Fighting Fires and How We All Can SUP by Example ~ 2016 NZ SUP Nationals

Playak News Flash - March 6, 2016
The world's latest paddling headlines.

News Watch Headlines Fighting Fires and How We All Can SUP by Example SUP Fitness - One of the many rewards of writing my book, How to Increase Your Stand Up Paddling Performance, Beginner to Elite; is that it has connected me with so many interesting and kind people from around the world. Recently I sent a signed copy to a fellow paddler named Ron Jones from Merritt Island, Florida and this is how this "firestorm" of inspiration began for me and while I felt it so worthy of sharing. 2016 NZ SUP Nationals red paddle co - The SUP race scene in New Zealand is well established and highly competitive. These guys know how to race! If you ever get the chance, you should try and get to their annual Race Championships, it's a massive festival of SUP with some incredible action. The emphasis is very much on participation, it's not just about a few hotshots. This year's event (27-28 Feb) saw nearly 250 racers from all over New Zealand (and quite a few from elsewhere around the South Pacific) scrapping it out over two glorious days of racing at Omaha Beach, just north of Auckland. The 2016 Malibu Downwinder Has Been Cancelled SUP Examiner - The Malibu Downwinder has consistently been one of Southern California's greatest events, in large part for everything it is not. There have never been any large corporate sponsors, promotional videos or masses of spectators. The annual springtime event has and will continue to be a great get together of prone and stand up paddlers that embodies a no-frills vibe of simply bringing people together to go paddle. New Gear upgrade list for a creek boater… CKS Blog - Now is the perfect time to crack a beer, open up the gear locker, dust off the cobwebs and take inventory of gear. Making sure that everything is in at least semi-functional condition and nothing too important was lost in the off-season can be crucial. This list is for the beater creek boaters. If you're still rocking gear that's older than the average middle schooler, it may be time to upgrade. This list has everything from a boat to replace your Dagger CFS to shoes that can replace those old custy booties you've been using since 1997. Lake Powell winter paddle experience NRS Duct Tape Diaries - Struggling to compose myself, I realized I was not alone. I had been paddling off the front of the group, lost in my thoughts, pushing and pulling with purpose. Sitting silently, I realized I had company. Catching a spark from Brendan's camera lens focused on me and cocked in front of him, Kalen waited silently in her blaze red kayak, looking a bit bewildered as my heart lie open. What was causing this unexpected reaction from the guy who thought of paddling 87 miles down Lake Powell in winter? Kayaking the Aleutians paddle documentary reveiw Tony Paradise - I recently acquired Justine Curgenven's latest kayak video offering. In the summer of 2014 Justine Curgenven and Sarah traversed theAleutian Islands from Adak to Homer in Alaska, a distance of 2,500 kiometres in 101 days. The DVD is entertaining and also an eye opener. An eyeopener in the sense, while Sarah completed the journey (and kudos to her) it wasn't without its drama and angst. I won't say it was reckless to take such an inexperienced paddler but it certainly had its risks… Hawaii Magazine: Stand-up paddleboard your way through Kauai's Hanalei River Misc. - Year-round, even when the winter surf is up, Hanalei River remains gentle and placid for those who want to safely explore Kauai's waterways. The palm tree-lined river forms on the slopes of Mount Waialeale—one the wettest spots on earth—and edges up against Hanalei town, where there are numerous surf shops with stand-up paddleboards (SUP) available for rent, and lets out into crescent-shaped Hanalei Bay. Most paddling on the river is confined to the lower mile that winds along the Hanalei National Wildlife Refuge and the small-scale farms where more than half of Hawaii's taro is grown before emptying into the bay... The Wildwater Kayak — Versatile, Challenging, and Cool Waterlines Maine - The wildwater boat is sometimes viewed as a specialty boat, but in many ways it is more versatile than most of the boats on the market.  Imagine you wanted to combine the speed of a surf ski, the buoyancy of a creek boat, the turning ability of a slalom boat, and the toughness of a whitewater boat.  The  wildwater kayak is what you would end up with. How To Fish The Bassmaster Classic In A Hobie Kayak Kayak Angler Magazine - I might have broken the convention when I sauntered up to Mike Iaconelli on the eve of the biggest tournament of the year to ask him, straight-faced, to consider something out of left field. "If you had to fish this year's Bassmaster Classic using the Hobie Mirage Pro Angler on the top of your truck, how would you approach it?" I said. Ike didn't so much as blink. The 2003 Bassmaster Classic champion and perennial top ten finisher went for double instead of nothing, offering two approaches. Performance psychology for winning in canoeing and kayaking Playak Product News - Jonathan Males, a widely-published and highly-acclaimed Sports Psychologist, draws upon his lifetime worth of experience coaching elite athletes and as a canoe slalom athlete for Australia himself to answer some long-standing questions about the connection between what a paddler thinks and feels with how he or she performs. In the Flow gives practical advice on what recreational and competitive paddlers and their coaches need to do... Support the 'On Board' initiative as 19 year old paddles to raise funds for Cancer Society SUP Magazine - Nineteen-year-old Madeline Leblanc has continued to turn her passion of standup paddleboarding into a fundraiser to honor two friends lost to cancer. Madeline created 'On Board' where she paddled 10km on July 10th 2014 down the Welland Canal in a little over two hours to raise funds for brain cancer research. With the success of last year's event, which took place on July 23rd for the second time, Madeline has planned to paddle again this year. Ultimate Waterman event's weather forecast done by Swellmap, more light on this… The Ultimate Waterman - Some things you can control but the weather, you cannot. To get the best forecasts possible, The Ultimate Waterman relies on New Zealand company Swellmap to provide accurate swell modelling that helps direct where and when the event mobilises. We caught up with Swellmap in the lead up to the event to talk about their forecasting, the challenges New Zealand presents and the weather pattern on everyone's tongues – El Nino. #FindYourPark and Show Us Your Rivers Am. Whitewater - The National Park Service is celebrating its Centennial this year (2016) and the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act's 50th anniversary is coming up in 2018. We encourage the paddling community to get out there, take photos, and enjoy rivers while finding your park! You can help tell the story of these rivers which supports their conservation and stewardship by sharing your photos.   The National Park Service has initiated an effort to capture the beauty of each of the 3,200 river segments listed on the Nationwide Rivers Inventory and populate an interactive map with photos... Spade Kayaks New Outfitting Option for 2016 Kayak Session - The folks at Spade kayaks have been working on their boats over the winter are now coming with an improved line of Ace of Spade to satisfy all sorts of paddlers and all sort of budgets.The cockpit rim got revised, the weight have been pushed down even further! and more so the boat comes now in 3 versions: Pro , Whitewater and Basic. Honduran activist who was fighting against Agua Zarca hydroelectric project gets killed International Rivers - Despite the challenges of her work — which included threats, intimidation, and multiple arrests — Cáceres continued to fight back against hydroelectric project Agua Zarca, the same fight that cost her colleague his life. In Honduras, which has one of the highest murder rates in the world, 111 environmental activists were murdered between 2002 and 2014. Cáceres was shot dead at her home, is it because she was fighting against big powers to protect our rivers?

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