Our kickoff Gold Standard Dealer are the Eye Gallery and the Artful Eye. With locations throughout Atlanta and the Florida Panhandle, Eye Gallery and Artful Eye owners Ivan & Sue Samuels are serious about sunwear.

Opening their first doors in 1991, the Samuels’ currently have ten stores across the South. Specializing in high end sunwear and opthalmic brands, Eye Gallery is known for its expertise in prescription sunglasses. Starting out selling only ophthalmic frames, they soon realized the importance and value sunwear, especially the opportunity in and need for prescription sunwear options for clients. Currently their sales break down to about 75% sunwear and 25% ophthalmic frames. 70% of all sunglasses they sell are polarized. Eye Gallery and Artful Eye have an optician onsite in every location to ensure their customers get the right product and the right prescription.

The typical Kaenon customer in Eye Gallery is athletic; a golfer or fisherman, who enjoys being outdoors. They also are customers who don’t mind spending a few extra dollars on quality.

Ivan Samuels says, “We pride ourselves on offering the very best brands in sun and ophthalmic frames and lenses. We sell Kaenon because the consumer can immediately enjoy the benefits of the product via their excellent polarized lens technology.”

Kaenon Polarized players Nick Lucena (Jetty, Tobacco, C28 lens) (above, left) and Brazilian legend Benjamin Insfran (Hard Kore, Black, G12 lens) (below) took bronze and silver at last weekend’s FIVB Netherlands tournament.

Also playing in the Netherlands last weekend at their final European FIVB tournament of the season, Kaenon’s Angie Akers and Tyra Turner (both wearing Hard Kore) took the bronze medal in a rainy and cold final. The Americans had to beat the outstanding local Dutch team for third to avenge an earlier loss at the hands of the locals. This marks the best season on the European Tour for the Kaenon Polarized duo.

Lisa Rutledge played in Hard Kore Tobacco G12

On Lake Tahoe in rough, windy conditions the Kaenon Polarized crew dominated the podium on both days.  Jenny Kalmbach (Porter Tortoise C12) won the womens elite race in a close battle, with fellow Kaenon athlete Karen Wrenn finishing close behind her in third. The next day, again in rough conditions, Karen finished second (Delite Fern G12) in the long distance.  Rob Rojas (Jetty Matte Black G12) won the Unlimited Board Men’s Division Long Distance division, and was followed in second by Jeff Denholm. Rob also finished second in the Elite Men’s Race, and Jay Wild (Gauge Black G12) finished fourth.

On Friday before the event Karen and Chuck Patterson held a clinic that was packed with enthusiastic paddlers.

Eric Abbott also continues to dominate his competition, winning the Stock Division Long Distance Men’s. This win is most impressive, considering the long distance, paddling the smallest board and still managing the best time!
1st Time – 1:51:50

Full Kaenon Results:

Main Race
Elite Women’s Race:
1st Jenny Kalmbach
3rd Karen Wrenn

Elite Men’s Race:
2nd Rob Rojas
4th Jay Wild

Long Distance Race
Stock Division Long Distance Men’s (this one is the most impressive on the long distance, smallest board best time)
1st Eric Abbott Time – 1:51:50

Elite Women’s Long Distance
2nd Karen Wrenn Time – 2:22:29

Stock Division Women’s Long Distance
1st Anik Demers-Wild Time – 2:34:57

Unlimited Board Men’s Division Long Distance
1st Rob Rojas Time – 1:54:21

Unlimited Board Men’s Division Long Distance
2nd Jeff Denholm Time – 2:12:33

OC1 (Outrigger Canoe) Division Men’s Long Distance
2nd Jay Wild Time – 1:33:21

358 boats competed last week out of Cape May for the annual 2010 Mid Atlantic $500,000 fishing tournament. 558 White Marlin were caught and 531 released, with the top prize awarded to the team aboard Billfisher with an 88# white marlin worth $791,442.

