Playak Weekly Digest - week 14

Playak Weekly Digest
The world's top paddling links in week 14, 2011.

News Watch Warmups for Freestyle Paddling Wavesport Blogs (Wednesday 6th) ** - Though these exercises are designed for freestyle paddlers in mind, these are exceptional ways to get warmed up in any boat.  This video tutuorial from H2o Dreams has that particular focus in mind.   Not all the lines are good Dagger Blogs (Saturday 2nd) ** - Check out the carnage reel from over the years, thanks to Chris Gragtmans.  And remember not all the lines are good:)   EJ Decides NOT to compete in the 2011 World Championships- Time to Retire Jackson Kayak (Saturday 2nd) ** - After much deliberation, and getting my butt kicked by just about everyone in Africa and now back here at Rock Island, it seems it is time to hang up the goal for world dominance in kayaking and just be a businessman.   So you want to go Creekin'? CKS Blog (Sunday 3rd) ** - Ten years ago it was one size fits all and one style fits all paddling disciplines. Your creek boat was your playboat and your river-running boat. Today there are more boat choices than most of us know what to do with. Duck … duck … kayak! Misc. (Monday 4th) ** - Kayak instructor Vaughn Corum bobs along with some of the 17,000 plastic ducks that were released during the 7th annual KinderMourn Hope Floats Duck Race at the U.S. National Whitewater Center in Charlotte, N.C. Carbon River WA‏ Jackson Kayak (Wednesday 6th) ** - Wintering in Hood River, OR may not be as warm as the empanadas of Chile, or ever close to as sunny. Actually, I haven't see the sun in days, it's been raining for weeks, and everything seams to always be at a great level! So… Yeah, other than those tasty little pockets of goodness, the PNW has been a great Winter Boating Location. Varun + Grand Canyon = Great Time Team Pyranha (Wednesday 6th) ** - Hey, I just returned from a 21 day raft supported trip down the Grand Canyon of the Colorado River. I was able to take the new Varun down, this was my first time getting to know this boat and I must say we became pretty good friends. The Varun had enough hull speed that I was able to keep up with everyone else on the trip but I didn't sacrifice any of my playboating ability.  This boat did it all fast on the flats, smooth in the rapids, responsive on a wave, and threw down in a hole.  Here is a video fresh from the Canyon enjoy. The Varun hits the Grand Canyon Freestyle Jam at Full James Martina Wegman (Monday 4th) * - Last Saturday I decided together with Lou Jull to enter the freestyle competition at Full James which unfolded last Sunday. It was the New Zealand selections for the World Championships in Plattling, Germany, which will be held in early June. Awesome New Colors for Kid's Boats! Jackson Kayak (Tuesday 5th) * - I just received my new Rasta (red, yellow, and green) Shooting Star kid's playboat and I love it! Jackson Kayak also has Goth available (green, white, and black) as a standard color for boats now. The first thing I did was ... New World Record: Longest kayak Level 6 (Monday 4th) * - Today is was the seasonal opening event of one of my sponsors, kanoshop.nl. To raise money for 'RightToPlay' they organized the a Guinness World Record by linking somewhere around 50 Fluid Locomotions to form a single kayak of 96,40 Meter! Every kayak was paddled by a kid, so at the same time 50 kids were introduced to our sport of kayaking! All in all a crazy event and a new world record: the worlds longest kayak! Who will beat this one? Adam Chappell Shows his Carbon All Star! Jackson Kayak (Saturday 2nd) * - Some sweet footage from Inner City- Check It Out!   Mother nature changed her mind! Plus a Project X review Wavesport Blogs (Wednesday 6th) * - I thought spring was here but was wrong. It only lasted for 3 days and right back to winter! I decided to head south only to PA and NJ which isn't really that south but a little warmer than VT not by much though. The temps here have been in the 40's but we did have 2 days of 50 but windy. Springa Here! Fluid Blog (Saturday 2nd) * - Spring has hit the NW which means its time to explore, huck waterfalls, and run laps in on our favorite creeks! Hagan Gorge and Canyon Creek WA are both classic NW creek runs. Canyon Creek is the perfect run to do laps on and is home to the NW Creeking Competition which takes place every spring! Wave Parks To Become The Norm? SUP UK (Wednesday 6th) * - With a initiative from multiple world champion surfer Kelly Slater and the recent realisation of the Wave Garden , are we about to see an abundance of artificial wave pools/parks, making wave riding accessible to those landlocked amoungst us?    A house gives birth and a maiden voyage!! Just Yakkin (Sunday 3rd) * - The big day has finally arrived. Two months to the day, the new boat is ready to leave the attic and hit the water!! I think the pictures speak for themselves . . .

Hot Forum Topics Rand or Bungee? (Whitewater) Biss Stick promo (Whitewater) Blyde Xfest (2011) results (Whitewater) Prijon Soca (Whitewater) FOR SALE: Brand New BlackBerry bold 9780-$270 (Sea Kayaking and Touring) Top Videos Polly Green ~ Sustainability Vlog#1 ~ New York City Water (polly) Lol-Boating the Boyle River (tao) Folbot Jersey Paddlesports 2011 (scottrapidmedia) New Trail at 3 Rock (GoPro HD HERO) (shane little) Ben Brown: Salween River Video Blog (Ben_Brown) Upcoming Events Texas International Boat Show US, TX, , Apr 7 - Apr 10 Mures Marathon Second Edition Romania, Mures, Apr 8 - Apr 10 Kaiserklamm-Trophy Austria, , Apr 8 - Apr 10 Whitewater Triple Crown New England Championships US, CT, Tariffville, Apr 8 - Apr 10 New Haven Festival US, VT, Bristol, Apr 9 MACKfest Canada, Marmora, Apr 9 - Apr 10 East Coast Canoe & Kayak Festival US, SC, Charleston, Apr 15 - Apr 17 Kern River Kayak & Raft Festival USA, CA, Kernville, Apr 15 - Apr 17 Kenduskeag Stream Canoe Race US, ME, Penobscot County, Apr 16 Northwest Creeking Competition US, WA, Yacolt, Apr 16 - Apr 17 Nene GB Freestyle league/open event UK, England, Northampton, Apr 17

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, Jean-Ellen M. Trapani, Tony Dyrsmid.