Tequila! 41' (12,5M), Worlds longest kayak?

At the recent US trade show, Outdoor Retailer we put together 8 midsections and created a 41 foot, 12,5 meter Tequila! kayak for 9 paddlers. Is this a world record?

It was lot's of fun and created an incredible amount of attention. Perfect for demo days and company team building activities!

Half way through the paddle I dismounted the kayak in the middle so the 5 front paddlers took of...

leaving me and my 3 co-paddlers behind struggling without a bow!

Jeff Rivest, Camilla and me at the OR demo day

John Turner paddling the aft section.

A Tequila! tripple seater

Assembling a 3 seater

All photos by Helga Imahasly, Playak

Jeff Rivest (founder of Riot & Azul Kayaks) joins Point 65 Kayaks Sweden.

I'm excited to announce that Jeff Rivest and Point 65 are joining forces. Jeff will head Point 65’s rapidly expanding business in North America. While Jeff will focus mainly on Canada, he will also head US sales until a US sales manager has been found.

The collaboration takes effect immediately and Jeff will be instrumental to Point 65’s presence at the upcoming Outdoor Retailer trade show in Salt Lake City. Point 65 has established offices and warehousing in Montreal, Quebec.
Jeff and I have been friends for years and our companies have been close. I’ve been trying to woo Jeff into working with us for a long time. I’m ecstatic that he has decided to join Point 65 in its expansion. This says a lot about the opportunity Point 65 has created for its customers around the world.
Jeff brings key insights into the nuts and bolts of the North American paddle sport market as well as valuable knowledge within product development and manufacturing.

Jeff Rivest, founder of Riot and Azul Kayaks:
“Point 65 is just too good an opportunity to miss, and despite my obvious mixed feelings about leaving the company I founded, they are well compensated with the possibilities from Point 65 Sweden’s incredible level of innovation and exceptional brand focus. Point 65’s sales have a huge potential in North America and can expand very quickly, so I am delighted to be in on that ride. The fact that Richard and I already share a great working rapport was also important to my decision.”

Article in Paddle World Magazine

The latest issue of Paddle World Magazine features a 5 page spread on paddling in Stockholm "Stockholm, Urban Paddling in the Venice of the North" written by yours truly.
I love paddling in Stockholm and I'm really happy to get this opportunity to share this with the paddling world. The great photos are taken by Shinju Horikawa at Scoop Out, Japan. Check it out! You can order the magazine here.

Swedish cabinet member paddles!

Swedish cabinet member Gunilla Carlsson loves kayaking. Here a feature in the latest issue of Swedish Outside Magazine.
Gunilla Carlsson is a Swedish Moderate Party politician, since 2006 Minister for Development Cooperation

and a member of the parlament and deputy chairman of her party.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gunilla_Carlsson

Tequila! goes Israel

Here Tomas and Yair having fun with a Tequila! in Israel!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Erq3oKCHSqE&feature=player_embedded

Fun with Foster

Nigel Foster visited Sweden for his annual Point 65 staff training sessions as well as doing some classes and participating in "Kajakdagarna", Stockholms largest kayak symposium.

Point 65 team members after completing the annual Nigel Foster paddle clinic. From left in kayaks: Sofia, Mats, Emil, Carolin, Edina, Carro, Nigel, Lina. On dock: Doris, me, Linn, Tobbe, Staffan, Carl, Mats, Erik.

Mats Ståhlberg runns one of Swedenes largest kayak centres and the only one in the city of Gävle.

Surf ski? Emil Kellander taking the Tequila! on a spin. Here in a tripple configuration. Emil runs a massive kayak centre in Norrköping.

Happy campers in Gävle! Christer just took part in one of Nigels clinics "Fun with Foster". A full day on the water where you not only learn things you thought impossible but also have lots of fun doing it.

Emil is a busy man!

Point 65 team memebers go through an annual multi day clicic with Nigel focusing on helping others and general safety issues.

Here Nigel demonstration different resques with Emil. The water in Sweden is ice cold in May.

Mats and Doris from Gävle. Lessons learned.. Never turn your back on Nigel:-)

Enjoying an evening paddle with one of the most spectacular sunsets I have ever seen (this and the next photo by Nigel)

The Point 65 XP21 -mother of all Surf Ski's

Today, in a Swedish winter storm and sub zero water temperatures (only the harbor propellers keep the water in the dock open. All around it's thick with ice) Magnus de Brito took the prototype of our new monster Surf Ski for a first spin.

Magnus de Brito, testing the Point 65 XP21 prototype at Pampas Marina, Solna, Sweden 59°N, 14:20 hours, March 1, 2010

Magnus, our design maverick, has been working very hard on this dream project. While working with Porsche on the Boxter 987, the Carrera 997, the Carrera GT and other similar projects, the 21 foot surf ski has never been far from his mind. A 21 foot Mother of all Surf Ski's.

"It glides through the water without a sound..."

Magnus is never humble about his designs and he is pretty confident that this surfing machine will not only out surf and out glide the rest of the pack, but also keep the paddler in the saddle, no matter how rough and fast it gets.

The bow makes me think of the Red October...

But this thing not only rides like a bullet, it looks absolutely spectacular. Words cannot make this creation justice. It looks like any surf skiers wet dream, times 10... Walk this ski down to the Molokai and there will be a stampede.
By using advanced hydro dynamic computer engineering, Magnus has achieved a craft that is as fast as anything out there while significantly more stable. While this might only be a small advantage for the likes of Hank McGregor, Dawid Mocke, Murray Stewart and Oscar Chalupsky it sure as hell makes a heck of a difference for all those strong, converted flat water racers sniffing the back of their necks. Not to speak of yours truly who might actually be able to participate in a race without half drowning before reaching the finishing line!

It was a cold day!

Extensive testing will now be carried out by Magnus himself, an avid surf skier, as well as one of Swedens strongest surf ski paddlers, Paul Rosenqvist.

Paul, still a rookie, came in 19th at the Mauritius Ocean Classic 09, just a couple of minutes behind some of the worlds most experienced surf ski paddlers. Would the XP21 give him that edge?

Ones the boys are happy, the production mold will take it's shape and production commence. When? Keep your eyes on my blog and the very day I have a release date I will publish it here.

Until then, Happy Paddling!

Richard

(All photos except the one with Paul by Peter Ekström)