Outdoor Retailer Show impressions and interviews

[blueplanetsurf]

I went to the Outdoor Retailer show, August 3-6 in Salt Lake City, right after the Molokai to Oahu race.  This was our first time to the show so I have nothing to compare it to and I was impressed by the scale of the outdoor industry and by the booths of some of the SUP companies.
We displayed our Blue Planet gear in a small, simple 10x10 booth as part of the Hawaii Pavilion.  It was great to be part of the show and we did a lot of networking, it seemed like most of the VIP's in the industry were there. 
I got to walk around the show a bit and shot some video interviews of products that I found interesting whenever I had the chance.  I'm planning to post the interviews on youtube on a weekly basis and will add them to this thread as they are posted for Zoners to check out and comment on.

These first two interviews are of Oscar Chalumpsky, 12 times Molokai Surfski World Champion presenting the Motionize paddle logger technology and giving some great tips on how to catch, surf and connect bumps. 

The second interview is with Travis Grant talking about the Molokai Race, where he finished second to Kai Lenny after winning it the last two years, enjoy and share your thoughts.

[Turtle]

Nice! Thanks for sharing.

-Turtle

[Night Wing]

Nice videos. I'll be looking to seeing the other videos you'll be adding to this thread.

Thanks for sharing the two videos.

[blueplanetsurf]

Here is another interview with Live Watersports owner John Kleckner.  They make some unique fishing/ touring double hulled standamaran boards that are very stable and have good glide.  I tried out the 14' board at the Outdoor Retailer demo day and liked how it felt, a great stable platform for fishing/ touring/ camping etc. that still has good glide:

[Night Wing]

I'd never seen a twin cat hull like paddleboard. Seems interesting. And that one he mentioned was 28 pounds which is just 1 pound more than my Hobie. Too bad there isn't one for me to demo because I would like to compare their 12'6" cat hull against my 12'2" Hobie ATR-2.

[blueplanetsurf]

Twin hulls have been around for a while, SIC makes them for racing and we have built a couple of prototypes here at Blue Planet as well, I used a 18' Standamaran in the California 100 race this summer. 
http://blueplanetsurf.com/blogs/news/stand-up-paddling-100-miles-in-one-day-the-california-100-race

The Live Watersports Cats were the first ones I have seen for recreational/ fishing/ touring use where the design makes a lot of sense.  They combine low drag with very good stability, as all the volume is on the rails from nose to tail.  One of the downsides is that they are difficult to turn, which is not a big problem on most lakes and rivers.  As the hulls are narrow and rounded, drag is quite low and can be kept at a good cruising speed with relatively low effort.  PonoBill likes to point out that much of the drag is created by the wakes intersecting between the hulls and this seems to limit the top speed.

[PonoBill]

Yup, fun to look down between the hulls and watch it happen.

Nice videos, Robert.

[Off-Shore]

Robert, thanks for all you vids on the Outdoor Retailer Show. I've been going to that show for 10+ years (both winter and summer) and before there was a single SUP seen. It is amazing how it has grown and how big SUP has become in it. Every time I come back from the show I feel I want to buy one of those trailer pop-up tents and live outdoors for the rest of my life. Such a great vibe.

[blueplanetsurf]

Here are a couple more videos from the Outdoor Retailer show.
The first one shows the Futures Fins lineup, they have a lot of cool Stand Up Paddle fin options:


In this second video Dan Gavere talks about the Starboard Eco Board project, using plant based Eco Resin and environmentally friendly packaging, and shows some of the features of the 2017 Starboard lineup:

[Night Wing]

Robert,

Thanks for adding these last two videos. I was all "eyes and ears" on the Future Fins video. A lot of those fins piqued my interest.

Thanks for taking the time and effort to make and then post these videos on the Zone.

[blueplanetsurf]

John Amundson was showing off the line of Amundson Hawaii boards.  He goes over the new features of the 2017 14' TRX Stand Up Raceboard model, which looks really nice.  John has been designing the Amundson line of SUP's for a long time and has recently taken on more responsibilities, good work John!

[PonoBill]

Cool videos, I was wondering where Dan got off to. I ran into Gerry Lopez at the event center parking lot in Hood River late this afternoon after I finished my paddle, he just got back from the show. Said it was huge. I didn't realize it includes all the boat stuff, hunting and fishing, as sell as surfing, windsurfing, kiting, etc.

[Night Wing]

I enjoyed listening to John Amundson's technical comments concerning his line of boards along with the different construction for his models.

[supthecreek]

Excellent Vids Robert.... thanks!

[comeu]

Robert BP, Thanks for sharing these great videos . You had a booth to run and then managed to do all these interviews! Great