Playak Weekly Digest - week 12

Playak Weekly Digest
The world's top paddling links in week 12, 2011.

News Watch Independent Playak Review: GoPro HD HERO Playak (Wednesday 23rd) ***** - I'm the kind of person who is happiest in the water and I love to share my adventures with family and friends through the video and photos that I take. So I decided to test out the infamous GoPro HD waterproof camera/video camera to capture the action from a personal perspective. Over the last few months I've been able to get some footage which was not possible before and test the camera in some interesting conditions. 1st Place at West-German-Championships Team Pyranha (Wednesday 23rd) ** - Already at 8 o`clock in the morning many paddlers arrived to practice bevor the competion had started. Fortunately we had great weather, good waterlevel, more than 80 participants and a big party at the local kajakclub, which also offered cake an coffee. Ben Stookesberry Reports from Brazil: 40 Meter Monster Jackson Kayak (Tuesday 22nd) ** - 26 days into the filming of the Brazilian reality TV series I am standing at the brink of a 40 meter monster.  My stance is as wide and as stable as possible, to compensate for the red Jasper at edge of the drop that is some of the slipperiest rock I have ever encountered.   This is Venezuela's Gran Sabanna and is one of the only places in the world where this semiprecious mineral appears at the earth's surface in such quantity.  Also playing host to significant deposits of gold and diamonds, this land of Islands in the sky and the tallest waterfall on earth, is said to be the oldest undisturbed land form on the planet and is one of the largest still undisturbed wildernesses left on earth... Kayakers Do Amazing Things Adrian Shanahan (Wednesday 23rd) ** - There are endless stories of kayakers achieving all sorts of amazing things from crazy multi-day solo epics to the likes of Tyler Bradt's taking on of 189 ft of Palouse Falls right the way through to the individual achievements of each paddler at weekends pushing their own boundaries. Each of us all do amazing things in our own way. Carbon Rock Star! Oh Yea! Jackson Kayak (Tuesday 22nd) ** - Check out my newest ride! I requested a random color, "surprise me" when I got my boat made. Kristine intervened and I have the most incredible boat for my taste. Checkered flag to match my 80′s upbringing and my shoes, and the arrow is from the Norse Rhune for victory in competition (Kristine gave me necklace with that symbol on it in 1998 and I won the next 10 events straight). I wear this necklace during the competition season each year and have won three world championships, two pre worlds, and a world cup with it on my neck. Now it dresses up the bottom of my new boat! Red deck looks cool and black seams. Tomorrow I will get it assembled and paddle it at rock island ! Oh yea! EJ Core Paddles: First Impressions kayak4play (Sunday 20th) ** - OK guys, Leigh asked me to write a piece on my first impressions of the new core paddles. After paddling at clifton beach in tasmania with both the straight and bent shaft paddles in moderate surf i was able to get a pretty good idea of what to expect. Core paddles are designed by Steve Horvath... Its Hard to Beat the Southeast When Its Raining! Dagger Blogs (Tuesday 22nd) ** - Over the past couple weeks the Southeast has been getting a lot of love from the rain gods, and it just reminded me of just how good the southeast is when its raining! With tons of great options within a couple hours of Asheville, it really is hard to beat. In the past couple weeks, I have managed ... Darin McQuoid Explores Backyard First Descents in California First Ascent (Monday 21st) ** - By Darin McQuoid Early in the morning I get a call. Hazy from sleep, I distinguish a few key words: "hike," "first descent," "waterfall." A mission is born. I pack up as quickly as possible and head out. 2011 Jackson Villian Review Team Midwest Mountaineering (Wednesday 23rd) ** - I picked up my new Villain Elite Large a few weeks back and have paddled approximately 100 miles of class IV and V rivers in the last two weeks. I went with the Large because I wanted a larger volume boat and the Elite model has cross link plastic. Early Season Successes- Great Indicators for New Products Jackson Kayak (Wednesday 23rd) ** - 2011 is starting off with a bang here at Jackson Kayak, thanks to those of you who are putting our new products to work.    The new Hero, Super Hero, Rock Star S, M, L, and Coosa Elite and Standard new models are flying high in the first quarter of 2011.    Nathan from Canoe Kentucky sold all of his new 2011 Hero/Super Heros he received in the first week he received them and had to re-order and pick up more right away.   More Rain, Higher James. Better Video. Fluid Glass (Saturday 19th) ** - After my high water run on the James, I knew we were in for a solid week of kayaking. Over an inch of rain was predicted for Thursday, so the prospects of Reedy Creek running were pretty high. Hopes for Urban Creeking Daniel, Cooper, and I met up after school to figure out the game plan. Reedy... NZL South Island! Martina Wegman (Saturday 19th) ** - Buller Fest The last two weeks in the Southern New Zealand Alps has been amazing! We headed down South on Thursday night and went straight to Murchison where the Buller Festival 2011 was held. The Buller Fest is all about catching up with each other and havi... Justin Owen on the Dries Jackson Kayak (Monday 21st) * - The first rides in my new Rockstar would take place at The New River Dries. Kevin Mather and I (a Cookeville local) headed to the great state of West Virginia as soon as we heard they were going. Little White Salmon River, WA @ 5ft. Dagger Blogs (Friday 18th) * - Here's a POV Video that I put together from a day this spring out on the Little White Salmon River in Washington. On this particular day the water levels kept at a juicy 4.9-5.0ft. Tooling and Production Setup CORE Paddles (Sunday 20th) * - So after a small unintended blog hiatus I wanted to post a bit of an update. I have been swamped with pre-production setup for CORE but it looks like everything is coming together on time. We originally wanted to have production established for the middle of March but it looks like we will be about ...

