Enjoy the CDU Newsletter
Published: Thu, 11/24/16
524
25th November 2016
Message Bank
If you don't already know you will soon get to know that
Epic International without my knowledge have appointed a West
Australian Epic distributor and the only way I found out was
reading it on a facebook post recently.
As you can imagine I am not very pleased about it. I have
been an Epic dealer in Western Australia for 10 years and
I have bought 2 million dollars of Epic gear in that time,
provided boats for sponsored paddlers, had demo days virtually
every Saturday and other times, promoted Epic in a weekly
CDU newsletter and at sponsored and non-sponsored races and
have had every Epic boat available for paddlers to try or
buy. Then there was the time I drove up to Broome and back
to give Freya her sponsored Epic Kayak so she could continue
her journey around Australia. I didn't ask for a penny. I
even committed to sponsoring this years' Marathon series under
the banner Canoeing Down Under/ Epic Kayaks.
Has the partnership come to and end?
Logo blended by Ric Yates
To make matters worse they put this post on facebook which
reads: Epic Kayaks is excited to announce a new Western
Australian dealership, "Epic Kayaks West Australia,"
is aiming to make the entire Epic fleet more readily available
to Epic Kayaks enthusiasts on the West Coast.
I am particularly annoyed with what Epic International have
done but to say in their introduction: Epic Kayaks West
Australia," is aiming to make the entire Epic fleet more
readily available to Epic Kayaks enthusiasts on the West Coast
is really putting me down. It's as if they are saying I didn't
have a fleet readily available. I have every Epic demo boat
in stock for paddlers to try except the V6 which isn't popular
and the new V12 which has only just been released. I had demo
days every Saturday morning and other times when paddlers
would take them away.
If Epic International had seen my warehouse or took the time
to find out how many Epic containers I have sold over the
years, or understood that retail sales are now not what they
used to be, or at least talked to me, this fiasco could have
been avoided.
This initiative has come from Epic International head office
and not from Epic Australia who have been very happy with
my sales figures. Apart from Epic Australia I was the only
retailer in the country to bring in containers of Epic boats.
Everyone on the east coast feeds off Epic Australia.
I suppose big businesses want bigger turnover and they will
do anything to achieve it, so they must have thought dumping
me and getting someone else would be one way of doing it.
What Epic head office haven't taken into account is the downturn
in retail sales in WA, the unemployment, Gumtree and facebook
second hand sales and the fact there are now more companies
selling skis or dumping them onto the market every Doctor
Race. There are more new boats on the market nowadays and
less people wanting to buy them. So with a new dealership
fighting for the same customers, my business is going to be
severely impacted.
It is such a pity that this has happened because I believe
in the Epic Brand and I was always proud to sell an Epic boat
and I saw no reason to sell any other brand, which I was asked
to do on several occasions. I still think Epics are very stylish
and extremely well made skis and I love paddling them.
But when you have been selling a product for 10 years, bought
2 million dollars of Epic gear and spent a lot of that time
promoting them, it is hard to think that a company could do
such a thing. Why didn't they contact me to work something
out instead of bulldozing their way in!. But I suppose that
is life nowadays and we are probably supposed to lie down
and let them run over us. Unfortunately big companies seem
to get away with ruining small businesses. It's just a pity
my loyalty wasn't reciprocated! What do you think?
However, having said all of this, I still have many Epic skis,
paddles and accessories in stock and I also have a good relationship
with Epic Australia, so for now at least I will be continuing
to sell Epic gear and feed off Epic Australia until such a
time I know which direction I am headed.
What happens to my business in the future
is now in doubt.
I appreciate all the supporting comments CDU
customers and paddlers have put on facebook.
**************************
Terry 0417 977 330 or email terry@canoeingdownunder.com.au
This is what Saturday morning training used
to looked like several years ago
This is Saturday morning training in 2016.
20 Epics on the line.
CDU have introduced thousands of paddlers
to the sport
This is one of many Epic containers unloaded
at Canoeing Down Under
Ben and Sam helping unload yet another Epic
40 foot container
Canoeing Down Under provided Epic Skis to
Epic sponsored paddlers for the Doctor Race and other races.
There was usually about 40 or 50 thousand dollars worth of
sponsored skis go on the barge to Rottnest.
The Doctor Race - from Rottnest
to Sorrento is on this Saturday.
It's certainly a sight to see them coming
in at Sorrento Saturday afternoon.
**************************************
Canoeing Down Under has donated, supported
and given so much in sponsorship dollars to canoeing in WA.
