing 9^th overall, very respectable. He also got 2 firsts a second and a third in the team event for Wales.

Also of note was Northern Ireland's Johnny Bingham, who finished 4^th in the Men's Longboat Open wearing a Shred Ready Phly

All along we've been wearing our Shred Ready Shensu helmets proudly. The Shensu is a great helmet for the surf, it creates little drag when getting wiped out, and provides ample protection from reefs, rocks, beach break, and hitting your head on your paddle and or boat.

Next we're on our way south, through Spain and into Portugal. Look for more updates from our trip soon.

Joey Hall and Yellowboy

Standard Beta Testing.

The Standard is in it's final round of beta testing before production begins. We sent a prototype off with Chris Korbulic on his recent trip to Newfoundland.

Here's some of the feedback Chris sent in:

"The peripheral vision is great too. The width for me is good and very comfortable. I think it drops just low enough to cover plenty of the face but not get in the way of anything. I think you've got a great product and I'll definitely continue using it."

The Standard will be available February 2008. For more information on the half-cut, full-cut and full-face version of the Standard, Click Here

Photos courtesy of Darin Mcquoid. For more pictures like these, visit http://www.kayakphoto.com/

Moose Fest 2007

This was my first Moose Fest and what a great time I had! Old Forge, NY is where all the festivities take place. They have tons of restaurants and places to stay. The fest kicks off with the party Friday night at Slickers. The bar was jam packed with boaters from all over the US and Canada. You could barely move in the bar. It was a great night hanging out with old and new friends and of course watching the Red Sox beat the Cleveland Indians.

Saturday morning it was chilly and drizzling which is perfect weather for paddling the Moose. If it’s not wet and cold then it’s not the Moose (that’s what I’ve been told). The sun came out once and a while and it turned out to be a pretty good day. All in all you couldn’t have asked for better weather.

The bottom Moose is the perfect class V river because it is easy to scout and easy for boaters to walk around rapids. After you paddle on Saturday you head over to the festival site which is in a warehouse. You walk around see all the vendors, watch the latest LVM, listen to good music, drink beverages, and talk to a lot of people. This was a super fun event and I’m excited about next year. If you have never been it is something you should plan on doing. Remember the Moose offers class III,IV, and V sections of the river so you have no excuse not to go! Hope to see you there next year!

Elaine

2007 US Freestlye Kayaking Nationals

The event was held at the Adventure Sports Center International (ASCI) in McHenry,MD. The event was organized really great and was a big success! The competition was held on two features the “A” wave and the “B” hole. You had two rides in each feature and the highest scoring ride from each feature put you in the finals. For results go to www.adventuresportscenter.com

I did not make it into the finals. I had a really bad day. I messed up my entry on my first ride and couldn’t get passed it. I learned a lot from that event. I need to be able to move on and forget about a mistake. I can’t let one thing throw my whole game off. It was a very disappointing defeat. It was a long 10 hour ride home to VT.

If you are ever in the area of the ASCI you have to stop by. It was one of the coolest places I have ever seen. The play features are really nice and the run itself is super fun.

We have been back in VT for about a month and haven’t been paddling much since we have had no rain and I’m back to work. I miss summer vacation! Hopefully we will get some rain and get to paddle around here. This weekend is the last release of the Dryway section of the Deerfield River in MA which is always a good time. Then it’s off to the Moose Fest in NY October 14th and 15th. Come to the fest and be part of the Wave Sport pub crawl!

Later,
Elaine