Kaenon Polarized

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.

Kaenon Polarized takes Gold in Men’s and Silver in Women’s divisions of this Olympic Sailing class!

As reported by Scuttlebutt.com:

The Hague, Netherlands — Mother nature played ball for the last day of the Delta Lloyd 470 World Championships taking place in The Hague, with brilliant sunshine and a 12 knot southwesterly breeze for the Men’s and Women’s medal races, held directly off the beach at the Hague.

In the Men’s race Australians Matt Belcher, wearing Hard Kore Black G12 and Malcolm Page, wearing Kore Black G12 M had secured gold through their 20 point lead yesterday to claim the Men’s World Championship title. ‘This is my fifth World Championship win and every one of them has been hard,” commented Page.

The class act of this regatta has been the newly crowned Australian World Champions, Beijing Gold medalist Malcolm Page and his new helm Matt Belcher. ‘They are really good, especially when it is windy,” said Charbonnier. ‘We have a lot of work to do if we want to compete with them.”

Mal (left) wearing Kore M G12 and helmsman Mat wearing Hard Kore Black G12 after securing Gold.

Their coach, the very legendary Victor Kavalenko wearing Hard Kore Black G12 (he’s not only won Olympic Gold himself back in the old days of Russia, he’s shaped and coached 15 world champions in this class.

While Belcher and Page were secure in first place going into today’s medal race, the case was the opposite in the Women’s medal race where the powerful Dutch defending World Champions, Lisa Westerhof and Lobke Berkhout secured their win only after beating New Zealand’s Jo Aleh, wearing Kore Black S C12 and Olivia Powrie in Kore Black S C12, who held a slender point advantage going in the medal race, ultimately taking the Silver Medal.

Kaenon’s very own rep out of Utah, Alex Grant, finished 2nd overall in the pro men division at the Trans-Sylvania Mountain Bike Epic in PA. It was a stage race with 7 stages and a great mix of trails. There was everything from super rocky and technical to smooth, fast and flowing dirt sections. Alex ended up in 2nd overall behind the Cannondale Factory Racing teammate Jeremiah Bishop and had two stage wins. Alex raced the whole week in Kore C28 in full sun and misty rain/forest conditions alike. Mark Weir also raced and ended up 8th overall. Mark and Alex had some fun battles on the Super D stage.

Check out some cool videos here

Two of the youngest kids on the Olympic circuit today are New Zealanders Peter Burling and Blair Tuke. Kaenon has been supporting Peter since he was 14 as one of the top youths coming up through the ranks.

Graduating to the fast and technical Olympic 49er for London 2012 after his Beijing ‘08 experience, Peter has a new teammate and wrote a short blog for a top Kiwi sailing site last week after their silver medal performance in Holland. At 17, traveling the world and learning not only how to be a great athlete, but a worldly young man, Burling is the future of the sport!

The boys on a tear, logoed up in frigid waters – Kore on – always, for Peter.

Loaded, logoed and ready for the trip to the UK – next stop on the Euro Olympic Tour. How we roll!

A global contingent of Kaenon’s Olympic sailors walked away with Silver medals and a Bronze at the third European Olympic Spring Regatta of the season. Sailed in cold and stormy Holland waters, the Delta Lloyd regatta dished out mostly blustery strong breezes to the former Olympians and all aspiring London 2012 campaigners, after windless Palma, Spain and Hyeres, France. Led by Olympic Gold Medalist Malcolm Page (Kore), and new teammate Mat Belcher (Hard Kore), the Men’s 470 duo from Australia took home Silver, along with Spanish Olympian Rafael Trujillo (Kore), in the manly Finn class.

The youngest sailing competitor at the Beijing Olympics, Peter Burling, who was 16 when he competed for New Zealand, has switched classes, has a new teammate and is fully committed to his goal of London 2012. Burling, now 17, wearing Hard Kore, along with crew Blair Tuke (Hard Kore), took Silver in the Open 49er skiff.

Reigning Beijing Bronze medalist and decorated women’s windsurfer, Bryony Shaw – sailing in the new Soft Kore, again took Bronze as the Brit prepares for her hometown Olympics and a podium repeat.

Elite Series Angler Dave Wolak spoke up on Basseast.com about what he looks for in a sight-fishing sunglass.

Read the full article and watch his video review here

Wolak talks Sunglasses from Bass East on Vimeo.

Dave Wolak wears Kore C12, C28 and Y35 on tour, explains why he prefers Kaenon shades and how they benefit his fishing.