Kaenon’s Viking 70 team finished 3rd in the overall release points for white marlin.

Brian Graul and Dave Anderson aboard Krazy Salts caught a couple tuna on the first day. The larger of the two, an 83 pounder, was good enough for third place in the tuna division, winning $15,172.86.

Brian Graul wearing Rhino Black G12 and Dave Anderson in Klay Matte Black G12 with the third place tuna.

Colorado’s Leadville 100 has become one of the most recognized 100-mile mountain bike races, due in large part to Lance Armstrong’s participation over the past couple years. The race takes place at very high altitude–the town of Leadville sits at 10,200’ and the course climbs up to 12,600’. The course is mostly dirt roads in an out and back format that favors a road rider.

This year over 1,500 people raced, though over 10,000 applied to get in! Armstrong was injured this year but the fastest field ever assembled for a 100-mile mountain bike race came out to try to break Armstrong’s record. The race was eventually won by top US road pro Levi Leipheimer who did break the record by over 10 minutes. Alex Grant rode strong, riding with the lead pack for the first 40 miles and doing a good amount of pace setting to help break the record. Alex eventually went on to finish 8th overall. Alex raced in Kore Medium C28.

After taking last year off, Mark Weir made a triumphant return to the 2010 Downieville Classic Mountain Bike Race and Festival. He finished first in the longest (17-mile) downhill race in the nation with a smoking fast time of 44:01.5. This is the eighth year Weir has won first place in this event. Mark wears Kore C28 Medium when riding and Arlo Matte Black G12 when cruising.

From Surfline.com;

Solid, 20-foot-plus surf lumbered over Pico Alto’s famed reef on Thursday, the result of a Southern Hemisphere swell that aimed its energy right at South America.

The wave itself, for one, made it clear that Pico Alto belonged on the fledgling Big Wave World Tour. How big? Eventual winner Sterling and Mav’s winner Chris Bertish, both endured two wave hold-downs — Bertish coughing up blood and unable to finish the heat. In his first heat, Peruvian Rafael Velarde broke the board that he had ridden to two previous Billabong Pico Alto finals.

Twiggy nailed a perfect ten in the semifinals but couldn’t find a backup score; Burle and Tashnick charged all event, but couldn’t overtake Sterling, who tackled the giant walls on his backhand.

In Jamie’s words;

“Achieving 1st place in Billabong’s Pico Alto Invitational has been a career goal. It was a huge confidence booster to win in 20-ft surf with an A-list of the world’s best and most bravest big wave surfers. In November of 2009 at Waimea Bay while practicing for the Eddie Aikau, I dislocated my right shoulder when I fell very awkwardly on a drop. It was one the worst injuries of my surfing career, sitting me out on the sidelines with a withdrawal from the Eddie. To make matters worse, it was also one of the best big wave Winters to sweep through the North Shore in 10 years! I basically missed the most prestigious big wave invitational contest the North Shore has to offer, as well as the most epic El Nino Winter. Luckily, I’m now 100% recovered and looking forward to competing full-time on the new Big Wave World Tour.”

Jamie Sterling also now sits in first place in the overall 2010/2011 BWWT rankings.

Congrats to Jamie!

Sophie Gustafson playing in Jetty Tobacco C12, enhanced her prospects of returning to Killeen Castle next September as part of Europe’s Solheim Cup Team as she won a thrilling AIB Ladies Irish Open.

The Swede, who is a seven-time Solheim Cup player, shot a superb final round 66 on a day of perfect scoring conditions to card 12 under par and edge ahead of Norwegian Marianne Skarpnord and South Korean In-Kyung Kim.

Gustafson showed her class by winning her fourth Irish Open following victories in 1998 at Ballyliffin, 2000 at Faithlegg and 2003 at Killarney. It was her sixth title on Irish soil as she also won the 2003 BT Open in Northern Ireland and the TSN World Cup partnering Carin Koch in 2000.

