Kaenon Polarized

Jamie is finally back. After a tough setback due to a shoulder injury earlier this year (see: Wipe Out at Waimea Bay),
Jamie Sterling (Jetty, Matte Black, G12 lens) came back in fine form, placing 4th in 15-18 foot surf in Chile’s Quiksilver Cermonial contest. He was down in Chile for multiple reasons, not solely to compete in the prestigious big wave event, but to give back to the community that has given him so much.

Pichilemu, Chile was hit really hard by the recent 8.8 earthquakes and tsunami in February. Jamie, together with Chilean surfers Ramón Navarro, Diego Medina, and Leo Acevedo, traveled to the badly damaged coastal city of Constitución with Save The Waves foundation coordinators to deliver food, clothing and other supplies to local school children and other relief organizations such as the Red Cross and Un Techo Para Chile, who are building temporary housing in many damaged areas.

Congrats Jamie for your comeback and for lending a hand to those in need.

Jamie surveys the damage from the recent events.
Surfing this wave is phenomenal, but spectators get an equal rush standing on the cliff above
More damage and Jamie giving out goodies.

A team led by female sailors has won the Historical 72nd “Bol d’Or Mirabaud Regatta for the first time. Europe’s largest sailing event, a race from Geneva to the other end of Lake Geneva and back, was won by Ladycat, which crossed the finish line at 03:00 Sunday, with Dona Bertarelli (Klay, Matte Black, C12 lens) as skipper and helmswoman and trimmer Emmanuelle Rol.

After seventeen hours of sailing, Ladycat won one of the most prestigious and most difficult races in Europe in front of an international array of ocean champions. The team, mostly women, demonstrated an impressive level of confidence and tenacity, managing to lead the entire race along with two smaller M2 catamarans, Safram and Tilt. On the finishing line, the pink multihull arrived alone with an almost two hours lead over the next boat, Banque Populaire, helmed by the ocean skipper and record-holder Pascal Bidégorry.

Ladycat was launched in 2007 and was used to support the World Heart Federation’s international campaign, Go Red for Women campaign to promote awareness of cardiovascular disease in women. In April, Ladycat announced its new partnership with Ma Vie Ton Sang, the Vaud regional blood transfusion service in Epalinges, to draw attention to the need for blood donors and the work of the group.

Bertarelli, sister of Ernesto Bertarelli of Alinghi fame, races Ladycat during the Lake Geneva season with an international team of women sailors. Rol is a materials sciences student.

Danica Patrick (Pino Black G12) used well-earned momentum from her Indy 500 finish a week earlier, to take her best finish of the season — 2nd place at the Texas Motor Speedway under the lights.

According to Racer.com; “In one of the most competitive performances of her career so far, Andretti Autosport driver Patrick emerged as polesitter Briscoe’s main rival in the second half of the race, but the Penske driver was able to fend her off and clinch his first win of 2010. Briscoe said his duel with Patrick for the win at the beginning of the final stint was a key part of that fun: “Danica got by us and I didn’t want to make any aggressive moves and block. I gained some momentum on the next lap, used the push-to-pass and was able to pass her out of Turn 4 and into Turn 1. She gave us a real run for our money tonight. It was fun racing side-by-side with her.

“Patrick made her final stop a lap earlier than Briscoe and momentarily swept into the lead as her rival got back up to speed, but she could not hang on for long before Briscoe inched past to reclaim first place. As they hit traffic, Briscoe started to build an advantage again, eventually winning by 1.4 seconds.

“It was a good weekend last weekend in Indy and it was a good weekend here in Texas,” mused Patrick. “Sometimes the little victories that I have throughout the season are not necessarily obvious on the track. Maybe they’re in other aspects of what I’m doing––winning little victories here and there to get everything in line to perform from top to bottom on race day. I’ve been working hard all season. It’s just really nice to have a result to show how hard I’ve been working and how hard the team has been working as well.”

Fellow Kaenon driver Ryan Hunter-Reay, (Klay Black G12) finished well at a respectable 7th, wearing a customized carbon fiber cast on his right wrist to protect his surgically repaired thumb after tearing ligaments in last Sunday’s Indy 500.