The annual kick-off to the Spring European World Cup circuit for all teams pining for the Olympics started on the island of Palma in Spain last week. As usual, a lot of Kaenon sunglasses were worn by many of the best sailors.

Australian defending Olympic Gold Medalist Malcolm Page (front) wearing Kore, with new partner Matt Belcher in Hard Kore G12, driving, in the two-man 470 class.

One of Spain’s top Olympic sailors, Rafa Trujillo in the one-man Finn Class, wearing Kore C12.

A native Californian and one of the best Bass fishermen on the planet, Aaron Martens returned to his old stomping grounds last week for a day of free fishing on Lower Castaic Lake before heading back to the East Coast for the upcoming Elite Series Blue Ridge Brawl on Virginia’s Smith Mountain Lake.

Usually wearing his favorite pair of Kaenon sunglasses, Kore Black C28, Aaron is widely regarded as one of the best sight and finesse fishermen on tour. Working the beds of Lower Castaic Lake Aaron discusses the tactics used when sight fishing in tournaments.

Check out the video of Aaron Martens at Lake Castaic

WINTER OLYMPICS

Canadian speed skater Denny Morrison, wearing Kore, Black, G12 lens and fellow Canadian long track speed skaters defeated the U.S. team to win the men’s team pursuit gold medal at the Richmond Olympic Oval in the final days of the 2010 Vancouver Olympics.

From Denny Morrison’s website:

‘Before the Olympics there were high expectations for the men’s long track team, especially for the 24-year-old Morrison. But he failed to reach the podium in the 5,000 and 1,000 meters as well as his specialty, the 1,500, in which he used to be the world record holder. There he finished ninth. Although there were reports he was upset with the coaches and the sport bureaucracy, Morrison said it was all on him and used the media reports as motivation.

“It’s a roller-coaster of emotions,” said Morrison of the last 10 days. “I like the conclusion the best. It’s like a story with a good ending, with turmoil in between.

“It’s cool to be able to come together after no medals for any of the men’s team. To win gold as a team, there’s no better way to finish off the Olympics for us.”

In the final, Canada quickly took the lead in the eight-lap race and by the end of the second lap was nearly three-quarters of a second ahead of the Americans. Twice when the U.S. closed the gap, the Canadians reestablished themselves, finally winning by just .21 of a second.’

SPEED SKATING
Also competing in the Winter Games for Kaenon are three Canadian speed skaters; silver medalist and decorated sprinter Jeremy Wotherspoon, Kore, C50 lens, and first-time Olympic hopefuls Lucas Makowsky and Jamie Gregg. Watch for all three of them gunning for gold in their home country next month. Check your local NBC listings for event scheduling and air times.

Jonathon VanDam and Stephen Pineau took to the road after Christmas fleeing the icy cold Michigan weather. First stop was the Prettyboy reservoir in Maryland followed by a stop on the St. John’s River in Florida before heading down to sunny Boca Raton. The two are pre-fishing despite abnormally cold weather for the Sunshine state in preparation for the first Southern Open taking place next week in the Everglades.

Conditions in Maryland weren’t exactly ideal for fishing, but the boys went anyway.

Not what you want to see when you’re bass fishing.

Despite Frigid conditions the boys managed a couple good ones. Stephen Pineau wearing Kore with Y35 Lens, Jonathon VanDam in Lewi, Black with G12 Lens were rewarded for their suffering. While the fish got a little smaller, but the weather improved upon arrival in Florida

Jonathon hoping a gator doesn’t get to his bass before he can get it to the boat on the vast grass-beds of Lake Okeechobee.

FRESH PRESS

Kaenon Polarized fly guide, Nick Pujic (Kore C12) appears on the cover of the current issue of Fly Fishing in Salt Waters – November/December 2009.

BASEBALL
While the boys in blue made great strides, Philadelphia went for win. Players on both teams gave Kaenon some great exposure.

Phillies catcher and surprise star of the series, Carlos Ruiz wearing Hard Kore Black G12 in game 2.

Phillies pitcher Cliff Lee wearing Jetty Seaweed.

Earlier in the week, Dodgers pitcher Hiroki Kuroda warming up in Kore G12

Jayson Werth in Baton Walnut G12 working out at Dodger Stadium prior to Game 1. Werth also wears Hard Kore Matte Black, Hard Kore in a custom Ivory frame, and Gauge.

Game 2 hero, Dodgers OF Andre Ethier, wearing Beacon Matte Black G12 in the field.

Phillies OF Raul Ibanez wearing Hard Kore Tobacco G12

BASEBALL
Last week of the regular season. Playoff’s begin next week.

Chicago Cubs infielder Jeff Baker hitting in Hard Kore Matte Black G12.

