11-year-old Sir Ranulph Fiennes fan completes epic 25-mile kayak journey in aid of Polar Museum

After a string of initial setbacks which forced him to abandon the journey in June, 11-year-old Toby Booth, a Sir Ranulph Fiennes fan from Bishop’s Stortford, manoeuvred 20 locks on an epic 25-mile expedition to the edge of the River Thames in aid of a bid to buy negatives from Captain Scott’s final journey.
Booth was inspired to set off in his Cougar racing kayak after admiring the men of the Heroic Age whose feats of bravery are told at Cambridge’s Polar Museum. But his original foray, from the Harlow Outdoor Centre in June, was thwarted when two of his ...more

Kayak Festival at Ortoire River

Forty competitors have already registered for the races and will paddle different types of kayaks including K1s (Olympic style boats), surf skis, sea kayaks (sit-inside), and single and double sit-on-top kayaks. The race begins at 9 am and it features the long course (14 kilometres) and the short course (seven kilometres).

Last year’s winner John Horsfall is expected to defend his title against seasoned surf ski kayaker, Johan Sydow, as well as athletes, Satyam Maharaj, Sherlon Pierre, Matthew Robinson and Keian Huggins. These sprint athletes attended a ten-week training programme in the ...more

Canoe races Calendar

 

Year	Start Date	End Date	Discipline	Event	Location	Country
2014	18/10/2014	19/10/2014	WILDWATER CANOEING	INTERNATIONAL CANOE RACE PRÜM	IRREL, PRÜM, GERMANY	GERMANY
2014	18/10/2014	18/10/2014	CANOE MARATHON	ADIGE MARATHON	PESCANTINA	ITALY
2014	24/10/2014	26/10/2014	CANOE OCEAN RACING	BREIZH OCEAN RACING	SAINT-PIERRE DE QUIBERON	FRANCE
2014	03/11/2014	09/11/2014	ICF	2014 ICF CONGRESS	WARSAW	POLAND
2014	07/11/2014	08/11/2014	CANOE MARATHON	MARATHON INTERNATIONAL DES GORGES DE L'ARDECHE	VALLON PONT D'ARC	FRANCE
2014	15/06/2015	15/06/2015	CANOE MARATHON	LAHTI MIDNIGHT ULTRA MARATHON	CITY OF LAHTI	FINLAND
2015	31/01/2015	01/02/2015	CANOE SLALOM	OCEANIA CHAMPIONSHIPS	MANGAHAO	NEW ZEALAND
2015	13/02/2015	15/03/2015	CANOE SLALOM	AUSTRALIAN OPEN	PENRITH	AUSTRALIA
2015	20/03/2015	21/03/2015	CANOE SLALOM	SOLKAN 2015	SOLKAN	SLOVENIA
2015	22/03/2015	22/03/2015	WILDWATER CANOEING	MONSCHAU CANOE RACE	MONSCHAU, RUR	GERMANY
2015	27/03/2015	29/03/2015	CANOE SLALOM	MARKKLEEBERG 2015	MARKKLEEBERG	GERMANY
2015	03/04/2015	04/04/2015	CANOE SLALOM	2015 SEGRE CANOE SLALOM CUP	PONTS & LA SEU D'URGELL	SPAIN
2015	04/04/2015	05/04/2015	CANOE SLALOM	47TH ILINDANSKI KAJAK SLALOM IKAS 2015	SKOPJE MAKEDONIJA	FYROM
2015	11/04/2015	12/04/2015	CANOE POLO	CANOE POLO INTERNATIONAL TOURNAMENT	BOLOGNA	ITALY
2015	11/04/2015	12/04/2015	CANOE SPRINT	INTERNATIONAL "TROFEO SPARAFUCILE CITTA DI MANTOVA"	MANTOVA	ITALY
2015	18/04/2015	19/04/2015	CANOE SLALOM	INTERNATIONAL LIPTOV	LIPTOVSKY MIKULAS	SLOVAKIA

...more on canoeicf.com

Roll, roll, roll your boat: Bute hosts kayak workshop

 

Kayak rolling - knowing how to right a capsized kayak quickly and easily while you’re paddling in the open water, without getting out of your boat - is a vital skill for any serious kayaker, although it’s not quite as straightforward as Lesley made it look during her two-day workshop in the waters off Port Bannatyne.

Roddy McDowell of Kayak Bute, who invited Lesley to the island, said: “Rolling is the best form of self-rescue when ...more

Good Times At Lumpy Waters 2014

 

Our class of ten sea kayakers bobs up and down in the swell off the Oregon coast. We’re gathered around Sean Morley — a British police-officer-turned-kayak-surfer, expeditioner and world-renowned instructor — who has been charged with the task of honing our long boat surfing skills in seas that are rough even by the standards of the Lumpy Waters Symposium.

