This weekend we gathered at my home spot for the Dee River Festival in Llangollen, North Wales.
Surflines- The Palm Store - http://thepalmstore.co.uk/ joined the rest of the guys from Palm to show off our 2013 range of kit along with as many Dagger Demos as we could fit in the van.
We were incredibly fortunate that the rain Gods shone on us and brought the river up to a playful 5 meaning some sporty lines downriver and a nice little play wave at the bottom of the Mill section.
The event is all about getting as many paddlers on the water as possible, having a good time, trying out all the latest boats and generally enjoying an iconic Welsh river together.
There were many different activities and coaching clinics going on for all styles of paddler. We had creekers, freestylers, SUP’ers, rafters, open canoeists and every type of paddler in between. All enjoying the (mostly) good weather, paddling together and joining in the many clinics.
Palm’s Cheesy & G17′s Simon even turned there hand to Open Canoeing, the results however weren’t as pretty as the drysuits that kept them toasty and dry. They were last spotted swimming off towards Chester when it all went wrong at Town Falls…
We had all three sizes of Dagger’s new Jitsu playboat for people to try. Having being one of the main testers it’s a boat im passionate about. It’s great to see paddlers of all abilities hopping into them and loving how they’re paddling. It was very satisfying seeing people’s grins as they were surfing up the mighty bottom wave.
Katya & myself made the most of the good levels and had a good session in the sun in our Jitsu’s followed by a blast down the river in the Dagger Greens. Now if you ever get a chance to try one of the Green boats I highly recommend it, surprisingly whenever you get to a rapid they really come to life, great fun! You can’t help but sprint in them though
Thanks to everyone who came and said hello, if you were there check the gallery below to see if you got snapped by us
With so many new and updated products to show off this last week, it’s hard to choose our favourites but with a camera shoved in their face, the people behind Palm Equipment did eventually manage to pick out their favourites.
Watch the video below to see what we liked the best and meet the people who make up Palm…
For those who haven’t seen the last few updates on our Facebook Page the rest of our product videos can be seen here or in the earlier blog postings:
This morning PaddleExpo 2012 opens here in the beautiful german city of Nuremberg.
This year we have 50 items of new or updated kit to show to the world over the next 3 days!
Today was our last day of set up, so below you can catch a glimpse of some of the gear and boats we have lined up…
Throughout the exhibition we’ll be uploading videos, photos and blogs so everyone can see and find out more about what will be coming to stores near you soon.
I personally have seen quite a few new things I’ve set my eyes on
With the new range of whitewater gear arriving this spring we were keen to get all the team together and go for a boat.
Gene17′s Valesesia River Festival in Italy seemed like the perfect opportunity. After a long night’s drive on Wednesday night we arrived to the perfect combo of sun, great coffee and absolutely outstanding whitewater! Valsesia is a true whitewater paddlers’ paradise and if you haven’t been yet you’ve got to put it on the list.
We’ll post a full report when we get back but stay tuned for Finn Burrows’ video rundown coming later tonight.
In the meantime, check out these shots from this afternoon’s Egua Freeride Session!
Recently I returned from Uganda on a Playboating trip with Satu my wife. We travelled very light, and the new paddle bag and River Trek dry bags from Palm were our main baggage for the trip. Of course we took playboats, however all in all, the whole lot weighed in at 38Kg, this for two paddlers is a light trip…
Well for years I have been on to Barney, Palm’s designer that I need solid travelling gear to get to the river. Of course Palm have made great on the water gear for years, however with recent attention to the added extras to travel in style, Barney and the crew have come up with some great new products. First and my favourite is the cockpit cover, I always through all my wet PFD, deck and rescue gear in the boat, it lives in there between runs, so to have a bomber seal to keep all my paddling gear safe is a real must. Plus in having wet gear in your car, that oh so paddler scent seems to whoffed from every boater’s car…. yet for myself with a cockpit cover I can avoid this paddler’s delight!
The new River Trek dry bags have been designed for robust travel in mine, a more malleable fabric than perviously used, and with different closure options, plus fully adjustable back straps and side carrying handles, make for a more universal companion on the road. I have a 50L for everyday use and 125L for all the road trip paddling gear. Now a real asset for a paddler is to keep the boating shoes away from all the rest of your gear. Why you ask, well, there is nothing worse than having your flash dry suit covered in mud if not worst, when you pull it from your bag for the drying line. Get a small dry bag, 6L or so, and always place your paddling shoes in there, you’ll thank me one day, of that I am sure. And at worst, if you wish to go one better than drinking from the bootie, try the bootie bag!!!!!!!
Next up is Palm’s jewel in the crown of their new travelling gear, it takes 4 paddles, its the all new Palm Paddle Bag. Indeed 4 paddles’ easy, plus 2 sleeping mats, a 3 person tent and 2 sleeping bags, well I was sent to test it anyway. Now in the production one comes in a grey trim, as this one I stole from the new Mac Monkey, Tim Trew, nice chap, but does not have the one off, only one ever made orange trimmed paddle bag anymore….
Well that’s it for now, as I await the never ending encoding of my new instructional DVD, Genotype 2, but that is a whole other story, and until then, goodnight.
