The Heart of Paddling

Today I can hear my dog snoring, the buzzing of my printer, and even the sliding of a box across a table downstairs. It's quiet at KIALOA because 4 of our team are in Florida setting up for Surf Expo. Their absence also has me answering phones, which is actually something I miss. Not the act of answering the phone per se, but talking to paddlers - I miss that.

Thirty minutes ago I spoke with a woman from Washington, a newer outrigger paddler looking for guidance. We talked paddles, naturally, but we also shared a couple of stories, laughed a bit, made a connection. I smiled.

Moments later I am going through the mail and a letter appears. A simply typed letter with all of the appropriate conventions, salutations, dates etc. I'm thinking, I love this! I haven't received a traditional letter in who knows how long. The letter holds five easy sentences that I want to share:

"A few years ago I bought an outrigger paddle at Island Paddler. I am very pleased with the paddle because it has lasted for a very long time. The paddle feels very nice flowing through the water and is very easy to use. It is comfortable and is very light. I use my paddle every day and I enjoy it very much. Thanks for making great paddles."

Another smile, and this one is so big it spurs me to write this blog. Thank you to Cameron Miscovish, the person who wrote the letter, for lifting my spirits and bringing me back to the heart of paddling. Mahalo.

Chuck Patterson at Battle of the Paddle 2011

The BOP Young Guns

I just wanted to thank KIALOA for your great support at the BOP. It was an awesome Challenging first day with the 2.5 lap trials where they cut half the field and then the final Elite race. It was the most competitive gathering of the Worlds best racers in a single race I have seen yet. If you didn't get the hole shot in the beginning; you were forced to battle it out with any where from 10-30 guys at every buoy turn. It made for some very punishing turns and some luck to get the set wave to separate you from the pack. Congrats to Connor Baxter and Candice Applebee for the BOP win and to our Naish team for doing so well.

Battle at the Buoy!

 

The 2nd day, we paddled the 10 mile distance race with well over 200+ racers on the starting line. It was a battle to fend off the drafting trains that followed and some times it was so hard to make a clean pass, you were stuck in the drafting train until someone made a mistake and you could take the lead. Jimmy Terrell and I battled the last half of the race side by side, both of us followed by a 10-15 person drafting train. At the end I managed to escape the pack to the finish where I placed 2nd in the 14' class behind Naish team mate Jerry Bess. Great race. The BOP finished off with the always exciting team relay races with 2 laps thru the surf around 2 buoys and a beach run. Naish put together 2 relay teams; The young guns and the Legends. LOL The young guns team finished 2nd overall and our legends team finished 5th overall.

The Naish Relay Legends!

It was an awesome weekend showcasing the future of the sport and the power of the youth brigade. Thank you all again for your great support in helping me push myself and the sport of SUP.

Best,
Chuck Patterson

LeverLock® Adjustable System Explained

So here is a description of how the LeverLock Adjustable SUP came to be, as described by Dave Chun, owner of KIALOA Paddles. It gets a little technical but we think you'll find it interesting and maybe it will give a little insight into what we are thinking of while developing a new product.
Conception

The patent pending LeverLock adjustable is brain child of my buddy and design partner Dirk Steinhour. Dirk was one of the original partners at AT kayak paddles. The LeverLock is based on the system used on drain plugs in boats. This idea has also been used to reseal wine bottles.

While the system is simple, the details of the project took 1 1/2 years to
complete. All parts are custom built to our specifications with the
exception of the nut, cotter pin, and the lever dowel pin. All metal parts

are stainless steel.

People might note a unique ribbed cut-out on the bottom of the handle. The purpose of the design is to decrease weight and control shrinking during the injection molding process. More predictable shrinking means we can build to a tighter tolerance.

Many of the discussions Dirk and I had were focused on who we thought would be using an adjustable paddle, as well as how they would be using the adjustable paddle. We felt that the majority of the users would fall into the family and rental categories. This is why we made the price point Pupu Adjustable the first offering. We are currently working on other versions, but are not at the point of having a release date.