Danica Patrick, wearing Pino, Black, G12 lens, has endured a rough year so far and rolled into qualifying and testing at her favorite race, the Indy 500, after a miserable month of scrutiny both from the media and fans. However, she stuck to her guns and converted the energy into a strong and respectable finish at the “Grand Daddy of Them All,” with a well-driven 6th place finish. After qualifying poorly at 23rd on the grid, she drove a smart, steady and often brave 500 miles for her second top-10 finish of the season.

Driving for a crowd of over 350,000 fans in attendance for the 94th running of this speed classic, Patrick was one of a record four women in this year’s Indy 500, along with Sarah Fisher and rookies Simona De Silvestro of Switzerland and Ana Beatriz of Brazil.

“I’m very happy with the result, and the reasons we got it were that our pit stops rocked and we had a perfect strategy,” she said. “We did struggle a little bit in the early going” and “almost went a lap down” to the leaders, Patrick said. But she gradually climbed through the field. “I’m really glad that yellow [flag] came out at the end, because we were cutting it real close on fuel,” she said.

Danica also narrowly missed a spectacular last-lap crash which involved teammate Ryan Hunter-Reay. Hunter-Reay, wearing Klay, Black, G12 lens, struggled this month for speed, but found it on Race Day driving most of the race at or near fifth. Then saw his good race nearly turn into horrible nightmare as just before the finish when he ran out of gas and was subsequently clipped from behind by Mike Conway. Already driving with torn ligaments in his thumb suffered in an earlier Pit Lane incident, Hunter-Reay was nearly beheaded as Conway’s car was sent airborne.

In what is being described as one of the most spectacular crashes in Indy racing’s history, Conway’s #24 car rolled over the back tire of back wheel of Hunter-Reay’s #37 car, which served as a catapult and flung the Indy car into the air, causing a back-flip, and a slam into the high barrier, eventually landing back on the track in a heap.

Contributing to the Mike Conway crash is that his speed was at least 20 miles per hour faster than everyone else at the time. Most of the leaders were running on fumes and slowing down to conserve fuel in the final laps. Conway was gassed up and making passes left and right, once of which caught the tire of Hunter-Reay.

Both Conway and Hunter-Reay suffered injuries, but the fact that anyone walked away from the horrific crash is a miracle. Best wishes and a speedy recovery to all involved.

Kaenon driver Andy Lally drives into the record books at Virginia International Raceway, winning for the 21st time on his 100th series start.

Wearing Klay Black G12, Andy Lally, making his 100th career start, had contact with Bill Auberlen with two laps remaining but held on to win in GT, driving TRG’s No. 66 AXA Porsche GT3 started by Ted Ballou.

Lally made his move on a call by TRG team owner Kevin Buckler to stay out with the No. 66 AXA Porsche GT3 after the second caution flag waved, moving from seventh position to take second. He took the lead shortly after the restart and led the final 25 circuits. It was Lally’s 21st career victory and first for Ballou.

Bill Auberlen, who took over from Paul Dalla Lana in the No. 94 Turner Motorsports BMW M6 at the 45 minute mark, pressured Lally down the stretch. The two ran side-by-side with two laps remaining before making contact. Auberlen spun through the grass, and recovered to finish eighth.

Lally then held off Jeff Segal by .712 seconds, ending the two-race winning streak of Segal and Emil Assentato in the SpeedSource No. 69 FXDD Mazda RX-8.

“Kevin made a great call,” Lally said. “We stayed out under the second to get the wave by, then the pit crew had a lightning stop that got us out in front of the pace car. Bill was coming up on us a second a lap. We raced as clean as we could. I just held my ground – I wasn’t going to give more than an inch. To celebrate my 100th race with a win was monumental.”

Florida Marlins SS Hanley Ramirez in Hard Kore Tobacco G12, and accepting his Silver Slugger Award on opening night in Miami–signifying recognition as one of the National League’s best batters last season.

The Phillies’ Jayson Werth wearing Hard Kore Matte Black G12

Seattle Mariners OF Milton Bradley wearing Klay Matte Black G12, signing for fans.

