We’re pleased to announce that the winner of the prize for our favourite outfit at the NSR 2010 Saturday night party is Robin Smith, captain of Surrey Uni Canoe Club, for his frankly ridiculous Fred Flintstone number:
There were loads of amazing costumes on display, with the students as always going to town on things. We loved the creativity and sheer impracticality of this outfit, which has earned Robin one of our limited edition Saffron Switch Jackets.
Good effort everybody who got dressed up, and we look forward to more outfits of this quality next year!
Bring your family and friends for a celebration of paddling at Symonds Yat on the beautiful River Wye!
15-16th May 2010
The Big Paddle is simply a massive thankyou from Palm Equipment to all the people who have helped make us the leading supplier in paddlesports in the UK. We feel that there could be no better way to do this than to invite everybody we can to come for a paddle and enjoy celebrating paddlesport together.
Line-up announced – something for everyone!
We’ve got a full programme of events – from classic river tours through stunning countryside, to masterclasses with the Palm team, to cardboard canoe races and the Big Party. Ever fancied kayak fishing or paddling a coracle? How stable are you in a marathon boat? There’s loads more still to be announced, remember to check back here for line up announcements as they happen.
Tickets on Sale 1st April 2010
Tickets to the Big Paddle (£5– All proceeds towards the restoration of Symonds Yat Rapids) will go live from the 1st April 2010. Booking can either be made on-line, via telephone or on site – please see the tickets page on The Big Paddle site for details. Bookings for camping, masterclasses and other subscriber activities will go live on the same date.
It was way back in 1782 that Nathaniel Sebastian Rodeo first suggested the idea of gathering together the greatest student minds in the country in order to go paddling, compete against each other’s academic institutions and generally have a marvellous time. At first it was little more than 3 men falling out of a coracle with a glass of sherry, however since then it has grown a little…
The fact that 900 people turn up and 680 competitors all go paddling is amazing enough, but what’s even more remarkable is that every one of those paddlers gets at least an extreme slalom run as well as a freestyle heat. Novice, Intermediate and expert classes run, and those who still want more can enter squirt, C1, Old Skool, Duo and Sofa-Cross too! On top of this there is a general abundance of shenanigans throughout the weekend, with all manner of home made craft taking to the water to entertain the carnage hungry crowds.
A new event for this year was the Old School rodeo; an open event, with only pre 2000 boats allowed. It saw good representation from team Palm, with plenty of vintage Palm gear on display and 2nd and 3rd places going to Nick and Tim respectively. A stunningly luminous Dave Burne took a well deserved gold medal.
Saturday Night brought with it the eagerly anticipated premiere of Dream Result; the new paddling film by Rush Sturges and Tyler Bradt. The film was truly stunning, finishing to a standing ovation from the 800 people present. If you haven’t already, then get yourself along to one of the premieres. Without doubt it represents a new standard for paddling films. To find out more , and to buy the movie, visit River-Roots.com.
The party kicked off straight after, bringing with it a plethora of amazing costume as always, this year’s theme being ancient civilisations. Check out our facebook page to see some of them, we’ll be awarding a Saffron Switch paddle jacket to our favourite later on this week…
Sunday morning arrived as always several hours too soon, and brought with it a heavy frost and some worryingly large icicles hanging from slalom poles. Paddlers were understandably slow to emerge, however once on site competitors seemed amazingly happy to throw themselves down the course wearing little more than a PFD and Helmet in the mass start 40 team inflatable sofa-cross.
The rest of the finals took place on Sunday afternoon with the carnage filled men’s and women’s novice categories proving as popular as ever.
Throughout the event, commentary, music and entertainment were provided along the length of the course by the guys at Extreme Events, however the standout hero of the event was without doubt the Rodeo Rabbit, who spent the spent Sunday afternoon getting chased up and down the length of the course for prizes and general entertainment.
When all of the finals were over, including the final spectacle in the form of the crowd pleasing Duo final, it was time for the final prize giving. Not content to simply wait for the final results to arrive the Rodeo Rabbit appeared once again to lead a mass participation dance off.
In the end the prize for winning uni went to event organisers Leeds, who kindly donated their prize, the custom NSR Dagger Axiom, to second place Sheffield uni.
A huge thanks must go to event organisers Andy and Peter from Leeds, as well as the guys at River Legacy for the party, and everybody else who helped out. This event is only as good as it is because so many volunteers put so much work in.
Thanks everybody, and we’ll see you again next year!
NSR 2010 went off this weekend, and was a huge success all round. Just under 700 competitors and almost 1000 people in all turned up to party and paddle, including guests Rush Sturges and Tyler Bradt, who premiered their new movie ‘Dream Result’ at Saturday night’s party.
The usual mens and women’s competitions ran, as well as c1, squirt, duo, and new for this year the sofa cross, in which 40 teams of 2 raced down the course on inflatable sofas.