“I love Ireland. This is my sixth win in Ireland if you count the time I won in Northern Ireland in 2003 and at the World Cup in 2000,” said a delighted Gustafson. “I think maybe it’s the people. They are all very friendly and easy going and they have always been very supportive of me.”

The €75,000 first prize is Gustafson’s first winner’s check since the Comunitat Valenciana European Nations Cup, which she won in April partnering Anna Nordqvist. Her win helped her bid to make Alison Nicholas’ 2011 team to take on the United States.

When asked what she thought of The 2011 Solheim Cup venue, the 36-year-old said: “I think my win pretty much says it all: that I like it! I expect to play my way onto the team.”

The 15,000 spectators that attended on the final day would have been impressed as they saw the drama unfold on the course that will host The Solheim Cup from 23-25 September, 2011.

Playing in the penultimate group ahead of the second round leader, Kim, Gustafson played a wedge from 130 yards to 10 feet at the par four closing hole in front of a packed gallery and rolled the ball straight down the hill into the hole to edge one shot clear.

“Being able to make that putt was fantastic because I’ve been struggling with my putting, so that was very, very nice,” Gustafson added. “I think I’ve been playing better than my recent results have shown, so that was very pleasing being able to play so well.”

Gustafson started the final round three shots adrift and was out in 34 but picked up the pace after rolling in a short birdie putt on the par-four ninth, which was playing as the toughest hole on the course.

She came back in 32, with an eagle on the par-five 12th hole, where she hit a four-iron to 15 feet and then birdied holes 14 and 18.

Crew Sam Choy Jr. (Rhino Black G12), and Captain Boyd Decoito (UPD black G12), accept the prestigious Henry Chee Award.

Captain Boyd Decoito and captain of the 46’ Foxy Lady, won the Hawaiian International Billfish Tournament’s coveted Henry Chee Award. The perpetual Hery Chee Award was established in 1965 to honor the charter boat captain upon whose vessel the most number of billfish points have been scored at HIBT. The award’s namesake, Henry Chee, was a pioneer marlin fisherman who set an unprecedented number of gamefish catch records, also helped establish the Kona coast as a world-famous fishing destination. Decoito has won two Henry Chee awards; one as captain and one as crew.

“I have been fishing HIBT since I was about twelve years old,” said Decoito. “You could say I grew up with this tournament. This week I knew I wanted to fish south in an area called Uniform. It performed for us all week long. We had great teams fishing with us who relied on our experience and knowledge.”

Eric Abbott has been dominating the stock board division in most every prone paddle board race. This year’s 32-mile Molokai To Oahu Crossing was no exception, where he won his division with a time of 5 hours and 39 minutes. Eric paddled the fastest stock time in the history of the crossing, an impressive feat! Eric wears the new Soft Kore in Pearl White G12.

The Flying Mako tournament enforces a strict catch and release policy for all sharks hooked and fought to the boat. All fish hooked, fought, and brought to the boat must have the fly removed by the captain wiring the leader using a long release stick to remove the barbless hook.

Conway Bowman in Jetty Black G12 tells a fish story to event winner Jeff Patterson of Abel Reels.

Team Healing Waters led by Captain Jared Lane in Burny Black G12 (kneeling left) took second place.

Kaenon Polarized sunglasses were prevalent in this invitation-only Pre-Olympic Regatta that also served as the final ISAF World Cup event of the year.

Men’s 470: Silver – Mat Belcher and Malcolm Page, AUS, 35 – Hard Kore Black G12; Kore G12, C28

Women’s 470: Bronze – Erin Maxwell and Isabelle Kinsolving, USA, 91 – Kore G12; Hard Kore Y35, Gauge Abalone G12

Anna Tunnicliffe, driving and middle hand, Molly Vandemoer, both wearing Soft Kore Metallic Black C12, took Bronze

Genny Tulloch in Georgia Tobacco Denim C12, crewed for Sally Barkow, who was wearing Hard Kore Black G12.