Philadelphia Phillies OF Raul Ibanez wearing Hard Kore Tobacco C12

Watch Jamie Sterling wipe out on a 20 foot wave at Waimea Bay on Oahu’s North Shore as seen from his GoPro camera. Unfortunately the fall knocked him out of future big wave competitions for the rest of the winter. Jamie Sterling is wearing Klay Tobacco C12

“High-performance sports stuff can really enhance everyday life: jock-friendly Gatorade helps cure hangovers, and Cowboy Collars can give you a real edge in the boardroom when everyone else is wearing those boring spread ones. For eyewear born from the rigorous demands of sport, check out Kaenon’s new drop.

From two Cali brothers whose competitive sailing days inspired them to make stylish shades that could still perform on the water, Kaenon’s spring line ranges from subtle retro jobs to pure sport numbers, all of them rigged for serious performance via high-end materials and their patented SR-91 polarized lenses, which have the impact resistance/light weight of polycarbonate, the visual acuity of glass, and’re 128% better at high-altitude spying on Russians than the SR-71 model. There’s a crop of sporty models like the Burnet, (kind of a squared-off Wayfarer with cool metal inlays on the arms), the serious sun-inhibiting Klay, with big lenses, grippy Variflex nose pads, and thick arms that don’t let any sun or glare in on the side, and the Italian-made Pino, with a ’50s retro look and color options like black and a tobacco-ish Havana, which you’ll swear are Dominican at customs. There are also some sophisticated metal frames that maintain hardcore technical values, like the Sequence, a gold or black retro aviator with techy lens options (gray for offshore water, amber for shallow water), and the Spindle S5, a semi-rimless squared-off aviator with spring-loaded hinges so they don’t fall off your face, similar lens color options, and no-slip Air Bag nose pads, which should be used in conjunction with, not as a substitute for, your Seat Belt nose pads…” read the rest of the review at Thrillist.com

“Two weeks ago while minding my own business on my bike commute home, I unnecessarily tested Swedish engineering, when a careless motorist suddenly opened their car door in my path. I can attest that the Swedes did their job when it comes to impact testing because the car door didn’t even budge when I hit it at about 15 mph.

Not only was my upper right bicep punctured by the edge of the door and ribs severely bruised/cracked, but I was violently hurtled to the pavement where I suffered some major bruising. The deep puncture wound that went to the muscle didn’t require major surgery, just some sutures skillfully applied by the medical professionals at Kaiser.

I may have bled like a stuck pig in the back of the ambulance, but at least I looked good in my new Kaenon Klays, which, by the way, didn’t come off my face when I hit the pavement. Talk about athletic fit!” Yuri Hauswald wears Klay Matte Black G12.

Florida Marlins Shortstop Hanley Ramirez in Hard Kore Tobacco G12

Milton Bradley, now with the Seattle Mariners is now wearing Klay Matte Black G12

San Francisco Giants Manager Bruce Bochy wearing Spindle S3

Further proof that sun and warmer temps are on their way; some more recent Spring Training images.

LA Angels Starting Pitcher Ervin Santana wearing Jetty Tobacco G12

Boston Red Sox All – Star first baseman Kevin Youkilis wearing Hard Kore Black G12

Ryan Garko batting in Hard Kore Tobacco G28, now playing for the Seattle Mariners.

Tampa Bay Rays Manager and our Rx Freestyle poster-boy, Joe Maddon wearing his new Klay Matte Black G12 Rx Freestyle Progressive.

GOLF – Northern Trust Open, Pacific Palisades, CA

The weather didn’t provide much sun last week, but Kaenon’s golfers braved the elements and thanks to the range of Kaenon performance lens tints, played through the tough weather at the famed Riviera Country Club in the Northern Trust Los Angeles Open. Robert Allenby lives in Hard Kore C50 lens, rain or shine, and battled conditions more similar to St. Andrews Scotland than to LA, as the area saw heavy rain throughout the tournament.

Kevin Stadler wearing the new Klay Matte Black G12 finished 10th. Allenby continued his streak of solid play collecting a top 30, as did Rod Pampling in Hard Kore G28 Rx.

Davis Love III wore Hard Kore G28, Nick O’Hern was in Hard Kore C28 (he frequently changes lens tints according to sun conditions), and Kevin Streelman played in Hard Kore Black G12.

The AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am tees off on Thursday, February 11th in scenic Monterey, California, where Kaenon golfers will be vying for the $6,200,000 purse.