SoundRowers.org presents the Lake Whatcom Classic on Lake Whatcom, just a bit Southeast of Bellingham.
The race offers two distances, a 5.2 mile and a 12 mile course.
Check out SoundRowers.org to register, or for more information.
March, 2011
Join us in Deep Cove for the 13th season of the Deep Cove Canoe and Kayak Centre: Tuesday Night Paddlesport Race.
Stand Up Paddleboards are growing as a race division and with SUP specific sponsors this year we expect a big turnout throughout the season. Races are open to all ages and abilities and we encourage everyone to come down and try out SUP racing!
First Race: Tuesday April 5th
Next Race: Every Tuesday until September 13th
Time: Check in starts at 6:00pm, Race starts at 7:00pm
Cost: $3.00 entry fee, $15.00 board rental
Length: Between 3km and 8km
More Race Info: Every race entry throughout the season enters your name into our weekly prize draws and our year end party prizes from sponsors such as Surftech, Starboard, Icebreaker, Werner Paddles, O’neill Wetsuits, Xcel wetsuits, Quiksilver and many more.
Join us after each race at The Raven Pub for our post-race party where we view the race video and enjoy $10 Beer and Burger specials compliments of The Raven and Molson.
**New for this season we are also offering an SUP Race Clinic. This 30 minute clinic will get participants warmed up for the race, focus on stroke efficiency and technique and introduce newcomers to SUP racing. Must have taken an Intro to SUP lesson or have equivalent experience.
Time: Clinics start at 6:15
Cost: $30+HST – Includes board rental and race entry fee
If you have any questions about our race series
or would like to reserve a board call 604-929-2268
Check out some of our sponsors:
Looks like the next few days around Vancouver are going to be pretty wet, but hopefully the temps stay low so we can snag a few more pow days in before it really starts to warm up. And though we don't really encounter much of a Winter here in Vancouver, I'm sure the rest of Canada is just on the verge of switching over into Spring mode as well... Get ready for the return of sun, surf and a ton of flatwater touring!
Visits to our site us up over 350% over the same time last year and has been building over top of that almost every day, so needless to say we're super stoked to see what the Spring and Summer of 2011 bring!
Over the past few months we've fielded a ton of information requests and talked to a lot of people interested in getting into the sport or wanting to contribute and by all means, please feel free to keep in touch... We'd love to hear about what's happening in SUP around your neck of the woods!
We've got a ton of exciting events, products, editorials and other exciting news to share with ya over the coming months, so be sure to check us out on Twitter or Facebook, or if you're old skool, subscribe to our RSS feed or just bookmark us and check back often.
Bob Purdy's Paddle for the Planet initiative just keeps rolling on, and in just over a week he'll be celebrating his 100th straight day on the water!
As such, he's celebrating the special day with a group paddle in Peachland on Lake Okanagan.
Here's the word direct from the source...
We have finally decided on a location for Day 100 paddle on April 10th. It will be Peachland in front of Bliss Bakery at 11 am and that will be the next event for “Paddle for the Planet”. There is an open invitation for anyone to join in and it sounds like there will be quite a few takers. I know there are paddlers already confirmed from all over. Just a social paddle, visit, and for many the first paddle of the year!
Way to go Bob!
Top SUP competitor and reknown waterman Dave Kalama will be visiting the Pacific Northwest in April, and as part of his trip will be hosting a two hour performance oriented training session on Lake Union on Thursday April 28th.
Here are the details from Beau Whitehead...
Dave will be at Lake Union on Thursday morning, April 28th! $100 gets you a 2 hour class from the master of SUP & OC stroke. Dave is one of the top watermen in the world & we are lucky to get him to come to our area. He normally gets $500/hour for private lessons, so this is a good deal... we will be in a group of about 20.
Contact Urban Surf in Seattle to sign up... spaces will go fast.You want to go faster? He will make you faster!
Check out PaddleSurfNorthwest.com or UrbanSurf.com for more details as they become available!
Thought this was kind of interesting, Google Trends' worldwide search statistics for the term "stand up paddle board" since 2004.
By no means is this a scientific assessment in the sport's growth, but interesting to see the marked increase in search queries from 2009 to 2010, with what appears to be a much stronger increase starting in 2011.
And cool to note that Canada ranks fourth in the regional breakdown of search queries:
Check out all the details on www.google.com/trends
Deep Cove Kayak will be holding a special Stand Up Paddleboard Demo Day on Saturday June 25th, at their Deep Cove waterfront location.
You can test Stand Up Paddleboards before you buy. They will have a fleet of boards from Starboard and Surf Tech so you can check out the fastest, most stable, best surfers etc. 10am-3pm. Talk to the manufacturer representatives. Absolutely Free!!
Sept. 19th, 2011 Update: Complete event recap, results and photos now available here!
Board the Fjord SUP Race presented by Deep Cove Canoe and Kayak Centre is coming on September 18th, 2011 to Deep Cove in North Vancouver.