Testing

We have been using the original prototypes for over a year. We dropped tested the paddles without any problems. The handle can be snapped off.....but I had to swing the paddle like I was using a framing hammer. I have personally flipped the lever open and closed over 2000 times. The lever should not break or wear out unless the user over tightens the nut. The cable is rated at over 900lbs. All cam activated devices are subject to this type of user error problems. (quick release hubs on a bike wheel can snap the axle if over tightened) Over tightening does not improve the gripping strength of the plug.

The very minimal side to side play of the LeverLock is caused by the flexible rubber plug. A harder plug does not grip as well and will slip. The side to side movement is not detectable when

paddling. Pressure from the top hand is downward when paddling, and the unit does not slip downward. The plug also plays a dual role in preventing any water from entering the shaft and allowing the paddle to float. Kinda important with water sports equipment.

No More Disposable Products For the Landfills

Making something affordable should not mean making something cheap. The goal was a simple device which could be repaired in the event of a mishap. A guiding principle in any project I undertake is to minimize broken paddles in the land fill.

The beauty of the system is that it is simple and repairable. If someone breaks a lever, the fix is easy. Take off the nut, pull out the cable and the broken lever, pop out the dowel which will release the cable, and reverse the process with the new lever to assemble. Very little tightening of the nut is required to get a firm grip.

Like our all our Ikaika paddles, the Pupu Adjustable is built to last.

Aloha,
Dave

KIALOA's NEW Pupu Adjustable SUP

The Pupu Adjustable features the revolutionary LeverLock® adjustable top. Sixteen inches of infinite adjustability are available with a simple flick of a lever integrated into the Ergo-PalmTM grip. The patent-pending LeverLock is the sleekest adjustable system out there. The blade utilizes impact-resistant CFRT® thermoplastic technology and the adjustable shaft is 100% fiberglass. The Pupu Adjustable is the perfect paddle when you want to adjust on the fly or share with others

The shaft features a sizing system that show the inches corresponding to your height to help you find the perfect fit. Just pull the shaft out to your height and align the arrows with the center line then close the lever. Now your palm grip is perfectly straight and you're ready to go.

The range of the Pupu Adjustable is from 70 to 86 inches.

• Surface Area: 97 sq in
• Blade Width: 8"
• Blade Length: 16 ½”
• Blade Angle: 10 degrees
• Blade Material: CFRT® and Fiberglass
• Shaft Material: 100% fiberglass
• LeverLock® Adjustable System
• Ergo Palm Grip®
• Weight: 33oz
• Price: $199.00

The range of the Pupu Keiki Adjustable is from 53 to 69 inches.

• Surface Area: 87 sq in
• Blade Width: 6½”
• Blade Length: 16 ½”
• Blade Angle: 10 degrees
• Blade Material: CFRT® and Fiberglass
• Shaft Material: 100% fiberglass
• LeverLock® Adjustable System
• Ergo Palm Grip®
• Weight: 28oz
• Price: $189.00

KIALOA Adjustable paddles are available now at your local dealer!

The Nehu KIALOA's New Outrigger Hybrid Paddle

KIALOA Paddles is very excited to announce the newest Hybrid outrigger paddle to our line. The Nehu derives its outline shape from the Axel 2. A near exact copy in the tip area, the Nehu is longer in length by 1 ½” and 3.25 square inches larger in surface area. Raised ribs reinforce the knife thin blade on the front and back. The tip has a hooked arc, which facilitates a quick and solid “catch”. At 195g/6.8oz, the blade weighed separately from the other components of the paddle, it is our lightest. Like my favorite tools, the Nehu is pared down to the basic essentials. It is elegance through simplicity.

The Nehu or the Hawaiian Anchovy, was a bait fish used to catch Tuna in the days of the hook and pole commercial fishing in Hawaii. Unlike modern day high tech fishing, where purse seine nets are used to surround and slaughter an entire school of Tuna, commercial pole fishing was more sustainable as not all the fish were caught, allowing the majority of the school to escape and live to repopulate their numbers.

We are confident that the Nehu will become our most popular OC-6 racing Hybrid in no time.

Look for our ad in the newest Pacific Paddler and have your smartphone ready. A QR code will be displayed and will take you to the newest information about the Nehu.

