… Or is this really a thread about kayaking in the Dead Sea? 
New composite hulls are 3X the price and more.
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You bring up a good point about the limited attendance. Most gatherings I have attended stop short of 100 people due to instructor/student ratios, so selling out isn’t that big of deal. But compare that to the 2000 cyclists who show up each year for the Sea Gull Century in MD. It did seem this year though that registration stayed open much longer than in previous sell out years, another indication perhaps of changing recreation habits.
Many of these symposia also draw from a limited group of people - the already dedicated sea kayakers who are something more than beginners. How many of the same kayakers attend more than one gathering further skewing the perception? With the exception of Kiptopeke, the symposia Joey mentioned are also slanted toward rough water or require drysuits. Not something that will appeal to the “what’s a paddler’s box?” folks that are needed to refresh the sport.
You can’t fairly judge the health of an industry by its dedicated core. Hanging out with intermediate to advanced kayakers the majority of the time is a limited view of who is kayaking. If your circle of friends can barely squeeze the car into the kayak- and gear- filled garage and don’t flinch at paying $3000 for a boat, you paddle in rarified water.
I don’t think sea kayaking is dead either - we’re all still here right?! There is a feeling of a downturn though.
As you said Celia, it stinks for those who make a living in the industry but it doesn’t change it. Why should acknowledging that be such a point of contention for the industry folks?
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Crashing bicycle industry. Kayaks probably going same way.
We stopped road biking because of growing hostility of drivers. It’s funny because there for a minute (2000-2010 ish?) it seemed to be trending the other way and then out of nowhere drivers got very resentful. We bike city bikes over here but the cars regard us with care.
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I did not really follow that guy’s rant / hostility at all.
So many parallels to recreational diving…it felt like when local shop owners would direct their vitriol to those who bought online vs buying local. It’s just not an effective approach if you want to win customers IMO.
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I think part of the difference in attitude about bicycles is that people in many other countries rely on bicycles as transportation. In the US, bicycles are viewed more for recreaction. While other countries have adapted to bicycles on roads, here in the US, bicycle lanes are being made by closing one of two lanes on a highway for exclusive bicycle use. That adds to congestion for automobile users, and complicates interaction between automobile/bicycle when the dedicated roadway ends.
The same may be true of power/paddle boat interaction. I have to guess that power boats are more prolific here in the US, consequently, conflict between power boats and paddle boats would be more common. Especially if paddle boats are viewed as recreation toys.
Regardless of trends - it is what it is! What amazes me is the complacent fatalist reaction of the waiter staff in restaurants and clerks and owners in “brick and mortar” stores. The primary reason to visit a local shop is service and availability. For a restaurant it’s about quality service, good food, and a sense that you are the prime customer. Yet so many times I get the sense of being an inconvenience. There’s no reason for getting getting french fries, then waiting 20 minutes before the waiter shows up so you can ask for ketchup, when it should have been made available from the outset. Other stories are too numerous to mention. If business is slow, every customer should be the favorite customer.
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With bicycles, it’s likely that after the artificial increase in demand and the production shortage, both thanks to the pandemic, manufacturers ramped up production to overoptimistic levels.
I see the same effect when articles cite “big decreases in visitation” at tourist magnets, because they only compare 2023 or 2022 stats with those from the bizarrely boosted stats of 2020 and 2021. They need to compare with overall trends, starting at least 10 years BEFORE the pandemic.
Too much hand-wringing over revenue drops from abnormally high levels during a whopping two years!
The irony in our region was that in a time of what should have been decreased “people from away” tourism, we were seeing nonstop flows of out-of-state (and no-plate at all) vehicles, as well as plenty of trespassing by those trying to squat on private and public land.
Don’t be fooled by official assessments of industry. Use your own eyes and brain, too.
With a lot of lei$ure activities it is a case of “cool to be seen, seen to be cool”. Sea kayakers do most of their activity out of sight so we’ll never hit the heights of cool.
If I buy a canoe (don’t kayak), I buy what I can find that best fits my wants and needs with very little customization which fits buying a “big” brand that are found in shops. However, when I buy a bicycle, I buy a frame (not big brand bicycle shop inventory) and components that suit my desires and “build” it myself. Yes, I do usually order components through my local shop because they’re bicycle people who encourage my experimentation and love of bikes, but I’m not buying from their inventory of bicycles.