This will be a marquee event... Lots more information to come and will be posted here as it become available!
Update: More information is now available, click here!
Kevin and the Kalavida Surf Shop gang is holding a stand up paddleboard race clinic and demo on Saturday May 28th, 2011 to help kick off the 2011 Summer Race Series.
11:00am - 4:00pm at the North end of Kalamalka Lake in Vernon!
Spring's just around the corner, and we're looking forward to what's proving to become a massive 2011 SUP season here in Canada.
We're halfway through March and though the rest of Canada is still frozen, we're already fielding daily phone calls and emails from people all over Canada wanting to find out about more about stand up paddleboarding in Canada!
So with that, we're getting started early with our editorial reviews, and thought we'd kick off the season with a quick roundup of some of the boards we'll be running this season.
9'0 Starboard Stinger AST: One of the earliest production "shortboard" SUP shapes, the Stinger is surprisingly stable and maneuverable thanks in part to its cut-away rails which allow for a narrower tail section, and higher volume up front to allow for greater flotation and stability. Don't expect to master this puppy first time out, but definitely check out one of these smaller shapes once you've got a firm handle on some of the bigger waveriding boards... They're incredibly nimble once you get the hang of 'em!
10'6 Dave Mel Epoxy: A new addition in the quiver for the 2011 season, for a waveriding machine this board has a decent amount of glide, making it pretty darn adaptable to flatwater cruising. A great all round ride for wherever you choose to put in.
Another thing I'll say is you can really feel the soul and attention to detail built into this board... The craftsmanship is very impressive and the colour schemes kick ass. The 10'6 has a super cool sea foamy green streak effect which really makes it stand out... The ladies are gonna love these!
10'10 Walden GSI: She's starting to show her age a bit, but this board still performs very nicely in the waves and tours the flatwater surprisingly well.
What's always really impressed me with this board is though it's got a considerable amount of volume in thickness, lending itself to a serious amount of stability, the step deck rails really help to increase this board's agility in the waves, which makes it an exceptional all-round board.
In coming months we'll be giving this board a proper paint refinish as the epoxy has taken an absolute beating from surfing our rocky beaches, and the rails have seen their fair share of beginner dings.
11'0 Dave Mel Epoxy: Similar to the 10'6 Mel, this is another hand built board from Maui that's been built for the waves, but it still has a reasonable amount of glide for the flatwater.
And for what it's worth, the camo deck pad that came with this particular board makes for a super cool yet understated presentation.
12'6 Starboard Cruiser AST: This is the board that introduced me to the sport three years ago, and it still gets a fair amount of water time. The Cruiser isn't the greatest flatwater cruiser due to a considerable amount of rocker... Plus the single fin setup makes it a bit of a bear in the waves, but due to its outline and overall volume it's one of my favorite touring boards when the conditions get rough.
Note that newer models of the Cruiser run a three fin setup, so their performance will be much better in the waves. My older model also has a very shallow carrying handle which makes transporting the board a bit of a hassle, but this too has been fixed in the new model.
If you're looking to get into an all-rounder like the Cruiser as your do everything board, I'd definitely suggest picking up a Bamboo Race Fin, or another type of classic or hatchet style fin to help increase straightline tracking on the flatwater touring sessions.
15' Starboard K-15 AST: The ultimate flatwater cruiser, the Starboard K-15 has incredible glide and speed. It's a bit tippy when the water conditions get choppy, but if the conditions are mellow, this board will blow you away!
A reasonably complete quiver yes, but we're looking to fill some holes.
Next on the list is a Starboard Race 12'6 Brushed Carbon as an attempt to get the PaddleSurf.ca team more competitive on the race scene, as well as a wider surf SUP... Something like a Starboard Hero or Whopper. Ya know, something that'll be reasonably mobile in the waves but still provide plenty of stability.
And if you're a Canadian board builder or distributor and would like to share your shapes with the Canadian stand up paddleboarding community, please feel free to get in touch with us here at Paddle Surf Canada as we're constantly on the lookout for adding new boards to the quiver.
Thanks for reading and happy paddling... Hopefully sooner than later!
I've had a Starboard Race fin for a few months now, but the weather's been pretty unfriendly to stand up paddleboarding around here lately, so only recently managed to finally get it out on the water.
Paddle location was up in Vernon, on Kalamalka Lake with the Kalavida Surf Shop and Bob Purdy from PaddleForThePlanet.ca. This was one of my first times paddling on freshwater, which might have contributed to the strong impressions I have of this fin, but either way I'm happy to report that the fin dramatically improved the flatwater performance of my Starboard Cruiser.
As mentioned, I ran the fin on an older model single fin Starboard 12'6 Cruiser. I've always been a bit frustrated with this particular board as its considerable amount of rocker tends to seriously hinder its glide and tracking, and missing sidebite fins doesn't help in the tracking department.