Kialoa East

In a land far, far away from the islands of Hawaii, the spirit of Aloha lives on the shores of Nova Scotia. The ocean is cold, the paddlers are hearty and the leis are made with maple leaves. No, really- I mean it!!

Buried in the hillside of Dartmouth, NS exists a lake that I am convinced has magical qualities. Lake Banook is home to three canoe clubs (three!) and a dragon boat club that have been producing world class and Olympic paddlers for many years. Flatwater sprint paddling is their world with perfectly marked lanes dotting the lake and classic club houses hugging the shoreline. The language here is "K-1, C-1, K-4, C-2, War Canoe" and on an on. A new word has entered the vocabulary for a few that come from this idyllic place: "OC-6".

The Boys from Banook got their hands on an OC-6 recently and have been applying their lifetime of paddling to outrigger canoeing. They decided to test their skills in the Toronto International Outrigger Challenge last weekend and Kialoa got behind them. The team comprised of Max Tracy, Albert McDonald, Stephen Gallant, Bruce Chiasson, Ed Solino, Bryan Burns turned in the fastest time of the day and a course record!

Congratulations to this fine crew for representing Kialoa with po'okela (excellence) and growing the sport of outrigger to the eastern shores of Canada.

-mk

KIALOA Toro, an Ode to the Bluefin by Dave Chun

Naming a Paddle
As the guy who designs the paddles, I get to name most of them. Not all of them, but most. I guess this has evolved at KIALOA because no one actually knows we have a new paddle until I show up at a meeting with a new prototype. Over the years the only trend in regards to paddle names, is that they are somewhat nonsensical. They do not describe the paddle, nor is the intent to inspire customers to buy. The names are things we find funny, inside jokes, often jokes about ourselves, self-effacing humor. Trust me; you will never see a KIALOA paddle named the Slayer, Violator, or Crusher. All good names, but just not the KIALOA style.

Toro
I designed the Toro for my friend Chuck Patterson. Last summer Chuck asked me to build a SUP race paddle. He gave me the basic characteristic he wanted in the paddle and I produced 3 prototypes. None of the paddles was exactly what Chuck was looking for in a race paddle, but he did find elements in the paddles which he liked. The Toro is a blend of the 3 prototypes. Chuck wanted a paddle with an aggressive "catch," something that hooked up as soon as it entered the water. To accomplish this I built the Toro with a pronounced curved arc in the tip area, as well as reducing blade thickness to minimize resistance as the blade penetrates the water. Think Olympic Gold Medal dive versus a drunken spring break belly flop. Bubble free water is a better source of traction than agitated water.

Chuck also wanted a dihedral on the paddle to stabilize the blade in the water. While I am not totally convinced dihedrals are the answer for every paddle, the thin blade core (the foam inside the blade is the core) needed the raised area of a dihedral to provide strength. Race blades should be stiff for maximum energy transfer. I built the Toro with a long Dihedral and a reinforcing rib on the non-powerface to reduce the flex. The outline is Tahitian in essence. This comes from a chance meeting with former Tahitian World Champion outrigger paddler Phillipe Bernardino. I am awed by the skills of the Tahitian outrigger paddlers and the Toro's outline shape is my way of paying tribute.

Why the Name Toro?
Toro is sushi made from the belly of a Bluefin Tuna. While shaping the Toro prototype, I was reading the book, “Giant Bluefin” by Douglas Whynott. Whynott writes, “Bluefin Tuna have evolved into high-mass, transoceanic, high speed organisms. Though they weigh from 300 to more than 1,000 pounds and move through a medium eight hundred times denser than air, Bluefin can swim in bursts of up to fifty miles per hour.” I thought this described Chuck: A big fast fish which traverses the World’s oceans. My project name was Thunnus thynnus, which is the scientific name for the Bluefin, but I got resistance from the rest of the KIALOA family. “Bluefin” lacked creativity, it is too obvious. But Toro, the most prized sushi cut from the most expensive fish on earth, seemed so random, which made it a perfect KIALOA paddle name.

BTW: Before you place your order with the sushi chef, please give some thought to the plight of the Bluefin. My personal opinion is they are being over fished. If you would like to learn more about the status of the Bluefin, “Tuna, A Love Story”, by Richard Ellis, is a good read.

Aloha,
Dave