Women’s Laser Radial: Kiwi Bronze medalist Sara Winther leading at the top mark, wearing Hard Kore Tobacco C12

During the rainy, foggy, Medal race, Malcolm with Kore C28

Finn Class: Kiwi Dan Slater finished 6th, wearing Hard Kore. Very much a top, World competitor.

Kiwis Blair Tuke (forward) and Peter Burling, both wearing Kore. These up and comer’s finished 8th.

Women’s 470: Vice World Champions Olivia Powrie (on the wire) and Jo Aleh, both wearing Kore. Their 8th place finish was likely a disappointment after nearly winning the World Championship last month.

Star Class: Former Olympian Andrew Campbell and Brad Nichol both wearing Hard Kore Matte Black G12, finished 6th.

Starting this week, Kaenon Polarized surfers Lakey Peterson (Sequence, Gold, G12 lens), Austin Ware (Gauge, Abalone, G12 lens), Shea Lopez (Calais, Matte Black, G12 lens), Dane Gudauskas (Jetty, Havana, G12 lens) and Jason “Ratboy” Collins (Burny, Black, G12 lens) are all in town for the US Open of Surfing in Huntington Beach, California, to vie for one of surfing’s biggest titles. Kaenon fans and followers of the team have a chance to get in on the action firsthand—follow Kaenon and Lakey on Facebook and Twitter to participate in our “Follow Lakey, Find the Gold!” contest to win a pair of the new Sequence aviators! Contest is today, August 5th!

As reported by Wired2Fish.com:

Holding off a hard-charging Ryan Said, Dave Wolak of Wake Forest, N.C., had just enough weight Saturday to take the 2010 Bass Pro Shops Bassmaster Northern Open on Lake Champlain. Wolak amassed a three-day total of 54 pounds, 1 ounce, to score his second BASS victory.

“This tournament means more to me than anything in my career,” said Wolak, a Bassmaster Elite Series pro. “More than the Rookie of the Year or the Bassmaster Major that I won. This lake has a sense of purity about it, and when you come up here you really have to find the fish first. You have to make changes navigationally and strategically.

“I came up here planning to fish for largemouth thinking that’s what was going to win it, but I started fishing for smallies early on. I made a critical move on Friday because the north wind made me fish shallow. I found a grass mat and whacked ‘em. That wind tucked the fish up under there.”

Wolak flipped a Fin-Tech Title Shot jig tipped with a YUM Craw Papi into grass to land most of his fish. He took home the top prize of more than $51,000 as well as the lead in the Northern Opens points race. After the three-tournament Northern Opens season, the top two anglers will receive a berth in the 2011 Bassmaster Classic in New Orleans.

Dave Wolak wears Kore, Black, C12 lens

Once again, Jamie Mitchell wearing Hard Kore, Matte Black, G12 lens dominated the unofficial World Championship of Paddleboarding leading the fleet of paddleboarders and Stand Up Paddlers on the 32 mile open-ocean crossing of the Molokai Channel to ultimately win the race for the ninth time.

Completing the course from Kaluakoi, Molokai, to Maunalua Bay, Oahu, in 4 hours, 52 minutes, and 45 seconds, he was about 4 minutes shy of the record he set in 2007, but still posted an impressive time considering the channel’s sloppy and windy conditions.

“The Channel this year was tough as always. It was a very technical course and you had to be on your game to catch and milk every little bump out there. I felt like I took advantage of the conditions, working with and not against them. I felt quite strong all the way to the finish line. All in all I was stoked with how it played out.

“As for winning number nine, it hasnt really sunk in I guess. I’m just stoked–I won it once in ‘02, but to now have nine wins–I couldn’t have believed in my wildest dreams that I would do that.”