Hot Forum Topics Traveling and Kayaking around NY and Pennsylvania (North America) New Outdoors/Kayaking Apparel Company Steve Farthing report about Santa Cruz Festival 11 (Surf) NEWS kayaksurf.net / Kayaksurf & Waveski events 11 (Surf) info about kayakking in Bosnia and Herzegovina (Europe) Top Videos Raven's Fork 110320 alto sella (desfiladero de los beyos) (r2_) Chicken with Broccoli Twelve Productions - South Island Heli-Kayaking. (mikekayak) Kayak Freestyle- Promo Rockstar - Jackson Europe (dalso) Upcoming Events Blyde Xfest South Africa, near Hoedspruit, Feb 25 - Mar 27 The Locust Fork Whitewater Classic US, AL, Cleveland, Mar 26 - Mar 27 Fourth Annual Spring Paddle US, FL, , Mar 26 - Apr 2 KASK National Forum New Zealand, Anakiwa, Apr 1 - Apr 2 King of the Harbour Ocean Ski Race New Zealand, Auckland City, Apr 1 - Apr 2 New Haven Festival US, VT, Bristol, Apr 1 - Apr 3 Cameron County Canoe & Kayak Classic US, PY, Cameron County, Apr 2

The Playak Weekly Digest is a special Saturday version of the News Flash, containing the most popular paddling news of the past week. To see all the latest headlines, videos, forum discussions and more, visit Playak News Watch. This is the standard version of the newsletter, covering all paddling disciplines. To change the tailoring, please login on Playak, and then click the yellow triangle at the very top of the page to set your interests.
To unsubscribe from this newsletter, click here.

Today's News Editor(s): bartw, adrianshanahan, Tony_D, JeanT.

Playak Weekly Digest - week 11

Playak Weekly Digest
The world's top paddling links in week 11, 2011.