It's not all about making money it's about
being part of the paddling scene and helping it to grow.
Back in 2012 Canoeing Down Under donated a
Guppy K2 to the Canning Canoe Club and Ascot Kayak Club
Back in 2013 Canoeing Down Under donated a
Guppy Double to Champion Lakes Canoe Club
Back in 2012 Canoeing Down Under gave away
a kayak at the 10km Championships and Chris was the lucky
person to get it.
Over the last 20 years Canoeing Down Under
has given away thousands of dollars worth of sponsorship and
sponsored several junior and senior paddlers. There are not
many races that Canoeing Down Under haven't sponsored.
Nearly every competitive paddler would have
received a prize from Canoeing Down Under over the years,
hundred of novice paddlers have been taught flat and white
water skills by Terry and his staff at Canoeing Down Under
and hundred of paddlers have been part of CDUs Saturday morning
training.
It's a pity Epic head office hadn't received
our newsletter as they might have had more of an idea what
Canoeing Down Under has done for the sport of Canoeing in
WA and how it has promoted the Epic brand.
************************************
Dear River Users
Work within the channel on the East Perth side of the river
for the Swan River Pedestrian Bridge will be undertaken from
this Tuesday until Thursday 8 December. The central navigational
channel will be reduced to a width of approximately 36 metres
during this time. Further information is available from the
Department of Transport website at http://www.transport.wa.gov.au/imarine/swan-and-canning-rivers-tntm.asp
. We apologise for any inconvenience that this may cause to
river users.
Sincerely
Christine Moro
On behalf of York Rizzani JV
Training & Courses
PLEASE
NOTE:
Monday Night Training
is now at
Ascot Kayak Club
5.45pm
*******************
Saturday Morning Fitness Training
7.15am for a 7.30am start
Sandy Beach Reserve, West Road,
Bassendean
This week is a handicap
race
*******************
Featured Products
Epic Doctor
Sale (New Epic Skis)
Canoeing Down Under is discounting $600.00
off the new Epic V10 Performance lay-up models which are approx
15.5kgs to $3290.00.
The Epic V10 Club 17.5kgs
is discounted $600.00 to $2590.00.
Epic V14
The V14 and V10L in Performance
models (15kgs) discounted $700.00 to $3190.00.
Sale ends November 26th
(the Doctor race) or while stocks last.
Call Terry on 0417 977 330 or email terry@canoeingdownunder.com.au
Stories
Pairs Enduro
2016
The Pairs Enduro Race which is raced
in single pairs can either help you to bond with another paddler
or go off them. The idea of the race is to get to the end
in the fastest time possible using the art of washriding each
other. Of course sometimes paddlers are not compatible and
one will go off and leave the other behind causing the slower
paddler to get angry or causing the faster paddler to get
frustrated because they are always waiting. So this is one
race it's best to pick your partner carefully.
My partner was John Breed. John is usually faster than me
but having only returned from a long summer holiday and with
only 6 weeks of dedicated training since then, I in theory,
should keep up. I beat him by 3.42 in the Bevan Dashwood Race
in the same sort of craft and last week Alaine and I beat
him and Sharna by 3.37 in double kayaks so I was pretty confident
that I might just be able to tow him along. This week however
we were in different kayaks, he was in a Grafton Paddle Sports
Chrono and I was in a Grafton Paddle Sports Time Bandit.
John was being dropped off by his wife Helen as it was on
their way down from Gidgegannup so not wanting to leave my
car at Middle Swan for 3 hours I decided to paddle to the
start of the race from home which was about 12.6kms. The banners,
timing shade and finish buoy were already out at Ascot and
Doug shouted out that he would give me a lift but his roof
rack was full. No worries I shouted back I'm happy to paddle.
There is one thing I have learnt about achieving things is
that you have to have a mindset that says nothing is too hard
and if you don't challenge yourself and think everything is
just too hard you will achieve nothing.
I had to paddle a pace that didn't tire me out for the race
but I had to paddle fast enough to get there in time for the
race registration. The wind was in my favour which was very
fortunate but it did mean that we would be racing back against
the wind which wasn't so good.
I met about 6 kayaks and two power boats on the way to the
start. I also saw a kingfisher close to Middle Swan Bridge.
I hadn't seen any for the last two weeks and I thought they
may have all migrated, so it was good to see one.
I arrived at the start in plenty of time. One or two paddlers
were warming up but most were on the bank waiting for the
briefing. John was happy to see me. He was getting worried
I wasn't going to turn up on time. Jason Gardiner did the
briefing and we were away to get ready to paddle. A new pontoon
had been built to help paddlers get into the water and although
it was helpful it wasn't perfect.
