Greg Spencer

PADDLESPORTS TRADE SHOW

In pretty much any setting, a trio of Anna Bruno (Kayak Session Magazine), Caz Goodall (King of the Alps) and Sabrina Barm (Esquif) would stand out. Those in the know would highlight other key women at PaddleExpo, such as Lauren Mackereth (Pyranha), Jutta Kaiser (HF) and Martina (Lettmann) – but if one thing truly stood out at PaddleExpo it was an industry which was genuinely starting to cater for women and girls on a truly meaningful scale.

PaddleExpo special Nürnberg, Germany

OK, women’s fit boats and kit may have been around in a small way for a long time – but at this year’s giant trade show we saw range, variety and choice. That was only partially true in kayaks and canoes, but it stood out in almost everything else! Yes, the most celebrated PFD launch of the show was unisex – but on some stalls, just about everything was both male and female fit, and some even had a meaningful range of women’s fit colour choices!

NRS

If the show had a second notable theme it was plastics. David Bain of NRS could have pointed to NRS and its decade-long switch away from petroleum based neoprene as evidence of a significant history of taking this sort of thing seriously – but what was striking was how the whole NRS team focused, instead, on how much further they (and the rest of the industry) were committed to going.

PeakUK

Recently, British manufacturer PeakUK have been winning plaudits for their work to clean up the river Derwent and in Nuremberg won the much coveted Special Jury Prize for their ongoing attempts to reduce their environmental footprint and increase awareness of the environmental challenges facing our sport and industry. In receiving the award, Pete Astle’s team showcased fabric containing recycled yarn and highlighted the lengths they’d gone to in eliminating much traditional packaging.

Palm Equipment

At the centre of the hall, a huge British contingent at Palm showcased a Terek Jacket manufactured using post-industrial waste. Palm also had a stand highlighting their switch from petroleum based neoprene and their switch from PVA based glues and packaging. Across the aisle, they also had recreational Islander Kayaks made from material collected from beach cleans and salvaged marine industry waste.

Grabner

One striking new whitewater offering was Grabner’s Hype: an inflatable solo kayak made of ‘car tyre rubber’ and rated for Class IV rivers. Typically, this was marketed as ‘maximal environment friendly’ for everything from the materials and processes used in manufacturing through the durability and ease of repair (long service life) to the end of life recyclability. Is any of this new? Perhaps not, but the intensity around it certainly is.

Whetman Equipment

Of course, trade shows are also about showcasing more traditional innovation – and here, once more, a British Manufacturer led the way. If an award were to be given for the manufacturer whose product range showed the greatest commitment to product Development, Whetman Equipment would have been this year’s runaway winner – though HF deserve a special mention for having diverted product development effort into that age old challenge of managing our roof rack straps when they are not in use!

Pyranha

On the whitewater kayak front, Pyranha rather stole the show with their prototype Ozone: a carbon beauty. Lots else also attracted attention, with Pyranha’s 9R2 taking the Whitewater Product of the Year Award ahead of the Dagger Rewind. On the Ocean going front, Pyranha’s sister company P&H edged out Sea Kayak UK’s Echo to grab the Product of the Year Award for their Valkyrie – which combines elements of SurfSki and sea kayak to give what is billed as a new style speed machine.

Open canoes

On the open canoe front, the show was very much stolen by Bear Paulsen and Craig Hill with the Northstar Canoes (and paddles, and accessories) on the Marsport stand. They had (by some margin) the best presented display and most spectacular looking craft (in any category). Other key players from assorted leading open canoe manufacturers were also doing the rounds. These included Graham Mackereth of Venture, James Dennis and Steve Childs of Silverbirch, Justin Snell of Hou, Bill Kueper and Richard Bennett of Wenonah and Jacques Chassé of Esquif.

Corran Addison

Looking back, PaddleExpo 2019 showcased much that was far from inspiring, and much of the conversation reflected an industry facing very real challenges, but finding beacons of hope was not hard. Little things inspired. New paddles from Werner and Kober. New maps and guidebooks. A new junior ski called the ‘Baby Boom!’ oh – and Corran Addison, whose passion for pushing boundaries with kiddie whitewater kayaks continued to lay down the challenge to everyone else.

The history of PaddleExpo

Like so much else in Paddlesport, PaddleExpo started as a simple concept. In 2003 the offer was a free event Hotel Post in Rohrdorf with eight major exhibitors. In 2004, PaddleExpo had 47 major exhibitors and had to be moved to a sports centre with over four times the floorspace. By 2005, 95 exhibitors were involved, the event had been relocated to Nuremberg, the floorspace was 18 times what it had been two years earlier, and 1,000 visitors were being attracted from 33 different countries.

By 2010, the scale of PaddleExpo was gargantuan. Massive uptake led to 163 exhibitors occupying 6,240 square metres of floor in a hall which had to cater for over 1,300 visitors. The event had most certainly grown into the biggest paddlesports-exclusive trade fair on the planet – and that trend has continued!

This year, 293 brands were exhibited on 160 stalls as 1,737 visitors attended from 48 countries and the headline figures don’t do justice to the breadth and depth of the event because these days, PaddleExpo is about a lot more than just trade stands and manufacturers showcasing their wares.

The first day of PaddleExpo 2019 saw the trade in full ‘go’ mode – catering for visitors to their stands, holding pre-scheduled meetings, checking out rival offers and then having after show socials. The sense of being in an industry ‘together’ was quite palpable – not least because most of the key players have known each other (and commonly worked together) for decades.

In short, PaddleExpo has become a truly international meetup and networking event where the production, distribution and service side of the trade connect with just about everyone else with a professional interest in paddlesport – so it’s now a pretty efficient way to catch up with the movers and shakers in every branch of paddlesport!