Kaenon Polarized

This recent video montage is of the girls of the gorge, who are “often imitated, never duplicated” and what they do in the winter season. Sent in by our very own kayak queen, Christie Glissmeyer, who’s been rockin’ and lovin’ Calais this season.

PADDLE – CATALINA ISLAND, CA

Team IMUA finished 4th overall out of 58 teams in the U.S. Championship Outrigger Race – staged as long distance paddle across the Catalina Channel = from Catalina Island to Newport Beach on the mainland of California for a total of 36 miles of Outrigger Canoe Racing. Teams from all over, and a few of Hawaii’s best teams showed up. 1st place was the Outrigger Canoe Club from Hawaii, 2nd Lanakila, 3rd Team Livestrong from Hawaii and 4th Imua/Kaenon from California. This year’s U.S. Championship Outrigger Race has had one of the highest levels of competition in years. The IMUA team wears an assortment of Kaenon’s men’s sunglasses, but mainly Hard Kore while on the water.

The pictures with the awards show Team IMUA with some of the remaining/living members of the first outrigger crossing of the channel 50 years ago.

KAYAK – BRITISH COLUMBIA
Recently, Christie Glissmeyer headed to British Columbia for a self-support trip on the Clendenning River. She flew into Clendenning Lake on a float plane with 6 other paddlers and all of their gear. The plane dropped them off and from there, they paddled out of the lake and down the Clendenning River (Class IV, V) to the confluence of the Elaho River near Whistler. Christie wears Kaenon’s Women’s Sunglasses in Georgia Tobacco Olive G12.

Want to track Christie’s adventures? Check out her progress on her SPOT Adventures page.

Straight from Christie…
“I decided that this year I would like do more expedition/self-support wilderness whitewater trips. I chose the Clendenning River in British Columbia as a good warm-up because it is known as a very manageable 2-day class IV-V read and run river. To top it off, it starts out with a float plane drop off on a remote alpine lake. Wow, did we get a whole lot more than I had bargained for! High water levels combined with the remoteness of Clendenning Provincial Park made for an all out epic adventure”…read more

PADDLING / OUTRIGGER – Dana Point, CA

The paddling Club, Team IMUA won the 9 man outrigger race in Dana Point, California and finished 7th out of 45 teams the following weekend on Oahu for the 2009 Hawaii Paddleboard Championships aka Duke’s Race where none of the Hawaiian teams expected them to be anywhere near the top 10. The team paddles in an assortment of Hard Kore and Kore with G12 and some C12 lenses.

“We battled hard with the local teams, at times within the top 5 spots. Local knowledge on the Makapu’u Point and through Hawaii Kai, allowed the local teams to out surf us in the swells. We pulled in more teams going into Waikiki finishing 7th overall.” – Ruben Ruiz

In outrigger canoe racing there are three seasons; first the IRONMAN season, long distance race of about 12 miles. The IRONMAN races have the same six paddlers for the duration of the race. The sprint season where teams race less than 2-miles or about 2000 meters. This race is the first race of the 9MAN races. Where at all times there will be six paddlers in the racing canoe, and three paddlers on a fallowing power boat. Racers will change in and out of the canoe from the water while the canoe is moving. Fresh paddlers will do a pull-up, from the water into the racing canoe while at the same time, the paddlers preparing to rest will jump out of the canoe. Changes take place on intervals of no less than 5 min and no more than 30. Racing canoes will lose valuable time making frequent changes, but could stand the risk of running tired in a race that is 2-6 hrs long.

In this race Team IMUA, the winner battled with team California for more than half the race before opening to a lead of three minutes. Lanakila, Dana Point, and Hui Waa battled for third place for three fourths of the course. This was the first time IMUA has won a nine man race in 20 years! The team from Hui waa traveled 500 miles to compete with So Cal’s finest and came in Third overall second in their division! Check out this video to get a glimpse of this amazing experience of endurance.

WATER – Maui, Hawaii

Whether it is surfing, Stand up Paddling, Outrigger Canoe, or Paddle Boarding, Talia Gangini has it covered. At only the age of 16, Talia completely charges in every aspect including competing in the Molokai Chanel Crossing (32 miles) and finishing 1st in the women’s team division with the original Kaenon water woman Lauren Bartlett in 2008. Talia wears Leila Black G12, Zaza Tortoise C12 and Georgia – on and off the water.

FISHING – SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
One of the hottest areas of fishing these days incorporates the cross-over athletes / waterman, who are into hard core fishing. Whether it’s Will James in Hawaii pioneering big game marlin fishing off Kona on his retro-fit Jet Ski, or these guys, San Diego surfers Morgan Promnitz and Jared Lane kayak fishing off the Point Loma surfline in the kelp beds. Ripping surfers and well known in the San Diego scene for what they do on boards, they’re now making a name for themselves in the hottest sector of fishing – Kayak Fishing, by going after shark for the fight, or prized table fair, Yellow Tail and White Seabass. Kaenon Polarized is becoming the choice for sight fishing as this fast changing surf and fishing scene of California explodes.

