Kayak racing was a thought when I first looked at buying my kayak. Where do I find suggest a boat? Where do the greats get their equipment? Do they hold manathon kayaking events? Where do the refs go to school for kayak racing?
Where do I find a kayak for racing?
Here is a small list I find from Purplepaddler.com:
| Maker | Makers Website | UK Importers |
| Marsport | www.marsport.co.uk | Marsport |
| Kirton | www.kirtonkayaks.co.uk | Kirton Kayaks |
| Plastex | plastexboats.com/ | Ollie Harding |
Purplepaddler.com has a much bigger list of two pdfs up to 6 pages a piece.
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Heres some more information about racing kayaks made in the U.S.A:
- Think Kayaks
Specializes in kayaks for fitness paddling and surfski racing. - Struer
Racing kayaks and canoes. - Sisson Kayaks
Sea and multi-sport racing kayaks.
Some of the other Kayaking Manufacturers may also build racing kayaks but I only listed the ones that let me know that they offer racing kayaks.
Where do the greats get their equipment?
The first two when I went shopping online at small online websites, you might call them speciality shoppes, But the last two were Box stores near me (Jacksonvillr, Florida).
- Kayakonline.com
- Purplepaddler.com
Kayakonline.com had a lot of good information you can use from who makes kayaks to buying your equipment, helmet, and racing kayaks.
Here is a list of items you might use in a racing kayak:
- Ainsworth Paddles
Reaction Injection Molding paddles for touring and racing. - Struer
Racing kayaks and canoes. - HardHeaded Sports
Online retailer with a nice helmet selection.
Purplepaddler.com is also a great website to find information about racing in kayaks, paddles, helmet, life vests, and more.
Here is some advise I find on Purplepaddler.com:
“Racing Kayaks are a class of boat that are used primarily for flat water sprint and marathon, however the same boats are also used for descent racing (racing down rivers with varying degrees of big weirs and waves, particularly popular in South Africa). Single boats are referred to as K1s. Doubles as K2’s and four man boats as K4’s. These are the common set ups although we recently saw our first K3. It made us look twice and caused some discussion!
Because a boats speed is related to its length and width the length of these boats is set by international regulations that most countries adopt. Minimum weights are also set. K1’s are 5.2m in length (or shorter) and more than 12kg sprint, 8kg marathon, K2s are 6.5m in length (or shorter) and more than 18kg sprint, 12kg marathon whilst K4’s are 11m (or shorter)and 30kg or more sprint.”
Do they hold manathon kayaking events?
They have manathon kayak racing and more.
Our friends at Purplpaddler.com give us more insight about manathon kayaking:
“Marathon kayaks need to sit well on washes, cruise at high speeds, turn well and pick up speed for sprints as needed. Essentially they are very little different from sprint kayaks and many models are used for both styles of racing.
Variations occur where more stability and manoeuvrability is required for descent racing. Where races take place down weirs or over shallows where the rudder might hit the bottom over-stern rudders are used. These rudders are mounted on the stern and kick up on a hinge when they hit an obstacle so that no damage is done. Higher volume models with a little more rocker and more stability will be chosen for descent racing where plenty of time can be lost through a swim caused by lack of manoeuvrability or stability and some extra volume will reduce the chances of being swamped cutting through waves.”
There are also have associations of manathon kayak racing all over North America. The association I come across is called the The New England Canoe and Kayak Racing Association is an organization run by volunteers, dedicated to advancing the sport of canoe and kayak racing for paddlers of all skill levels. NECKRA seeks to support established and successful community boating programs to facilitate awareness of and interest in marathon and downriver racing. You can check out their website for more information at: http://www.neckra.org
Where do the refs go to school for kayak racing?
I really did not find anything at this moment, but I did find a best practices manual from http://www.neckra.org and here is some infomation from them:
NECKRA Race Director Best Practices
In the interest of safety, and to ensure a positive experience for all racers, NECKRA encourages the adoption of the following Best Practices for Point Series races:
- Hold a pre-race meeting where the course is briefly described, starts explained, the PFD policy reiterated, and participants alerted to any course hazards. The pre-race meeting may be held on-land or on-water at the Race Director’s discretion.
- Race directors and/or timers should remain at the finish line until every racer has completed the course. There should be a system in place for making sure that the course is clear of participants at the conclusion of the race.
- Finishing times should be provided for review before the awards ceremony so that any timing or race category corrections can be made prior to the ceremony.
- Any protests by race participants must be made prior to the awards ceremony.
- Race results should be posted to the “Paddlers Connection” Yahoo Group within 24 hours of the race, but no more than 3-4 days following the race. Race Directors are encouraged to send a copy of race results to the NECKRA Webmaster, and to the appropriate Points scoring person.
Does waxing a kayak make it go faster when in a manathon, sprint, or good olde fashion paddling down the river?
Waxing can help improve your speed of your kayak but the racing rule may not allow you to wax your boat. “
Sailboat racing rules:
53 SKIN FRICTION
A boat shall not eject or release a substance, such as a polymer, or
have specially textured surfaces that could improve the character of
the flow of water inside the boundary layer.” https://www.nspn.org/forum/topic/9265-waxing-a-kayak-make-it-faster/
and another person on the forum said:
“Very interesting. The whole thing with polymers dissolving in water to reduce friction etc, there’s something I never would have realized even existed.
I see Greg Barton is all about a smooth surface, not waxes and stuff, but smooth and clean. He makes a point of saying a dirty boat, with crud and stuff on it will be slower because of increased drag.
Interesting also one of the boats he was racing could not be used because it had lengthwise grooves on it .
Also interesting that what may work in dry conditions, like 303 and sliding off the roof racks, might not be the same once in the water..then I would imagine more differences between how it reacts to fresh or salt water etc.
all and all it seems all about clean and smooth with wax an option to help with the smoothness but not really helping as far as slipperiness” goes..if I understand correctly” https://www.nspn.org/forum/topic/9265-waxing-a-kayak-make-it-faster/
But it really gets down to if your in a race and the rules allow you to do something are you going to tak advantage of them or not. I would if I could to help win my race and have my big trophy.
Additional Information: Fishing Maps that might be helpful for your next fishing trip.
Conclusion
Hope this post was helpful to you and that you have a very successful trip fishing with your friends and family! Check out the other sections of my blog for more tips on KayaksBoats.
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