The 104 students and 30 coaches who travelled to this year’s event have split into groups to practice skills ranging from bracing and rolling to sea navigation and advanced rock gardening. For the last 45 minutes, however, our group hasn’t seen a soul. We followed Morley out around a stunning sandstone cape near Pacific City, Oregon and have stopped just outside the surf zone where we plan to practice carving down the faces of waves in our 14- to 17-foot sea kayaks.

“Everyone take a moment to plan your line to shore,” Morley instructs the class of intermediate-to-advanced paddlers. We crane our necks, and try to size up the waves from the seats of our boats. The narrow line of beach periodically disappears behind curtains of white foam. The sound alone is intimidating. “Ask yourself if you feel confident about this landing.”

It’s the first morning of the three-day gathering and my first sea kayak symposium. In fact, it’s one of ...more

Also posted on playak.com

Flint River kayak and canoe ramps up and ready

 

Construction of the kayak and canoe ramps along the Flint River is now complete.

There are three ramps now. One is at the Georgia Power dam, one close to the Flint RiverQuarium and another not far from that at Ray Charles Plaza.

Downtown Manager Sharlene Cannon says this is one project to ...more

De Jonge leads Nova Scotia selections to national paddling teams

Fifteen Nova Scotian paddlers, including Olympic bronze medallist

 Mark de Jonge of Halifax, have been named to 

CanoeKayak Canada’s sprint national teams for the 2014-15 season.

The Maskwa paddler was selected to men’s kayak 200 team on Tuesday.

Windsor’s Ryan Cochrane and Halifax’s Alexander Scott 

were also named to the K200 team.

Other Bluenoses on the national squads include: 

Halifax’s Andrew Jessop and Waverley’s Marshall Hughes (men’s K-1,000)

 Dartmouth’s Benjamin Russell and Waverley’s Craig Spence (men’s C-1,000)

 Jason McCoombs of Dartmouth (men’s C-200)

 Genevieve Orton of Lake Echo, 

Kentville’s Alexa Irvin and Dartmouth’s Sam Hall,

 Hannah Vaughan and Una Lounder (women’s K-500)

 Michelle Russell of Waverley (women’s K-200)

 and Dave Waters of Fox Point (Paracanoe).

CanoeKayak Canada also named a senior development and a ...more

Canoe Kayak Freestyle League

 

On Friday it was the final event of the canoe kayak freestyle league. The same format was run as usual with a jam session of 3/4 people and between 12-15 minutes per jam and then a 45 second run each to finish.  After winning the first 3 comps I felt pretty confident but knew my main rival Ed Weeks had been training hard and it would have been nice for me to take the last win in my last year of junior.
In the Jam I didn’t paddle my just about getting a mcnasty and scraping together I few other moves but I managed to just pull ahead of Ed to take the final win of the ...more 

Also posted on playak.com

Parkway Central junior kayaks to the finish line

 

This is not the average teen’s schedule. But for Parkway Central Junior and United Hebrew congregant Danielle Sartori, it is simply a routine. Monday through Friday, she sits in a classroom,  but on Saturday and Sunday Danielle can be found in her kayak. In her sport, there is no coach, no whistle, no referee; it is a fight to the finish against the unruly white water rapids.
 Growing up, Danielle would go to local pools to practice basic skills. She also competed in races designed for young kayakers. In those races, she often placed very high, which gave her a promising outlook for her future in kayaking. She started paddling in small play boats as a beginner. She bobbed in shallow water while receiving lessons from her father, who is also an avid kayaker. Calm water was ideal for practicing, but Danielle was ready for a challenge once she ...more

Kayak gold medallist faces doping probe

 

Australian Canoeing says London Olympics kayak gold medallist Tate Smith has been provisionally suspended pending an investigation by the Australian Sports Anti-Doping Authority.

Chief executive Greg Doyle issued a statement saying Australian Canoeing is aware of media reports about Smith, who was a member of the Australian team that won the K4 event in London in 2012.

If Smith is found guilty of breaching the World Anti-Doping Agency code, he would reportedly become the first Australian gold medallist to be banned for using performance-enhancing drugs.

Brisbane's Courier Mail newspaper said the 32-year-old Smith tested positive for a banned substance during a training camp in Hungary in July. The newspaper said Smith could lose his London medal and faces a two-year ban which would prevent him defending his title in Rio de Janiero.

The Courier Mail quoted a spokesperson as saying the Australian Olympic Committee is "aware of the investigation and we are following it closely."

The newspaper said Smith had not returned its phone calls and ASADA had issued a statement saying it was unable to discuss operational matters.