Morgan Promnitz in Klemm G12 with a Thresher Shark he will release. And White Seabass, below.

Jared Lane wearing Calais Matte Black with a couple of super tasty White Seabass

KAYAK – OREGON
Here is a nice shot near the home of Christie Glissmeyer in Hood River Oregon – where she is just “playing” – with Kaenon shades on and logo’ed up. Christie wears Georgia Tobacco C12 on and off the boat, mixed with Eden off.

PADDLING, CRYSTAL PIER, SAN DIEGO

The Kaenon Canoe paddling team placed 2nd in the 14 mile Crystal Pier race. The following weekend, placed 1st in the Rin Run Race in Santa Barbara.

Lead by Ruben Ruiz, the team wears an assortment of Kaenon shades, but while paddling several of them wear Hard Kore, Jetty and Lewi. The team also sports Kaenon t-shirts and hats, which are now available online at Kaenon.com

PADDLE/KAYAK Update From Christie Glissmeyer –

Way to go Christie!
On Mother’s Day, May 10th 2009 Kaenon Polarized’s Christie Glissmeyer dropped in – and in the process – proceeded to set the bar to a whole new level. “I had a clean run of Metlako Falls on Eagle Creek in Oregon last Sunday, setting a new women’s world waterfall record at 82 ft. It is a 100 ft. waterfall with a 82 ft. freefall,” said Christie in an email alerting us how crazy she really is. Luckily, she’s more skilled than crazy! She also looks hot in her favorite Kaenon’s, GEORGIA and EDEN.

Said Christie in an interview after the drop: “After I had made up my mind to run Metlako, I pictured myself sitting in that top pool over and over in my mind. Still, it took some serious concentration not to freak out when I was actually there. As soon as I paddled up to the lip and starting to accelerate over the edge of the drop, the bottom pool looked ridiculously far away.”

“My main concern was to remain calm on the top pool so that I wouldn’t freak out and screw up. When I did float over the horizon I just threw in a rudder to keep my boat lined up with the green tongue. I started to roll my body forward and accelerated into the veil. I felt that my angle was primo so I tucked forward, closed my eyes and let go of my paddle. I melted into the landing just as I brought my elbows in. The hit was seriously so soft it took me by surprise. I resurfaced upside down but hit my first hand roll so I was psyched.” And so were we! Simply amazing, Christie!

Read the rest of the post in Paddling Life Magazine.

Christie wears GEORGIA, EDEN and HARD KORE.

PADDLE – Spring Run Off in Washington

It’s spring, the water is running deep, cold and hard, especially after the winter the Pacific Northwest had. With a no holds barred approach, Christie Glissmeyer drops in taking full advantage of the spring run off. Christie wears Georgia Tobacco C12 on and off the boat, supporting the brand with Kaenon logos on her paddles and boat.

Christie…dropping in!

CANOE – HAWAII
To mark how big of an event this is in the Hawaiian culture and sports scene, Kai Bartlett’s victory was celebrated on the front page of the Honolulu Advertiser supported with pictures and features of the Bartlett’s as winners and the dominant male and female outrigger canoe paddlers.

Lauren and Kai Bartlett, married, and quite possibly the two most dominant Hawaiian Outrigger Canoe specialists won their respective divisions in this grueling World Championship. Kai, wearing Jetty Black C12, claims fourth men’s OC1 title and Lauren, wearing Georgia Tobacco C12, won her sixth women’s title at the Steinlager Kaiwi Solo OC1 World Championship Regatta. This open ocean championship is a 32 mile race between the islands of Moloka’i to Oahu.

Lauren having fun and making it look easy in the big waves and wind of the Molokai Channel.

FISHING

Morgan Promnitz, wearing Jetty Tobacco C12, holds up a nice yellowtail

Morgan Promnitz, a ripping San Diego surfer of Fast Lane Sailing and Kayak Center – in Mission Bay, San Diego has been raising the bar and setting the trends in the West Coast kayak fishing scene over the course of the last couple of years. Morgan recently sent in this pic of a nice Yellowtail caught off the kelp beds of San Diego on his purpose-rigged Kayak.

The trend of Kayak Fishing for quality and big fish is exploding. Note the Bass Pro hat with Kaenon’s on…hhhmmmm, Bass Pro…fishing…West Coast Style!

KAYAK

Kaenon Polarized Kayaker Christie Glissmeyer Wins in Nepal

A world away from her home in Hood River, OR, Kaenon Polarized whitewater kayaker Christie Glissmeyer (Georgia Tobacco C12), won the International Women’s Division in the Peak UK Himalayan Whitewater Challenge last week, a 3-day event held on the Trisuli River in Nepal. Christie, who has been coaching a group of Nepalese Women the finer points of whitewater skills and navigations, took 4 Nepali girls from her program to compete in the first-ever Nepalese Womens Division. The event included a day of slalom racing, a freestyle competition and a 10 km mass start downriver race. The catch  – all competitors were required to use the same kayak for all three events, a rule that definitely kept things interesting throughout the weekend. Check out what Christie has been up to and some of her latest adventures.