News Watch NSR 2011: The best rodeo in the world? Palm Blogs (Friday 11th) *** - We've just got back from the National Student Rodeo – what a weekend it was! Over 800 paddlers from university clubs all over the county travelled to the National Watersports Centre in Nottingham, UK for probably the biggest (and definitely one of the most fun) events on the European boating calendar. The Topo Duo Final... .. The NEW Fluid Big Bang Whitewater Kayak in Production! Canoe & Kayak UK (Saturday 12th) ** - Check out the brand new expedition whitewater kayak design from Fluid Kayaks. Fluid Kayaks are very excited about their latest release, the Big Bang. Fluid wanted to create a faster version of their Expedition Solo whitewater kayak with extra packing space for really long trips. they also had some large kayakers asking for a bigger boat that will be more comfortable to them. To top it off, some of their competitive team paddlers asked for a fast kayak for extreme racing. So Fluid decided to create a boat that fills this gap in their line-up, and the Big Bang was born. Dipper Creek 2010 Team LiquidLogic (Wednesday 16th) ** - Well I know this post is pretty late but i thought i would put up some pictures, a video and a little story from the few weekends I spent there this past October. Dipper Creek was 1st Descented by The Range Life guys back in 2008. They walked up and down the creek and scouted it all out to make sure it would be good. Thanks to them this creek has now become one of my favorite. Dipper is located past the Elaho drainage up the Squamish river in British Columbia... .. Low Water Session at Plattling Wave Team Pyranha (Tuesday 15th) ** - Two weeks ago I spent a weekend with some friends in Plattling. Unfortunately we had a very low a water-level (155cm),  so it was more difficult to do loops or spacegozillas.  But wee had a great weekend anyway and now we should be well prepared for German championships (especially if we will have such a water-level again). Plattling Low Water Session New Pyranha Kayaks Promo Video Canoe & Kayak UK (Saturday 12th) ** - Great new video from the Guys and Gals at Pyranha kayaks The 2010 Triple Crown…A Fresh Combo Move Which Spans Oceans… Downstream Movement (Tuesday 15th) ** - There are moments in time, where you think to yourself…"This isn't really going to make sense, or sink in for a while." This post, chronicling the greater part of the past year, is an attempt to put some of those types of moments and experiences into words. I'm sure the feelings and meanings of the adventures described below will change over time, but for now I hope you enjoy some thoughts and pictures on what I consider one of the more ambitious combo moves of my life… Media Attention in wake of the Solo Fitzroy Project Follow the river with Lachie Carracher (Monday 14th) ** - Melbourne kayaker Lachie Carracher has become the first man to solo paddle WA's mighty Fitzroy River at the height of the wet season, overcoming 2m freshwater crocodiles, huge waterfalls and deadly rapids to complete the 400km journey in six days. Liquidlogic Freeride Surfing the Gauley Shane's Logic (Saturday 12th) * - I took the protoypes of the Freeride 57 out on the Gauley river a couple weekends ago.  The Gauley was running pretty high so the river was a completely different animal from the normal fall release levels.  There were paddlers every where because of the high water and I was trying t... new river dries...its huge. Trent Thibodeaux (Tuesday 15th) * - yesterday the crew (me, sam fulbright, chris wing and pablo mccandless and later met up with chris gragtmans)made it to the new river dries. this doesn't run very often–maybe a couple time a year. when we woke up tuesday morning they were running about 70,000cfs. The busy life! Bradley Lauder (Sunday 13th) * - What a crazy few weeks its been, On the 6th me and ryan lucas drove down to the buller fest in Murchison for a weekend of racing and drinking, and that we did. The boater x is one of the biggest feilds in the country with more then 70 mens competitors, after a long day we had the final set and ready... A Hucker's Guide to the Pacific NW Immersion Research (Tuesday 15th) * - Long-time IR supporter Stephen Forster recently spent nine days paddling the rivers of the Pacific Northwest in Oregon and Washington state.  Stephen was a student at the New River Academy a couple of years back, and has since been traveling and kayaking some of the best runs in the nation. Here is what he had to say about it:... .. Ben Stookesberry and Chris Korbulic in Brazil – part 2 Kokatat Blog (Sunday 13th) * - Kokatat Team Paddlers Ben Stookesberry and Chris Korbulic send an update from Brazil where they are filming for the second season of "Kaiak", an adventure kayak television series. Photos and story by Chris Korbulic. "Our plane was on time to the Manaus airport, and we were only a little worse for wear after the multi-stop flight from Sao Paulo. All our baggage slid out onto the carousel in good time, except three very important pieces. I went scouting for our kayaks around some corners ... Canoecopia 2011 kicks off the paddling season Have Kayaks, Will Travel (Thursday 17th) * - At the Valley booth, with boats all around. We've written about Canoecopia before. It's the largest paddlesport expo in the world, held in Madison, Wisconsin. It attracts about 20,000 people who come to see the latest boats and gear, hear the presentations, and connect with paddling clubs, environmental organizations, and the community of fellow paddlers. Facebook Fan Robert BüChmann Sends Us His Project X Video Wavesport Blogs (Wednesday 16th) * - Facebook Fan Robert Büchmann sent us his Project X video. He's in the Project X 56, and is loving it! " Robert says, "It makes (it) so much fun to paddle and its so effortless" ,,, New Rockstar Promo Video Released Jackson Kayak (Friday 11th) * - Live from Uganda, team Jackson has released a new Rockstar promotional video for all to see… check it out: Click here to view the embedded video.

Hot Forum Topics buying my daughter a kayak (Sea Kayaking and Touring) Operation Complete: Locals Only prijon fly seat Portuguese Kayaksurf Champ / Online! (Surf) Argo Dam in Ann Arbor,MI (North America) Top Videos Orange 2011 (PLANET RIVER) Sponsorship Meeting High Water James (March 2011) (fluidglass) Whitewater Rap Cracker Crackers! Upcoming Events Blyde Xfest South Africa, near Hoedspruit, Feb 25 - Mar 27 Alabama Mountain Games USA, AL, Boogie Bottoms, Mar 17 - Mar 21 Santa Cruz Kayak Surf Festival California, USA, Santa Cruz, Mar 18 - Mar 20 Santa Cruz Paddlefest US, CA, Santa Cruz, Mar 18 - Mar 20 Surftech SUP SHOOTOUT at the Lane United States, CA, Santa Cruz, Mar 18 - Mar 20 Cani Paddlefest UK, Belfast, Mar 18 - Mar 20 Pau Freestyle Show France, south west, Pau, Mar 19 - Mar 20 Wiesenwehr Rodeo Germany, , Mar 19

The Playak Weekly Digest is a special Saturday version of the News Flash, containing the most popular paddling news of the past week. To see all the latest headlines, videos, forum discussions and more, visit Playak News Watch. This is the standard version of the newsletter, covering all paddling disciplines. To change the tailoring, please login on Playak, and then click the yellow triangle at the very top of the page to set your interests.
To unsubscribe from this newsletter, click here.

Today's News Editor(s): Tony_D, JeanT, bartw, adrianshanahan.