Starboard's marketing copy alludes to the fact that you can expect to gain 5 strokes per side with this fin, and though I did notice an improvement, strokes per side increased by about three, which I'm more than happy to have!
Though the larger surface area makes changing direction a bit more tedious, I'll gladly take the tradeoff due to the dramatic improvement in straightline tracking.
One note though is the fin's box insert shape is quite large... I assume this is to give the relatively fragile Bamboo the increased strength it needed versus a fibreglass or carbon fin. Problem with that though is I had hard time finding a fin box that would accommodate it.
My Starboard K-15's finbox was too short to accept the extra long base, and I also tried on a couple Dave Mel boards, but the fin's base was just a touch too tall.
I probably wouldn't suggest modifying the fin to fit into a smaller fin box, so might be a good idea to do a test fit before purchasing.
That all said though, as mentioned I did manage to fit it into my Starboard 12'6 Cruiser's without a problem.
Overall, I'd strongly suggest picking one of these fins up, especially if you're underwhelmed with the flatwater performance of your all-rounder SUP.
Due to popular demand, we've finally gotten around to implemented a pretty sweet 'lil calendaring system for Paddle Surf Canada.
Here's what you can do with it...
- You can check out the month by month view here
- You can scroll through all the events here
- You can even import the events into your Mac's iCal here, and
- You can submit your Canadian SUP events using the form on this page here
Events listings are pretty sparse for now, but will obviously start filling up as we move into the warmer months.
If you are going to submit an event, please keep in mind that we're really only interested in listing Stand Up Paddleboard events that are held in Canada, or are within a reasonably short driving distance from the border, or are major international events... Like Battle of the Paddle sort of calibre.
That said, don't take it personally but we reserve the right to edit or ignore submissions based on what we deem to be suitable for inclusion.
Have a good one and thanks for visiting!
Vancouver, BC (March 16, 2011) – Icon Sports Group is excited to announce
that they have been named as the exclusive Canadian distributor of Rogue
Stand Up Paddleboards. Active distribution for the brand is already
underway and Rogue SUP enters the Canadian market with an impressive line
of boards and paddles that feature hot graphics and quality construction –
A combination that will set the brand apart in a market that will
experience tremendous growth this year.
In addition to their popular ‘All-Water’ boards for the everyday user,
they have added a full-blown race division to their quiver including the
12’6 ‘Outlaw’ and a new 11’3” ‘Drifter’ board with rugged forest artwork
that is exclusive to the Canadian market. And while their graphics help
them stand out on the board rack, Rogue is the first company to offer
female-specific boards, designs and artwork for a segment that represents
almost 50% of the market.
“We had a chance to test the brand in Canada last year with success and
we’re excited to now offer our complete line to dealers across the great
white North” says Rick Karr, Owner of Rogue. “We feel confident that Icon
Sports will represent our brand and even help us develop our line to
further reflect the demands of the Canadian market” he adds. The brand,
which emphasizes fun, fitness and lifestyle, has been growing
exponentionally in the US and has recently expanded to Europe and South
America.
The official launch of the brand happens this weekend at the Outdoor
Adventure Show held at the Vancouver Convention Centre, March 18 & 19th.
With a booth located across from the whitewater pool, they will introduce
the brand to the market and host a number of events including on-water
demos and contests. The following week, Rogue will receive more exposure
at the Calgary Outdoor Adventure Show.
Stand Up Paddleboarding (SUP) is the fastest growing water sport in North
America and has quickly evolved from its surfing roots into flatwater
cruising on the oceans and lakes and most recently to the rivers on rapids
and whitewater. To help promote the brand in Canada, Icon Sports and Rogue
will announce the signing of their first Canadian brand ambassador this
week and you’ll get a chance to meet them on CityTV’s Breakfast Television
program, Friday March 17 betweem 6-8:30am.
About Rogue SUP (San Clemente, CA)
Rogue Stand Up Paddleboards is a “SUP only” company focused on the design,
development and production of quality Stand Up Paddle board products for
surfing, flatwater racing, cruising and rivers. Our graphically drenched
All-Water boards have broad appeal and our HollowTEC™ Carbon and SpeedTEC™
Carbon Race constructions put our race and touring boards at the front of
the pack. (www.roguesup.com).
About Icon Sports Group
Canada's leading edge SUP distribution and marketing group. We help
brands grow in Canada's unique environment that extends beyond just
distribution and sales. We are a marketing savvy group that allows us to
promote each brand according to their core values and brand direction.
Icon Sports is the exclusive Canadian distributor of Rogue SUP.
(www.iconsports.ca).
More information:
www.iconsports.ca
Dealer Sales: BC, AB, SK (Ian Nelson Agency - iannelsonagency@gmail.com)
Dealer Sales: ON (Scott Young 426 Inc. Sales Agency - scott@fourtwentysix.ca)
Connect with Facebook to post comments and participate in the forums!
