Here’s what we found in the world of whitewater at the first day of Outdoor Retailer’s 2014 Summer Market:
Pyranha
We got a sneak peek at Pyranha’s brand new 9-R kayak design today at Outdoor Retailer. It’s nine feet in length and the ‘R’ stands for race—this is a boat made to move quickly. With events like the Sickline and Green races in mind, Pyranha designed a hull that draws on both their Shiva and Burn kayaks. It has continuous rocker and slightly more in the stern to allow for speed and boofability. The 9-R is shorter than some popular race boats so it’ll also act as a fun river runner for paddlers who don’t plan to compete at an extreme level. Rapid’s hoping to test one out as soon as they hit the water.
Kokatat
After hearing lots of hype in the weeks leading up to Outdoor Retailer, we were excited to see Kokatat’s new Idol Drysuit in person. The suit separates at the waist so it can be worn as a dry top or as a dry suit, and there are no movement-restricting zippers in the torso or shoulder area. The waist zip acts as a drop seat or a front relief zip. The zipper is housed in a little drybox that becomes the zipper pull once unscrewed. The zipper sits just above your butt, and Kokatat’s Matt Porter told us it shouldn’t interfere with outfitting in any way—in a kayak, he says the zipper sits above the seat and below the backband. Porter says Kokatat’s been working on this concept for years and this was the first year zipper technology made the design possible. We’re looking forward to trying one out for review!
KEEN
In addition to their classic designs, KEEN is beefing up their line of performance shoes for 2015. The new Zambezi is made for kayakers and rafters. It has a high-traction sole for grip on wet rocks. The webbing strap does up with a single clip—adjust the fit the first time you wear them and then just clip them on and off. The Gorgeous, another new shoe from KEEN, has a similar build but with an integrated 2mm neoprene bootie so you don’t need a separate sock for insulation.
Cataract Oars
Cataract Oars has an all-new whitewater kayak paddle that’ll be available to order by winter. It’s got a light and strong carbon shaft and foam-core carbon blade. There are ten inches of grip at each hand that make the shaft the perfect diameter to hold on to comfortably.