The briefing
Anne and Robyn getting
ready
The new pontoon at Middle
Swan Bridge
We were off at 11 minutes
so it meant that ten other teams took off before us. The organisers
sent us off in a sequence of slowest first. John took off
like a rocket and he certainly didn't seem to have any intentions
of waiting. I thought shit I had better get going or he was
going to leave me behind before reaching the bridge a few
hundred metres away. With seriously extreme commitment after
the first 15 seconds I did all in my power to catch up and
keep up. Bloody hell John, I thought, anybody would think
this is a serious race! As you can imagine when you are truly
at your limit and you are gasping for breath, your heart rate
has pulsed off the monitor and your body is aching from the
intense pain, I was just waiting for him to get out of sprint
mode and get into a nice happy reasonable paced rhythm.
I soon realised he wasn't going to slow,
I think he was making a statement that he was back from his
holidays and about to kick arse again. The trouble was I didn't
want it to be my arse today and beside we were on the same
side.
The first kilometre went by and John still didn't slow to
allow me to get ahead and for him to washride off me. Two
kilometres and I still couldn't get my nose ahead of his.
Three kilometres and I managed to get ahead but instead of
him taking a breather I think he was trying to race me, so
I soon had to drop back.
It was hard to fathom out after my two recent wins how he
had got so quick in such a short time. He was probably thinking
of Donald Trump and every time he bashed the water it relieved
some of the anxiety and uncertainty that Trump has portrayed.
Or was it just that he was back in the game and feeling fit!
The dream that I had the night before, dragging John behind
me and doing all the work making me the hero at the end, apparently
was a dream. It seemed so real at the time!
We could see Doug and Matt up ahead and we were gaining so
I thought we would be overtaking them by Barkers Bridge just
before the half way mark. Mark Alderson and his son Jerry
passed us just after Woodbridge and at the time I was straining
to keep on John's side wash and when their wash collided I
fell back and then I had to paddle directly behind John. To
make matter's worse the young (15 year old) mix team of Yasemin
Ray and Tom Green slipped by.
We passed our first team Ross &Wendy Burdett who were
paddling plastic Epic V7s just before Barkers Bridge. It was
a happy moment even if they were in much slower boats. Jane
Liddle was taking photo at West Swan Bridge. It was a bit
embarrassing as all other teams were side by side and I was
behind John noticeably struggling but having a good washride.
At the Fisherman's Bend corner in Guildford I was just hanging
on and when John cut the corner and paddled in the shallows
I struggled to keep up with him. John is so light he just
skims across the shallow water whereas my weight just causes
the kayak to bog down. I could see I needed to get rid of
my belly and a few kilograms of weight. I managed to catch
back up to him but it took a lot out of me.
Up ahead there were about 5 teams and we were closing up on
a couple of them. We soon passed Anne Warger & Sharna
Farquhar. Sharna was shouting to me to get ahead of John and
let him wash hang me but John was going too fast for me to
do such a thing. We then passed Amanda Nitschke & Janelle
Power and Maya Elston & Kristopher Smith which pleased
me as it meant we had passed four teams.
As John was still powering ahead I needed
some sort of excuse to explain why I couldn't keep up. Maybe
it was because I was carrying my phone, my first aid kit,
a spare jacket, my camera, my wallet so all that gear would
way heavy. Maybe it was because my kayak was heavier than
his and the Chrono kayak he was paddling has proved to be
a faster kayak than the Time bandit I was paddling. I was
trying to think of other excuses, yes I did paddle to the
race and although I didn't believe it would have taken it
out of me, at least it was another good reason. And I needed
more reasons. Maybe it was the age difference? I was told
later that John doesn't paddle the day before a race whereas
I always do a 24 minute race on a Saturday morning, racing
the next day or not so that was it.
Talking about excuses, I remember when Alaine and I paddled
the City Lights 2 years ago. Pete and Heidi who were paddling
the same craft as we were, were just ahead of us at the Causeway.
Alaine and I suddenly got some fishing line wrapped around
our paddles and had to stop to get it off. Luckily the line
snapped because it was caught up in Pete and Heidi's rudder
and the weight of them towing us was too much for the line.
We untangled ourselves and later passed Pete and Heidi. Unbeknown
to them, until the end that was, they were towing about 50
metres or more of fishing line with the hook still attached
all the way from the Causeway. No excuses we still took the
win.