San Francisco Giants 1B Ryan Garko batting in Hard Kore Tobacco G28

SAILING – SAN FRANCISCO, CA
Howie Hamlin of Long Beach, CA wearing Kore, with his crew of Paul Allen and Matt Noble, won it the hard way last week by coming from behind in the 10th and last race to finish one point ahead of Australia’s John Winning to take the championship.

Hamlin is straight off a 7th place finish at the 505 Worlds last week and stayed on windy San Francisco Bay to take the skiff title in heavy winds of 20 – 28knots – max conditions for these tippy rockets.

SAILING – ISTANBUL, TURKEY / NICE, FRANCE

Nice, France: The first real test in competition for Estrella Damm could not have ended any better. At 04.24 and 45 seconds, Estrella Damm Sailing Team led by Kaenon sailor Guillermo Altadill wearing Kore and Rhino, crossed the finished line as winners of the first leg of the Istanbul Europa Race. The team becomes the provisional leader of the around Europe yacht race after 7 days, 17 hours, 2 minutes and 45 seconds sailing from the start of the leg in Istanbul, Turkey to Nice, France with an average boat speed of 7.45 knots. The 1450 mile leg presented a number of challenges for Guillermo Altadill and Pachi Rivero’s team who had to contend with unstable conditions and at times very little wind, as well as sail against five of the most competitive IMOCA 60s in the world. The leg has provided its fair share of memorable battles. The last head to head battle for victory with Michel Desjoyeaux’s Foncia took place in the very last few miles.

“In the end it was a good decision to stay high on leaving Corsica. That is where we managed to pass Foncia,” explained Altadill.

With only 15 miles to the finish the Spanish boat managed to slip away from the French team and open up a gap of four miles, and enough to finish the leg with a victory.

Leg 2 was from Nice, France to Barcelona, Spain – Altadill’s hometown, where Estrella Damm 1876 came in third place. Saturday 12th September the Trophy of Barcelona will be held between the port and Olympic Port in the city, enabling the general public to follow the IMOCA 60 racing at close hand; many of the boats in the fleet will be taking part in the Barcelona World Race 2010/11.

SAILING – SAN FRANCISCO, CA

Since his 1999 win of the prestigious 505 World Championship title as crew with Howie Hamlin, Mike Martin has been on a 10 year quest to be the first to ever win from both ends of the boat – crew and skipper. By winning the 2009 title last weekend, Mike is now the first man in history to win the 505 World title as both a crew and a skipper (driver) – that explains how tough that feat is in this longstanding, timeless class. Mike, wearing Kore G12 and crew Jeff Larson, also wearing Kore, dominated the event with 6 bullets in 9 races to take the win in the very windy San Francisco Bay.

Mike and Jeff racing on the bay in strong conditions – relying on Kore G12 to see through the constant “fire-hose” spray, and read the tricky current and tide lines on San Francisco Bay

Martin and Nelson were dominant after the first 3 days, then briefly lost the lead as the breeze moderated for two days. After regaining the regatta lead from Holt/Smit in moderate breeze in race 8, Martin said he’d like to see the wind return to, say, 18 knots for the showdown on the final day – a virtual match race between Martin/Nelson and Holt/Smit ensued to determine the world champion. He wasn’t being greedy; that velocity and more had been standard earlier in the week – with gusts up to 30.

In the end, after the breeze had built from 12 knots to past 20 in the 3 1/2-lap, hour-and-a-half race, Martin and Nelson were at home in their element again, invincible with their sixth first-place in the nine-race series, Kaenon was used by 1st, 3rd and 7th place finishers.

Former World Champion Howie Hamlin chasing the leaders with Kaenon logos, sailing in Kore.

Final Results
1. Mike Martin/Jeff Nelson, USA, 1-(DNF)-1-1-1-(12)-2-1-1, 8 points.
2. Mike Holt/Carl Smit, USA, 2-1-2-2-2-3-(4)-(9)-4, 16.
3. Chris Nicholson/Casey Smith, Australia, 4-3-3-3-3-7-(8)-(8)-3. 26.
4. Jens Findel/Johannes Tellen, Germany, (72)-5-6-(15)-12-2-3-10-5, 36. 5. Dalton Bergan/Fritz Lanzinger, USA, 8-8-4-10-(15)-1-5-2-(16), 38.
6. Nick Adamson/Steve Bourdow, USA, 9-2-13-4-4-4-(17)-(14)-2, 38.
7. Howie Hamlin/Paul Cayard, USA, 5-6-(RAF)-7-(14)-5-10-5-6, 44.