The runner-up’s time was 5:07:54, or approximately 1.5 miles behind Mitchell. “I don’t look back,” Mitchell said. “I just think that they’re right there, and that keeps me going.”

Dave Kalama won the Stand Up division finishing two minutes behind Jamie. Other Kaenon competitors were Scott Gamble finishing in fourth place, Jackson English in fifth and Conner Baxter in seventh. Also, Jeff Denholm from Santa Cruz who lost his arm in a commercial fishing accident in Alaska, won his division just two hours behind Jamie. All of the Kaenon competitors wore Hard Kore Black or Tobacco in G12 and C12.

For a full contest recap, click here to read the story in the Honolulu Star Advertiser.

Follow Kaenon Polarized and Lakey Peterson on Facebook and Twitter to participate in our “Follow Lakey, Find the Gold” contest to win a pair of new Sequence aviators in Luna Gold!

On Thursday, August 5th in Huntington Beach, California, follow the clues to find Lakey Peterson and Kaenon Polarized for a chance at winning Lakey’s favorite pair of Kaenon shades. Follow @lakeypeterson or @Kaenon on Twitter & Facebook to follow Lakey and find the phrase that unlocks the prize.

What: Follow @Kaenon and @LakeyPeterson on Twitter or Facebook to get the clues and capture the secret phrase. Be the first to find Lakey Peterson on site in Huntington Beach and tell her the winning phrase and win the grand prize!

When: Thursday, August 5, 2010. Be sure you’re following @Kaenon by 10am on Thursday morning so you don’t miss out on the action!

Where: Huntington Beach, CA – US Open of Surfing

Prize: Sequence Gold G12

*Lakey Peterson will be competing in the US Open of Surfing all week, if you see her make sure to wish her well – just keep in mind the Follow Lakey, Find The Gold contest will be Thursday, August 5th only with start and end times announced through Kaenon’s Facebook and Twitter pages.

Lakey Peterson wears Kaenon Polarized Sequence Gold G12 lens

Ryan Hunter-Reay (Jetty Seaweed G12) had another top finish, taking fifth in the very physical Edmonton Honda 300 road race. He currently sits at fifth in the overall season point standings.

Stage 2 of the Cascade Classic is a 16-mile Individual Time Trial. The course is the same as the one for US National Championships without the extra “lollipop” loop at the end. It is similar to the TT at Tour of the Gila – gradual uphill all the way out and fast downhill on the way back. Erinne Willock (wearing Soft Kore White Pearl C28) had a breakthrough TT at Gila, placing 2nd there, so she and the team were hoping for another good ride here and she did not disappoint us! We knew Alison Powers would fly down the descent, so Erinne’s race was basically to the top of the climb at the turnaround to gain as much as possible there and then just hang on to the finish. Erinne went pretty fast herself down the hill – we were following in the car and saw her hitting about 48 mph and spinning her 55×11 gear! She won the stage and moved into 3rd overall, 46 seconds behind Cath Cheatley and 1:59 behind Mara.

Here is Erinne’s report on the Time Trial:

“Today was the Skyliner Time Trial of the Cascade Classic. Third day of racing and a beautifully hot and dry day at that. For those of you who know me, I have never said “I’m a timetrialist.” I usually answer “sometimes I can pull a good one off,” but today was my first TT win ever! I could feel the support of the team rooting for me this morning and everybody wishing me good luck and telling me to go fast at some point or other before I took off. It felt really good to have the belief of all my teammates and staff behind me.

“The race today was 16 miles. The first eight miles was a gradual climb and then we turned around and the last eight miles was almost all down. I knew my race and where I would gain time was going to be on the climb, so I went as fast as I possibly could all the way up. I could tell pretty quickly that I was putting time into my minute rabbit who happened to be Alison Powers and of course that was just perfect for me as I put all my focus into catching her. You see without a good rabbit, I have been known to daydream or get depressed or bored out there… Also, I had Karen and Dave in the car behind me and I know that whenever I started to drop the speed I’d hear a little tap tap on the horn just to remind me I needed to go fast again…

“I ended up passing Alison about 3/4 of the way up the climb and got a little boost of excitement. I even held her off until almost 3km to go until she passed me again on the way to the finish.

