The Global SUP Community

Playak News Flash

Our famous News Flash informs tens of thousands of paddlers around the world about the most popular paddling news each day. SUPzero editors hand-pick the best headlines 24/7, and those that are viewed most by our readers are sent out in the News Flash. Each Friday, we send out the Weekly Digest (instead of the daily News Flash), containing the top headlines of the past 7 days, as well as the most popular videos and forum topics, plus a list of upcoming events.

Back to Playak News Flash Archive

Playak Weekly Digest
The world's top paddling news in week 28, 2024.

Message of the Day

Retiring News Flash and Weekly Digest mails in August 2024 I developed the News Watch service and the News Flash mailings back in 2004, when social media hardly existed, people actually browsed the web on desktop computers, and e-mail was the most relevant service for personal communication. These days people spend more time on social media than websites, and use apps on phones and tablets to do so. In personal communication, messengers (X, Facebook, Signal, Whatsapp, Discord, Telegram, …) have become much more important than e-mail for most people. Since 2004, I have used homemade robots to gather paddling news, and from that flood of news I hand-picked the most relevant headlines 365 days per year. In the past 15 years I’ve paid several assistants for this daily work. I’ve found it hard to stop this service, as so much love and sweat went into building and maintaining it, but now the time has come to recognize that it is just not worth it anymore. The above is how I assess the situation. If you see it differently, please let me know. I hope you have enjoyed these services during the past 20 years. Cheers, Jeroen

News Watch National Rivers Month: Reflections on Progress and Challenges Ahead American Rivers - June is National Rivers Month! Summer is upon us and long days on the river have begun. Whether you walk a local riverwalk, fish, kayak, canoe, swim, or even just float, this is the time of year to get out on your favorite river!  There’s a lot to celebrate about rivers this month. Unusual River Chase: Suspected Car Thief Uses Kayak in Escape Attempt Kayak Base - In a bizarre turn of events on the Chehalis River, a suspected car thief attempted a daring escape using a stolen kayak. The incident unfolded when the suspect abandoned a stolen car near Centralia and fled on foot. He then took a blue kayak from a nearby home and paddled downstream in an effort to evade police. Outdoor Sports Rescue Shaming PaddlingLight - One of the issues that I’ve seen in outdoor sports and one that bothers me is rescue shaming. That is the tendency of people to make fun of someone who almost dies while doing an outdoor sport. Vincent Stands Out as Canada Announce Paris 2024 Squad ICF - Canoe Kayak Canada and the Canadian Olympic Committee have named 15 athletes to compete at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games that begins on July 26. River Trip + Art Project = Amazing American Rivers - One Friday in May, I got up from my desk and went over to a municipal golf course in south Atlanta for a very special event. The event had nothing to do with golf, and everything to do with rivers. A Restorer’s Guide to a Rushton Indian Girl Wood-Canvas Canoe (C. 1905) Canoe Guy BC - John Henry Rushton built canoes and small boats in Canton, New York, from 1875 until his death in 1906. His son incorporated the business and kept it going until 1917. In 1902, Rushton hired M. Roundry from the B. N. Morris Canoe Company to build canvas-covered canoes. The result is the Indian Girl canoe that became Rushton’s best-selling model. It was first built with double gunwales until about 1906, when the open-gunwale system was adopted. The dimensions for components in a closed-gunwale Indian Girl (c. 1905) present pocketed inwale construction. How to Repair a Rib-and-Batten Canoe — Part 1 Canoe Guy BC - In 2016, I put out a call for someone with a wide-board raised-batten canoe to bring it to my shop in British Columbia, Canada for me to restore and document as part of my second book ̶ “This Fancy Old Canoe”. Soltani Wants to Race Until Age of 40 in Pursuit of Multiple Olympics ICF - Refugee paddler Saman Soltani has outlined her career ambitions to race in her 40s and compete at four Olympic Games as she prepares for her first in Paris later this month. Paddle Sports Show Hits France Sept. 24-26 (With New Film Fest—Enter to Win!) Paddling Life - Mark your calendars! The 2024 edition of the Paddle Sports Show will take place this year again Sept. 24-26 in the city of Strasbourg at the border between France and Germany, complete with a new  Paddlesports Show Film Festival. Yang Wins Historic Gold for China as Hocevar Dominates in Liptovsky Mikulas ICF - Ting Yang made history for China with a stunning victory in the women’s canoe at the International Canoe Federation Canoe Slalom Junior World Championships in Liptovsky Mikulas, Slovakia. Railblaza Enters New Category With Environmentally-Friendly Gear Hub Angling International - Railblaza, the New Zealand based supplier of mounting systems, has entered the storage crate market with the Gear Hub. Ardbeg'S Rare, New Whisky Has a Surprisingly Unique Age Statement SUP Magazine - Remember Y2K? Well 24 years later, we’re still here—and so is Ardbeg. Heading into the new millennium, the Islay distillery was on somewhat shaky ground following decades of reduced activity. Coasting Fort to Fort Trash Paddler - As tempting as Children's Island looked in Tuesday morning's sparkling sunshine I continued hugging the coast of Marblehead and pulled into a serene Dolliber Cove where little Crowninshield Island offered an ideal spot to land. American Rivers’ Most Endangered Rivers of 2024: New Mexico Tops List Paddling Life - In its 39th year of putting out the nation’s most endangered rivers list, conservation group American Rivers again calls attention to the most imperiled rivers in the U.S., with waterways in New Mexico topping this year’s compilation. PFDs on Our River Trips Northwest Rafting Company - Commonly known as a “life jacket,” a PFD is a Personal Flotation Device. Everyone is required to wear one at all times while floating on the river.

Factor Athletes with top online media coverage in July 1. Robert Machacek 2. Olivia Piana 3. Davide Sartoni Videos Jackson Kayak Dock Talk EP #38 (EJ) TransCat Expedition EXPLAINER Video 1 (supzero) Explainer Video 4 Just Start! (supzero) EXPLAINER VIDEO 2 (supzero) Moon Fever Rashguard (aztronsports)