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paddleEXPO industry mag

FITNESS

PADDLING

A new avenue, a new market

Paddling can make you it--this is not breaking news. But now, in some areas, more and
more people are picking up paddlesports (stand up boards, kayaks and more) with the

main goal of getting and staying it. This is a whole new market for the industry, including
boats, paddles and apparel. How is this happening in your area? If it hasn’t yet, do you
foresee this trend?

Core training and

itness is actually at
the origin of SUP. It is

the reason why some

surfers used a paddle
to complete their

training. In Europe,

the itness aspect of

SUPing is new but
on the American and

Caribbean side we’ve

been working on it for
a few years now.

Sylvain Aurenche –

Owner, Lohaki Boards,
FRANCE

We (at Valley) have seen an increase in this
trend over recent years, although originally it

seemed to be at the very specialist end, like full

on racing sea-kayaks. Now even in the shorter
kayaks, people are making decisions based on

speed and weight, with a view to using them for

itness paddling. This was the motivation for us
in launching the Gemini, our shortest sea kayak,

in two versions. One a more rockered model

with more volume for playing in surf and rough

conditions, and the ST version, which features
a special lighter construction and a number of

design tweaks like less volume, less rocker,

a iner bow etc., meaning it’s designed to be
better suited to those wanting to use their kayak

for more itness training purposes.

Peter Orton - Company Director, Valley Sea Kayaks, UK

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