Park and Play ~ Whitewater Grand Prix Stage 2 ~ SUP Lessons from Seat 5

Playak News Flash - May 6, 2014
The world's latest paddling headlines.

News Watch Headlines Park and Play Massie Creek Paddlers - We stopped by the Buck Creek Whitewater feature (Snyder Park, Springfield Ohio) to see what was going on. We discovered a whitewater kayak class from Wittenberg University. Whitewater Grand Prix Stage 2 Jackson Kayak - Well just finished but the stage 2 event: Big Water Boater-X. It was an awesome event and a great day with perfect weather, awesome levels and big rapids. The course was set up on the Rouge river with a long set of standing waves and a bit of craziness at the bottom just to keep it interesting. Easter Weekend on the Munster Blackwater Team I-Canoe - This Easter Bank Holiday Weekend, I finally got to do a trip I'd been meaning to do for some time – the Munster Blackwater. The Munster Blackwater rises on the Cork/Kerry boarder and flows nearly 170km to the Celtic Sea in Youghal, Co. Waterford. It's a big volume river but without a lot of gradient which makes it ideal as a canoe/touring kayak tripping river. Lassoing the first iceberg of the season Tony Paradise - This past week we have had constant northerly winds. They are cold but have now born fruit. The wind has blown a good number of icebergs close to the coast. Nature Coast Challenge results YakAngler - Thirty-five kayak anglers arrived Friday ready to have fun and fish. Stories from past tournaments and plans for Saturday's fishing began to build as acquaintances were renewed. First-time tournament entrants were quickly caught up in the excitement. Surfing: why warm up and improve your physical and mental performance Dom Moore - In my experience of coaching surf and kite sports, everyone benefits from a warm up and cool down. A lot of surfers may not appear to have a warm up routine, but jogging down to the beach and slowly paddling out to the waves is not a bad approximation of a pulse raiser followed by a dynamic warm up. But little routine doesn't help those that drive to the beach, are taking a lesson, or don't paddle out as they are still practicing in the white water. Fishing is Heating Up in Southern California Jackson Kayak - When many think of Southern California, they see year round sunny days without much seasonal changes. That's somewhat true, however, we do have variations in weather that do affect water temperatures and fishing conditions. Thus, certain times of year see better fishing for certain species. With Spring finally here, bringing warmer conditions and longer days, the bite is definitely getting hotter and only getting better! With such close proximity to many great fisheries, from our freshwater lakes and reservoirs to the saltwater bays and inshore kelp beds, now's the time to get out on the water! For many beginners, I'd recommend starting off slow and hitting one of the many lakes and reservoirs... Paddling at Beaver Dam Lake this Time! Durhamblogger - Rachel and I had planned to be out of town on Saturday, but that changed. So I decided I needed to be flexible too and get in another paddle adventure! ;-) Today, I pointed my truck's nose toward Beaver Dam Lake, the site of an abortive paddle last week. SUP Lessons from Seat 5 Elder SUP - Who knew it could be outrigger practice that refined me into a better SUP paddler! The bow wake of my Naish ONE invited a paddle stroke pace that was much quicker than my usual. My reach and catch was a rotation and drive combination. The faster my board went the more quick and sharp were my paddle strokes. Before I knew it I was turning at Diamond Head for the return 2 miles. The "Never Give Up" Training Model Connor Baxter - We had an amazing time in Brazil, and not much could top the experience of the 2014 events in Abu Dhabi. The Carolina Cup came right after those other events – and the people, the event organizers and the competitions and competitors were stellar! I leaped into the distance race at the Carolina Cup knowing the challenges of the now-famous Graveyard Elite Distance race. I was feeling pretty good at the start. . Like I said in my interview, I figured Danny Ching was going to be at the front of the pack - and probably the one to beat. Corsica 2014 Flo Fischer - This year I spent my fourth time in my life on the island of Corsica for kayaking. As usual, we started our trip through Corsica at the Tavignano River at "Camp Ernella". This is a beautiful camp, where you meet a lot other paddlers and it's easy to drive to some of the best rivers on the island. From here we paddled the Fium Orbo, a classic class 4 run with a handful harder rapids. Very close to the camp there is also one of the best class 5 whitewater on the island. The T'Ville Triple Crown – A Family Affair Jackson Kayak - On and off for the last 13 years, I have been competing at Tarifville Gorge on the Farmington River in different incarnations of kayaking events. The kayaking competition has always been a great grass roots event with lots of local support. Six years ago, it became the T'Ville Triple Crown/ New England Championships – a really fun two-day event where each competitor paddles in three different disciplines – downriver racing, slalom, and freestyle – each day. Kayakathon, Denmark and Sweden Sea Kayaking Cornwall - The last few weeks has been a really busy time for me (Simon Osborne) It started with a 3:45am alarm clock on a Saturday morning to drive to London to paddle the Thames with the marshals for the Venture London Kayakathon. On the Sunday 70 paddlers kayaked 26.2 miles along the Thames through the center of London raising over £20,000 for charity. It was a great day on the water with some amazing people. It is always a challenge to safely manage a large group on this section of water but it went very smoothly and everyone paddled the full distance.

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