The Future of Whitewater Freestyle ~ Sea Kayaking Adventurer’s Checklist

Playak News Flash - July 14, 2011
The world's latest paddling headlines.

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The Future of Whitewater Freestyle Playak - There have been many discussions on the future of whitewater freestyle ever since the first competitions. The fact that freestyle is still with us proves the early sceptics wrong, and the sport has come a long way: shorter boats, more professional paddlers, bigger features, highly developed rules, ICF organization and composite boats. But is more always better? In this version of Playak Insiders, I asked a couple of key people where they think Whitewater Freestyle is headed.

2011 Nantahala Hometown Throwdown Event #3 worldkayak blogs - The third event in the 2011 Nolichucky/Nantahala Hometown Throwdown series was HUGE in size and fun!!  We had a total of 61 competitors join together for a big booming freestyle rodeo on the Nantahala River, NC!!!  This event had the most participation of any whitewater freestyle event to date this year in the USA!  Nanty HTTD event #3 now holds the record for the most participation of any HTTD event that has ever been recorded in our 4 years of World Kayak hosting these events!

Lapland spring 2011 - 2 weeks 4 awesome waves Fluid Blog - Last year the trip to the north of Europe during their local snow-melt was epic and therfore we thought we have to try it again this year and see if we just were lucky last year or if that destination could be a good bet for that time of year in Europe, i.e. end of May and June.

Sea Kayaking Adventurer's Checklist Adventure Network - The following sea kayaker's checklist will help to plan your next sea kayaking adventure. Not all items listed will be needed on every trip. Pack only what you need and leave the rest at home. Remember, you've got to paddle what you pack.

Update from the Canadian Northwest WRSI - Paddling has been off the hook lately up here in Northern BC. Heres a few shots from the last couple of weeks. Ill let the photos do the talking, click to see them bigger. Cheers WRSI for keeping the ol' noggin safe!

Class 3-4 Rapids on a Standup Paddle Board! Imagine Surf Blog - Corran Addison and myself (Julien Fillion) took the Imagine Standup whitewater specific river board called the  Rapid Fire out and did 2 days of river running on "La Rouge" River.  It was an amazing two days of giant waves, whirlpools, rocks and ...

Jackson Kayak, Dane Jackson Sweep Nationals Jackson Kayak - All National Champions paddle Jackson, Dane continues winning streak. Cascade, ID – Jackson Kayak and Dane Jackson swept the USA Freestyle Kayak National Championships that concluded here Sunday at Kelly's Whitewater Park. Jackson Kayak's Rock Star, the company's newest freestyle boat, was the weapon of choice by five of the six paddlers who earned a gold medal.

Middle Feather 4th of July Ross Herr - Here are more photos from the Cali trip thus far. The day after getting off Big Kimshew we hustled over to Quincy, CA with our sights on some bigger water and the Middle Feather. This was an awesome way to spend our 4th of July. Even though non of us brought any fireworks there were plenty of American flag covered Budweiser cans to feel the holiday cheer. We loaded our boats full and it was a great opportunity to test out my Stomper packed up. The new outfitting makes it so easy to pack full of gear. It's amazing how much stuff you can bring on the river. Here is most of what I brought and check out how the backband is up and out of the way.

2011 Colorado Tour/ National Championships at Kelly's Whitewater Park. worldkayak blogs - The tour in Colorado has been great!  For the first few weeks Lauren Burress was traveling with us and  we had a great time, taking first and second in most events.  Right after The Teva Mountain Games, Lauren left to go to Worlds and it was back to 4 dogs, a cat, and 3 people in a van. In Buena Vista, Colorado, I helped Nick Troutman with an intro to play boating clinic. There were two people in the clinic and I had a great time helping. Thanks Nick, for letting me help.

Saving the best for last – National championships in Cascade worldkayak blogs - by Scott Sady. I pretty much thought I had seen it all, then I got to Cascade, Idaho and the Kelly's whitewater park. This place is a testament to what can happen when a whole community comes together. Not that that is overly hard in a town with less than 1000 people, but they really did it right here. A product of private investment and public philanthropy, this whitewater park is probably the fanciest, largest and best landscaped park I have ever seen. The visitors center has free wi-fi and plasma TV's  showing kayaking movies and the feature here on the North Fork of the Payette river is spectacular at the flows we had it, roughly 3800 cfs.

Auburn river fest 2011 awesome Jackson Kayak - The 2011 Auburn river fest was one of my favorite events so fa in my entire life.I never felt so local and welcome, home…. The Rock Star was the #1 favorite boat to paddle in this event Cris Zawachi, Ben etc.. they love it , fast and loose on the wave. All my friends from Ca was there including Ben Stoks, Jason Craig, and one of my best friends and one of my favorite kayaker to paddle with Taylor.

Hometown Throwdown #2 Results worldkayak blogs - This morning while the steam from my coffee was filling my nostrils, bidding me to wake up, I began thinking about this weekends Hometown Throwdown.  Normally, I would just post the results,  throw up a few pictures, and be done.  This morning, however, I'd like to take a little bit of time and talk about how important World Kayak, the sponsors, and Hometown Throwdowns specifically are very important to a sport we all love so much.

USA Canoe/Kayak Announces the 2011 U.S. Senior Sprint World Championships Team USA Canoe/Kayak - USA Canoe/Kayak announces the U.S. Senior Sprint World Championships Team. Members qualified for the team through various events, including the National Team Trials in Chula Vista, Calif., April 22-23, and the Lake Placid International Regatta in Lake Placid, N.Y., July 2-4.

Sea kayaking Stac Lee and the great cave of Boreray SeaKayakPhoto.com - As we paddled under the amazing cliffs of Stac Lee, Simon took station on the bows of the Cuma to film the proceedings. Stac Lee is the second biggest stac in the British Isles and it blotted out much of the sky as we approached its base. As we slowly paddled beneath it we caught sight of the ...

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Today's News Editor(s): bartw, Jean-Ellen M. Trapani, Allen.