Doyle said Australian Canoeing "is unable to make any comment in ...more

Grandmother kayaking to Guatemala to aid kids

 

What could inspire a 63-year-old grandmother to paddle a kayak 2,500 miles on a yearlong trip from Maine to Guatemala?

For Deb Walters, the motivation came from her experiences with residents of a gritty neighborhood perched at the edge of a festering garbage dump in the heart of Guatemala City.

Nearly 10,000 people, including about 1,000 children, live alongside the dump, where they scavenge and recycle trash for a living, and sleep in huts made of scavenged metal, bits of cloth and plastic tarps. They are called guajeros, or ...more

Tampa's Mary Mangiapia aims for kayaking history

 

"I had no choice," said the 28-year-old from Tampa who hopes to be the first woman to complete the 1,500-mile Florida Circumnavigational Saltwater Paddling Trail. "But they were stranded and needed help."

The man and the woman told Mangiapia, who started her expedition Sept. 6 near the Alabama border, that their personal watercraft broke down Monday afternoon. They spent the night on a sandbar and tried to flag down passing boaters all day Tuesday off of Tarpon Springs.

"When I found them that evening they were trying to swim for it," Mangiapia said. "So I helped get ...more

Racer Spotlight: Carter Johnson - surfer, kayaker, record-holder

 
Name: Carter Johnson
Age: 39 on Sunday, Oct. 6

City/State: Sausalito, CA.

Boat: Huki Surf Ski 21 ft.

Race: Extreme Unlimited

Business: Manages a team of software developers for a Wells Fargo Bank.

Family: Single

Race wins/races: 2014 US and Canadian Surf Ski World Cup  

Like to Kayak: Very big waves at some tropical place. I would like to do a tour a week, and spend each week at a different Caribbean Island.

Race Strategy: I haven’t been able to train like I want to for this race. At my age I have to acknowledge I can go as good as I can go, without breaking myself, and know it was the hardest I could have gone.  

How/When, Why did you get started kayaking? First I was a gymnast at Purdue University. I participated in triathlons and road biking and I found that these sports had the adventure I was seeking but not the endurance and strength level. I found all the other sports had one or two but not all three. At the age of 28, I started kayaking and found it to have all three and it ...more

Body of male kayaker pulled from Credit River

 

Peel Regional Police are investigating after a body was pulled from the Credit River in Mississauga on Wednesday.

Officers received calls from two passersby who reported they had seen a body in the river at about 2 p.m.

Police confirmed the body of an adult male kayaker was pulled from the river near Front St. N. and Lakeshore Rd. E. after an overturned kayak was discovered partially floating along the shore.

Police are not releasing the man’s name, but said he was in his 40s. An autopsy is scheduled for Thursday.

According to police, a forensic identification unit, the criminal investigation bureau and a marine unit were at the scene, and officers were actively looking for any surveillance footage that might help the investigation and give officers a timeline of events.

Officers are also urging any witnesses to ...more

Nayaug Kayak and Canoe race set for Oct. 18

 

Organizers are gearing up for the 26th annual Nayaug Kayak and Canoe Race on Oct. 18, and are encouraging boaters of all ages, levels and abilities to take part in the fun-filled day on the Connecticut River.A pancake breakfast, served by the South Glastonbury Fire Department, will begin at 9 a.m., and registration takes place starting at 9:30. The 5- and 8-mile races begin together at 11 a.m. and the family-friendly Fun Paddle (about 1 mile) starts at 12:30 p.m.
The race's organizing committee's treasurer, Joe Damon, said the event typically attracts about 30 participants, but the hope is this year's number will be larger.
"We're hoping to make it bigger," he said. "We're hoping for 50, 60 or 70."
The Nayaug race is one of many sanctioned by the New England Canoe and Kayak Racing Association, and craft of all kinds are ...more

Kayaking offriver/offsea ONROAD !

Yann Huot posted an online video of him paddling down a flooded street in Montpellier Monday. The coastal city received about a dozen inches of rain on Monday — about half of its yearly average. 

 Record rainfall in the south of France enabled a couple of men to kayak down the street.

French resident Yann Huot posted an online video of himself kayaking in the middle of the street in the French city of ...more

Promising Penzance teen paddlers asked to join up with Team England for surf kayak competition

 

Two promising teenage paddlers from west Cornwall are due to join up with the England Surf Kayaking Team this weekend as they face the best of the Welsh, Scots and Irish surk kayakers.
Torran James, from Alverton, has been picked to represent Team England’s junior section in the Home Internationals.
And Jack Williams, from Goldsithney, has been asked to train with the squad and gain valuable experience as he continues to develop as a paddler.
The pair – both members of Penzance Canoe Club who developed their skills surfing at Sennen, Godrevy and Gwenver every weekend – will travel up to the gathering in ...more