I was thankful when we reached Sandy Beach Reserve as we only
had a 3 kms to go. I was hugely disappointed though that we
hadn't caught up with Doug Hodson & Matt Jones. I mean
Matt was paddling a 22.5kg Epic 5.2 metre V7 plastic ski and
we were in 12-13kgs 6.3m kayaks. Matt was a machine and I
don't think he realises it. When he starts to paddle a lighter,
longer boat he will fly like the wind on a stormy day. We
were also close to Robyn Smith & Anne Harris but they
also kept us at bay although it wasn't surprising as they
were pretty fast paddlers.
We started rounding Ron Courtney Island. John paddled close
to the shore and through the shallows. I just knew I was going
to have a tough time keeping up as he is so light and I am
heavier and when the wash he created lengthened and I got
left behind I had no chance to get back on his wash when he
hit the deep water. I really needed to be only inches from
his tail going through the shallows, which I wasn't so I lost
his wash and he took off leaving me behind. I wanted to shout
out and ask him to wait, but how could I, it would mean I
had submitted defeat, so I just kept paddling hoping to catch
up and gain some respect.
Peter Caldwell &
Martin Watson passing Matt Jones and Doug Hodson.
Stuart Kirby & Brett
Young.
Ann Harris and Robyn
Smith.
John Breed and me
Baillie and Bonnie, the
winners
Brett McDonald &
Mark Lawson, the winners
Luke Egger and his father
Steve. Jason Gardner & Steve Bolger and Rob Jarrett and
Chris Watson paddling doubles took the easy way out.
The wind was against us
once again. I hadn't noticed John looking behind to see where
I was and he said later that he might have capsized if he
had. We passed the Greed team, Lawrence and his son Nicholas
just after passing my home. Nicholas was too fast for his
dad and looked as if he was criss-crossing the river to fill
in time. I passed them and managed to catch up with John just
before the spit post turn. I don't know if he had slowed or
I had speeded up but at least we were back together as a team.
Doug Hodson & Matt Jones and Robyn Smith & Anne Harris
were still ahead. We knew we would beat them on time but we
failed to pass them which was a bit of a bummer. John and
I finally crossed the line together, I was relieved. Thanks
John don't call me, I'll call you.
In the next five minutes all the teams had finished. The organisers
had got the handicapped times pretty spot on. There was a
buzz at the finish.
After a hot dog and a chat, the presentation was ready to
go. Brett McDonald & Mark Lawson won the male section
and Bonnie Metzke & Baillie Liddle won the female section.
Kobe Wilson & Matthew Greed won the junior section and
Yasemin Ray & Tom Green won the mixed section.
Results here: http://www.webscorer.com/racedetails?raceid=87004
When the race wrapped up I got back in my kayak and paddled
home. It was only 400 metres but with the rest my muscles
had tightened a little. Back at home I did a few chores, started
the race report and then about 5.00pm carried my slalom kayak
to the water and went out for another paddle. John hadn't
tired me out, I was ready to go again!
Social
News
Are you a Social
Paddler over 45
The Over 45 Social Canoe
Club is keen to welcome new members, they
paddle each Friday morning from locations on the Swan &
Canning rivers.
Contact Rosemary 0455
739 271 or Sue 0408 897 265"
*************************************
Pam, Les and Sandy
Pam Riordan and I joined
the Sea Kayak WA at a barbeque in Kings Park to celebrate
Sandy Robson return to the big smoke.
Race of the Week
Sprint Kayak
Regatta
dates for this season
Regatta 3 - Saturday 3rd December - Champion Lakes
State Champs - 14th - 15th January - Champion Lakes
Regatta 4 - 26th February - Champion Lakes
**********************
2nd Hand Boats
Take to the Ocean and
go for a Trip or Social Paddle
Mirage 520
Price: $2 600.00
List Price: $3 300.00
You Save: $700.00
The 520 is the entry level sea kayak in the Mirage range -
perfect for lighter paddlers under 85kg who are after a light,
manueovrable and responsive craft.
The 520 is ideal for flat water paddles in lakes, rivers and
estuaries, but can also hold its own in the open ocean, and
with the two water-tight storage hatches can also store all
your gear for an adventure day paddle or overnight camping
trip away from it all.
Specs: The 520 might be the little brother of the 530, but
shares many of the superb features at an entry-level price.
Length: 5.2 m
Beam: 57.5m
Weight: 20kg Kevlar
SPECIAL Kevlar Demo model used a dozen times. ONE
ONLY $2600.00