“Anyhow, when I got back to the team cars, one of the first things Karen and Dave said to me went something like this “Well you sure went fast but you sure didn’t look pretty doing it.” So I asked them what did Amber and Christine look like when they time trialed? I guess it was prettier than me. So my conclusion is, I still have some work to do. I must look prettier and I gotta start being consistent at these. But, I’m very happy with my ride, I’m building more confidence at time trialing everyday, and I can feel that my form is coming on really strong. I’m excited for the next couple of days of racing and I know the team will give it their all to help me out with GC and hopefully we can also get some more stage wins. “

Driving a Porsche 911 in the GTC class, Kaenon Polarized driver Andy Lally, wearing Arlo Matte Black G12, won the race at famed Lime Rock, and with it takes over the lead in the overall Series Championship.

(from The Racers Group website):

The victory is the first since the team’s return to ALMS competition this season, and equally important means that (with driving partner, Frenchman Henri Richard and) Lally have assumed the GTC series points lead.

For Lally, who won the race on tires that lasted nearly 120 laps, Saturday’s race was a perfect combination of fast but patient driving, combined with a perfect team effort.

“With all the traffic out there, chasing Jeroen and preserving the tires at the same time made for a really challenging race,” stated Lally. “These guys called a perfect race today, and Henri was absolutely fantastic out there. For his first season in the series he’s driving like an absolute professional, and I’m very proud to be part of his first professional victory.”

For more, read the full story.

Kimi Werner, Garrett Lee and friends went out for a day trolling off Oahu’s West-Side and ended up hooking up a nice 178 pound Ahi.

Kimi in Eden Black G12 goes to work hand-lining the fish while friend Kalei Fernandez pulls up slack.

Garrett wearing Kore M G12 sinks the second gaff – check out Garrett’s home-made pearl-head lure hanging out of the ahi’s mouth.

Elite series angler Aaron Martens, wearing his go-to Kore C28, went from having one of his best fishing days ever, to one of his worst after his winning bag of fish went belly-up in the live well (aka dead).

Forced to throw back several large fish in order to prevent them from dying, Martens wound up in second place only 3 ounces behind winner Russ Lane. A visibly dejected Martens still weighed the biggest bass of the day.

Lakey Peterson has a solid chance of winning the biggest event in surfing her first year out in the big leagues, as the US Open is right around the corner.  She just walked away with her second consecutive win at US Nationals, and at the young age of 15 she is looking to have what it takes to go far in the surf world. Watch for her as the US Open starts at the end of this month.

In the meantime, keep yourselves busy reading her interview with Surfer Mag or keep up on the latest Lakey news on her new site, LakeyPeterson.com

Lakey wears Sequence Gold G12 as well as Eden Tobacco Olive G12

This July at the Hermosa Beach AVP Open, Tyra Turner and Angie Akers, again proved that they are contenders, finishing again in third place. Both wearing Hard Kore, Tyra and Angie knocked off reigning Gold Medalist Misty May Treanor to make the semi’s, but ultimately lost the semis in a 21-16, 13-21, 15-12 match.

The girls get to rest easy for once, staying at home in So Cal and getting ready for next weekends go round in Long Beach. Maybe that little less bit of travel will help them overcome their third place rut and power through into the finals.

On the men’s side of things, Beach Volleyball’s #1 player in the world, Todd Rogers donned a pair of Kaenon Polarized Hard Kore sunglasses on Sunday to complete in his championship match, and ended up with a decisive win in the finals. Nick Lucena, wearing Jetty Seaweed G12 finished 5th.

Robert Gamez in golf sunglasses of choice, Spindle S1 G12