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I shopped at one bike shop. A few years later, Performance opened a shop locally. The manager of the other shop became manager at Performance. He remembered everything about my shopping preferences, bikes and my kids bikes. I looked at the wheel truing machine. He said you don’t need the dishing tool, because I could have the shop check it. I eventually bought everthing I needed and started building my own wheels and wheels for friends. He eventually move up and out. I upgraded component many times by buying discontinued sets. Roger was the best sales manager I ever met, and Dave at Annapolis Canoe and Kayak.
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I’m 65 but fairly new to paddling. I built a SOF kayak in 2017 and have taken it out 4 or 5 times every summer. This past summer though, I starting thinking about flat water marathon racing so I researched it.
I am centrally located between NECKRA and NYPRA events so I’ll have some options. Options are usually good but perhaps not always. I see a huge number of race classes to enter (K1s K2s C1s C2s SUPs Recs <50s >50s, etc) but at some races the posted results indicate there was only one or two participants in a lot of the classes. It seems spread too thin.
I recently bought, but have not yet taken delivery of, a surfski that I hope to begin racing in the spring…probably against 2 or 3 other guys in my class.
Why does paddling not have a ‘One Design’ option? A boat that is a little heavier and a little slower, but much cheaper. Cheap enough that more people could afford to participate. That’s how I would have started. I hope I like racing my new expensive surfski.
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Some people care more about “collecting hardware” (medals, trophies, and other awards) than just getting into the spirit of competitive racing. This might be a continuation of many young kids being brought up in an atmosphere of “everyone’s a winner” to avoid traumatizing the poor snowflakes and sheltering them from reality and controversial topics.
Having a very large number of classes maximises the number of people that will win something and makes their events more popular. This is less the case with more professional competitions.
I know of someone who brings a variety of boats to races and then examines the signup sheets to find a category with no or few competitors. They then sign up at the last minute to maximise their chances of winning something.
I’m not into competitive kayaking myself. I enjoy it for other reasons.
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Did you demo it or other surf skis before ordering it? Or did you choose based on dimensions only, based on paddling your SOF 4 or 5 times a summer? That’s barely any paddling experience.
You can buy surf skis that are slower, heavier, inexpensive, and sturdy (rotomolded). And easier for beginners to learn on.
My point was not specifically to have a heavier, slower boat, but to have a class where everyone is in a boat of the same type and specs.
I have no desire to win a race with just two participants. I would rather take fourth place in a twenty participant race.
There are One Design classes in sailing and probably other sports too. Why not paddling?
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There are such boats, but your equation is the problem. Once you are talking more specialized sctivities, sea kayaking or racing, you can get a little heavier and a little slower. The problem is the MUCH cheaper part.
You can get cheaper. But asking greatly decreased cost to go with moderately or minimally decreased performance does not work in anything I know.
Try not to nitpick my words. Is the idea of having such a racing class bad?
Not long ago I was down by the river where the crew racers launch. What a production! I was impressed by the amount of effort and coordination required just to get those 8 person boats in and out of the water. They had powered escort boats and boats with coaches. The cost to participate in a program like that must be quite high. But more high schools perhaps could justify investing in a fleet of one-design kayaks to compete against other schools.
There’s your source of new participants to the sport right there.
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I intend to learn to build wheels. It’s the only thing I don’t do to my bikes. My local shop said they have plenty of work for me if I learn.
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There are racing kayaks, like Epic. There are also racing classes - or at least used to be - for production kayaks. Some of the faster designs included the Silouette if I recall correctly. You may just not have been involved long enough to come across those.
I have friends who sail and race, and officiate at races. And have done a little sailing myself. I am well familiar with how the races run.
But my concern is the cost factor you seem to want. Even their relatively cheap boat - they don’t sail in the fancier/faster classes - is above the cost that many could afford to maintain and exist at a sailing club to have easy access to such opportunities.
My niece sculled in her high school years, quite competitively. The high school in the same town as Dartmouth. And I have had friends who participated in sculling classes and amateur races at local clubs. I live near a lot of river and lake access. For a heavier trainer that most don’t want to use in competition, the cost can be less. But still around the cost of a decent sea kayak unless you find it used. I have rowed such myself. But the performance ones that most people will actually invest in are much more expensive.
If you want everyone in a boat of the same type and specs, you are including lighter weight boats that break your cost barrier.
As to high schools and getting active, at least half of the high schools around me have an active sculling program. That is a significant investment in boats and storage, also facilities if they have or rent time in a tank. That is likely their investment in water racing.
Do it!
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