Also new to the NSR this year was the entertainment provided by the Rodeo Rabbit who did sterling work all day, and led an epic musical statue dance off before the prize giving.
A huge shout out goes to Andy, Peter, and everybody else at Leeds Uni who put in a huge amount of work to make this event so good.
More photos and a full report coming soon, but for now here’s a short video clip for your enjoyment…
For 2010 we’re doing a limited run of our Switch paddle jacket in eye catching Saffron Yellow.
They should be in shops within the next two weeks, but if you can’t wait that long then we’re offering one of these as a prize for the best outfit at this year’s National Student Rodeo Saturday night party, the theme of which is ancient civilisations. Simply get a photo taken of your outfit on Saturday night by our photographer or by your mates, then go to our facebook page, upload your pics, check out the others, and comment on your favourites.
Last year’s party theme was space, and we saw some truly stunning costumes. Here’s a few of our favourites for inspiration…
To find out more about the NSR, currently the worlds biggest freestyle kayaking competition, visit:
Although the word ‘symposium’ nowadays refers to an academic conference, apparently it was originally coined by the Greeks as to refer to a drinking party. Brilliantly, this weekend’s Paddlesport Expedition Symposium succeeded in occupying a very entertaining mid-ground between the two.
The event bought together paddlers of all types from all over the country to, in the spirit of the Ancient Greeks, “debate, plot, boast, or simply to party with others”. The weekend was jam packed with facinating talks, workshops and discussions covering everything from canoe poling, to bear proofing your kit, to leadership styles and group dynamics. With all this going on and a fresh dump of snow there wasn’t a lot of time for actual paddling, however some brave paddlers took to the water to demo our new Mad River Canoes (the Reflection is the best icebreaker in case you’re wondering!).
My personal highlight was a special preview of Justine Curgenven’s new DVD “This is Canoeing”. It’s beautifully filmed and packed with amazingly diverse characters from around the world – canoe dance anyone? – all with a huge passion for canoeing. You could show your mum this film and be confident she’d be asking to tag along on your next trip. Check out the short preview clip below:
It’s out in early March and we’ve got two signed copies to give away – keep an eye on the Facebook page for a chance to win one.
More here: http://www.cackletv.com/canoeing/this-is-canoeing/
Tarpology, firestarting, woodsplitting and cooking at Jule’s bushcraft workshop was another highlight for many. Complete with cake!
Thanks to everyone at Plas y Brenin and everyone who came along and helped to make the weekend so successful. We’ll see you there next year.
The UK’s National Student Rodeo 2010 is only 2 weeks away, and each year Palm Equipment make a custom NSR Kayak as the prize for the winning uni’s Club.
This year’s boat is a beautiful and unique Dagger Axiom in one off lime green, with NSR decals to finish it off…
To find out more about NSR, the world’s biggest freestyle competition (no, reallly, 750 competitors), visit:
Ever had trouble finding the right size spraydeck to fit your kayak? Short of taking your boat along to the store, it’s not always easy.
Enter our new online spraydeck sizing system. We’ve been trying our decks on all of the major boat models for a while now and we reckon we’ve got it cracked.
Get on the Palm website, select your boat make and model, get the perfect fit.
Saturday 6th February 2010 saw the return of the mighty Flowerpots Rodeo, brought back to life by the hard working, soap dodging, student population of Exeter.
Situated on the River Exe, at the Mill on the Exe Pub, the competition drew large crowds to watch, with general public and kayak groupies alike enjoying a cheeky pint whilst cheering on the action.
The competition kicked off at sunset, with high water making for a big and bouncy yet flushy hole. Several longer playboats were pulled out of the bag, proving more than capable of seeing off the shorter boats, with a few creekboat loops thrown down as well as some silky smooth cartwheel sequences.
Good representation was also given to the new skool as well with shelixes, pan ams, and other things too. A particularly brutal queen of the wave contest in the semi final saw a facial pummelling handed out by a cartwheeling Outlaw in the hands of Matt Tidy
In the end Craig Ayres was crowned champion, after a hard fought final, and the competitors and spectators headed to the pub for beer and medals.
Team Palm put in a good showing with Matt Tidy taking home the silver Medal, and myself claiming the biggest move title with a frankly enormous loop in a Dagger CFS kindly loaned by Exeter Uni Canoe Club.
A big shout out to Pete & Hugh & the Exeter uni crew, as well as Ewart from AS Watersports for laying down harsh tasty beats and incisive commentary
The first slightly warped RPM emerged from the Dagger Europe oven on the 8th November 2000 at around 10.20 pm. Today, 9 years, 5 months, and 21 days later, we made our 42,000th boat!
If you haven’t seen it already, check out the short videos below and see how it works…
With building work on our new extension going on at the moment it’s exciting times at our Clevedon factory!