Check out this great Scuttlebutt interview with Mike Martin
Scuttlebutt: Your domination at the 2009 Worlds was freakish (1-DNF-1-1-1-12-2-1-1). Explain the edge you had, and how it was developed?

Mike Martin: I don’t know about freakish, but you are right, it’s pretty uncommon to see one boat winning the majority of the races at a world championship, which is why I’m really proud of how we performed as a team, both tactically and with our boat speed. I honestly don’t know what caused the speed differential. We have always been quick in overpowered conditions. I would say it most likely resulted from lots of practice as a team, plus we physically work the boat harder than most teams. It was really satisfying to win six of the nine races sailed after all of the time and effort we put into this campaign.

Read full interview here.

SAILING – Portimao, Portugal

Emirates Team New Zealand came back to win another regatta on this European pro circuit over the weekend building their series lead for the championship to an almost insurmountable lead. Navigator Kevin Hall and Tactician Ray Davies were both wearing Kore leading this team to another victory.

Navigator Kevin Hall wearing Kore (in bucket hat) taping on his “deck-man” computer screen feeding tactical information to the man next to him, tactician Ray Davies in Silver Kore– they’re the braintrust on this successful team.

Defending Circuit Champion, Terry Hutchinson – wearing Kore – finished 3rd, but will not successfully defend his overall title won last year.

SAILING
BMW ORACLE Racing Technology Montage – No introduction needed here, this video says it all.

MAST = 185 FEET / 55 METERS – taller than an 18 story building
GENNAKER SAIL = 8400 SQUARE FEET / 780 SQUARE METERS – larger than a baseball infield
LENGTH = 100 FEET / 30 METERS – longer than a blue whale
26,000 data points collected for every second of sailing

Kaenon Polarized Sunglasses featured in this clip: Hard Kore, Lewi, Kore

SAILING
The Oldest Trophy in Sport, The America’s Cup will be a one-off match race (one-on-one) between the defender Alinghi from Switzerland (skippered by our Kaenon’s Brad Butterworth) and the American Challenger, BMW Oracle (skipper and CEO, Russell Coutts and owned by Oracle Chairman Larry Ellison), in Giant Multihulls. The race is expected to take place in February and the location will be announced August 8 by the defender.

These boats are insane – gigantic multihulls that have never been designed or built of this size that will reach unheard of speeds on the course. If you’re a sailor – and even if you’re not, the America’s Cup will be a spectacle. The world-wide exposure from this event will likely be unprecedented for many reasons.
Below, BMW Oracle’s 90-foot x 90-foot Trimaran training off San Diego last week in very mild conditions.

Jimmy Spithill driving from the windward helmsman pod in Jetty

Tactician John Kostecki wearing Hard Kore C12, Helmsman Jimmy Spithill in Jetty Black G12, one of the main designers

Mainsail trimmer Dirk DeRidder in Kore C12

BASEBALL
Selections were made for the All Star Game to be played in St. Louis on July 14, 2009. Among those chosen by fans and peers, were many Kaenon Polarized players including:

National League Starters: Hanley Ramirez, SS, Florida Marlins; Raul Ibanez, OF, Philadelphia Phillies; Carlos Beltran, OF, New York Mets;

Named – National League: Jonathan Broxton, P – Closer – Los Angeles Dodgers; Dan Haren, P, Arizona Diamondbacks;
Tim Lincecum, P, San Francisco Giants; Ryan Zimmerman, 3B, Washington Nationals; Brad Hawpe, OF, Colorado Rockies;

American League: Kevin Youkilis, 1B, Boston Red Sox; Josh Beckett, P, Boston Red Sox

MOUNTAIN BIKE – CALIFORNIA
Tragedy strikes even the best of riders. Yuri Hauswald one of Kaenon’s beloved went down hard breaking his hand and thumb during a training ride on Whittier Bluff Road near Tomales. As a world class mountain biking competitor, Hauswald was preparing for the upcoming B.C. Bike Run when he hit a bump traveling between 25 and 30 miles per hour. Bouncing his hands off the handlebars, Yuri flipped to the ground. hitting his head, bruising his ribs and breaking his hand. Luckily, Yuri was wearing a helmet – however the hand injury required surgery that left him with with no choice but to cancel his planned trip to Canada and participation in the rugged B.C. Bike Run, a seven-stage race of some 250 miles that includes more than 30,000 feet of climbing. Read the full article here.

Yuri – pre-break – in Kore Silver clear sport sunglasses.

Yuri – in and out of the hospital, wearing Calais Matte Black Men’s Sunglasses.