Sea Kayaking

Jackson Kayaks and Bending Branches paddles were among paddlesports manufacturers praised in Kokatat's first annual American Made Outdoor Gear Awards. Aluminum bottle manufacturer Liberty Bottleworks took the overall prize.

Johnson Outdoors Watercraft Inc., home to Necky Kayaks, Ocean Kayak, Old Town Canoes & Kayaks and Carlisle paddles, introduces industry veteran David Hadden as its new Brand Director - Watercraft.

According to river runners Jon Barker and Clancy Reece, anything worth doing is worth overdoing – which is exactly what led them to tempt fate on a flooding Salmon River in 1996 to see how far they could float Reece’s homemade wooden dory through the largest wilderness tract in the Lower 48 in 24 hours. The result, as captured drop by drop by former Idaho raft guide Jo Deurbrouck in her new award-winning book Anything Worth Doing, is a storyline every paddler who has dipped a blade in water can appreciate…

While fish kayaks have gotten all the attention in the paddling/angling combo world, a company out of Colorado is making a name by letting you fish tandem out of an inflatable. PL tested out Creek Company’s new Voyager 2 -- a miniature, frameless pontoon-style raft -- on a fall outing on northwest Colorado’s Elk River and gives it a solid thumbs-up when it comes to casting and river running...

As The Who might put it in Tommy, “How do you think he does it? What makes him so good?” Dane Jackson pinballed his way down some of Chile’s toughest whitewater in five events of the 2012 Whitewater Grand Prix, sealing his second straight overall title with commanding wins in the final Boatercross and Whitewater Enduro races on Chile’s big-water Rio Futaleufu...

Your local creeks might be devoid of their best paddlers right about now. That’s because 30 of the world’s best from 13 countries have been invited to Chile for the Second Annual Whitewater Grand Prix kayaking championship, underway as we speak with three of five events completed. In the driver’s seat so far are last year’s winner Dane Jackson, Isaac Levinson and France’s Eric Deguil, with France’s Nouria Newman leading the women's pack…

The Teva Mountain Games are the Teva Mountain Games no more. The world's biggest stage for freestyle and creek racing will still be around, just not with Teva as a sponsor. Teva president Joel Heath announced Nov. 28 that the footwear giant is pulling out of the Games after an 11-year run. PL checks in with Heath for the lowdown...

If you want to test out apparel made specifically for getting wet, it helps to do so on the manufacturer’s home turf. And if that turf involves surf, so much the better. Such was the case when, on vacation in Maui, we found ourselves Supping with Bluesmiths founder John Smalley, whose apparel line is making waves as fast as its wearers are catching them….

Nominations for the International Whitewater Hall of Fame (IWHOF) Class of 2013 are being accepted through December 1. These nominations give paddlers the opportunity to join an esteemed group of the world's most accomplished whitewater pioneers, explorers, champions and advocates.

Charleston, SC-based Folbot folding kayaks will be auctioning its last remaining Metrobot—a special edition Folbot Citibot with an iconic NYC subway map on the deck—in an effort to support the American Red Cross after Frankenstorm Sandy’s impact on New York City.

Georgia’s Tallulah River has just one weekend left this year for paddlers to run its rapids on November 17-18. The waterfalls flowing through Tallulah Gorge State Park grow to more than 10 times their normal flows during releases, drawing kayakers from across the country.

Wondering where the best whitewater kayakers in the world will be in December? They'll be in Chile for the second annual Whitewater Gran Prix, a unique Class V stage-style event that is quickly going viral. A look at who got the golden ticket to compete, and PL's pick for the winner...

Has there ever been a movie out of Hollywood that has done more to put paddling on the map? Deliverance, that iconic canoeing flick that put paddling and the Southeast on the nation’s radar for good, is celebrating its 40th anniversary this year, with the cinematic staying power of Hypalon….

Johnson Outdoors Watercraft Inc. announces the hiring of Lucas LaBree as the new Marketing Communications Manager – Johnson Outdoors Watercraft Inc. for Old Town Canoes & Kayaks, Ocean Kayak, Necky Kayaks and Carlisle Paddles. LaBree will join the Johnson Outdoors Watercraft campus in Old Town, Maine...

Shaving 8 seconds off the course record, Kiwi kayaking kingpin Mike Dawson won both the long and short boat division of this year’s 17th annual Green Race on North Carolina’s Green River, earning year-long bragging rights as well as...the coveted stained glass trophy.

While last year’s World Rafting Championships on Costa Rica’s Pacuare River drew the world’s best rafters to the country, they also drew accolades from top environmentalists. EARTH University recently certified the event as the world’s first ever Certified Carbon Neutral world championship sporting event...

The perils of inner-city living hit the tight-knit Colorado boating community on Oct. 17 when BLM river ranger Ross Richter, who worked at the popular Pumphouse and Statebridge sections of the Upper Colorado River, was among the five victims killed at a Denver bar shooting...

For the fifth year the adidas Sickline Extreme Kayak World Championship took place in Austria’s Ötztal valley, luring 150 of the world’s best kayakers from 26 countries to the Tyrol region to compete on the legendary Class V Wellerbrücke rapids. And for the third year in a row, once again it was Kiwi Sam Sutton in the driver’s seat...

The touring world lost one of its most respected members on Wed., Oct. 10, when Derek Hutchinson died in his native England at age 79. Known as “the father of modern sea kayaking,” Hutchinson, who had several notable expeditions under his skirt, was also an accomplished instructor, author, boat designer, DVD producer and more...

After long challenging the world’s best, British Columbia's Stikine River claimed its first life, that of Jeff West, 42, owner of Chattanooga’s Ace Kayaking School, on Tuesday, Sept. 11. Just before attempting his one-day solo descent, West kayaked the stretch with Stikine pioneer Doug Ammons, who was heli'd after a nasty swim. PL caught up with Ammons -- the first person to run it solo – for his take on his run with West, Ben Marr’s subsequent first descent of notorious Site Zed, and one of the biggest badges of courage in whitewater...

Canadian river advocate, paddler and filmmaker Mark Angelo has begun filming his next documentary on the world's rivers, with plenty of paddling required to make it happen. Angelo plans to hire a high profile narrator for the film.

Erik Weihenmayer is taking running rapids blind to new heights. I’m sitting in an eddy with the blind adventurer -- best known as the first and only blind man to reach the summit of Mount Everest and climb the world’s Seven Summits – on the Class III Shoshone section of the Colorado River. An accomplished mountaineer, backcountry skier, parachutist and more, he now has his sights on a new a goal -- kayaking the Grand Canyon in fall 2013.

For the burgeoning stand-up crowd, the annual Gerry Lopez Rainbow Sandals Battle of the Paddle in Dana Point, Calif., has become the de facto World Championships in the sport, with some of its biggest year-long bragging rights on the line. And in one of the tightest racers ever, this year those accolades went to Redondo Beach local Danny Ching, who won his third Battle of the Paddle.

The movie might not be in 3D, but the rivers it talks about sure are. The Conservation Alliance recently released Our Rivers, the second video in the worthWILD series, telling the story of American Whitewater and footwear brand KEEN's efforts to save rivers nationwide...