Corran Addison

Corran Descy Addison (born February 6, 1969 in South Africa) and is a slalom canoeist, whitewater kayaker, surfer and surfboard designer. He is now based in San Clemente, California.

Beginnings

Addison began kayaking in South Africa. He and his friends did not know about the Eskimo Roll until he and his friends saw a paddler roll in a video. They were astonished, replayed the segment of the tape, and taught themselves to roll.[1]

Competitions

Addison competed internationally in whitewater slalom in the early 1990s. He finished 34th in the K-1 event at the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona.[2] In 1987, Addison successfully ran the highest waterfall ever attempted in a kayak: a 31m vertical drop into Lake Tignes in France. The unofficial record stood for over a decade until it was broken in 2004 by Ed Lucero's 34m waterfall in the Northwest Territories of Canada. In 1989, he famously ran 85-foot Looking Glass Falls in a Batman costume. The river was running low, so the landing was shallow, and Addison broke his back.[3]

Addison competed for South Africa in a number of world freestyle kayaking championships, winning more events than any other competitor in the years 1993 to 1999, and earned a silver medal in 1995 and 1999,[4] and bronze in 1998. He also produced a number of kayaking films between 2002 and 2007.

Design career

Addison has had a long career in kayak design.

Early career

As well as a competitor, he became known in the whitewater kayaking community as a designer by pioneering a number of innovative designs (including the planing-hull kayak, an invention of Canada's Necky Kayaks which Addison brought to the mass market[5] and which is the technology on which most modern whitewater kayaks are based). Working for Perception Kayaks, Addison was responsible in part for the design of one of the world's best selling creek boats, the Corsica, in 1990.[6] He left Perception and started Savage Designs in 1994, leaving in 1996. In 1995, he designed the Fury, one of the world's first planing-hulled river kayaks. His marketing at Savage Designs laid the groundwork for the Generation X marketing that was to be followed by his next start-up company, Riot Kayaks, where he worked as chief designer and head of marketing.[7]

Riot Kayaks

The Riot brand was notorious for cutting edge designs and a go-for-broke attitude to freestyle kayaking and extreme white water. One boat which he designed was the Glide, the kayak that is reputed to have been responsible for a last-minute rule change at the 1997 world championships because it was so far ahead in technology that he was considered to have an unfair advantage by the other athletes. He also designed the Disco in 1999, the design which all modern freestyle kayaks are measured against today.

Addison was in his day considered somewhat controversial in the world of whitewater kayaking by his brash and cocksure attitude. However, the young kayakers of today mirror the young Addison in many ways and so it would seem he helped pave the way to a new generation of kayaking which subsists in today's pro paddlers.

Imagine Surfboards

After leaving Riot in 2003, he began designing for Dragorossi, a new Kayak brand out of Italy. He was already losing interest in the sport at that time and had begun moving on to surfing. Addison now owns and designs for his surf company called Imagine Surfboards, based out of Montreal. Imagine Surfboards is considered a cutting-edge company in the field of sustainable and ecological business, and has been leading the way in promoting responsible manufacturing in the surf industry. He is also a competitive Stand Up Paddle Surfer and competed in the 2010 Hawaiian World Cup.

Corran SUP

IN 2012 Corran started his latest venture, Corran SUP, based out of Southern California. The brand pioneered paddleboards for use in whitewater, and focused on "made in the USA", producing almost everything in the United States. Corran built a reputation as a leading shaper of both surfing and racing paddleboard designs, with several of his designs getting rave reviews in the industry magazines. In January 2015 the brand was sold to Kayak Distribution.[8]

He pioneered surfing the Habitat 67 wave in Montreal.[9] His company Imagine Surfboards offers river surfing lessons, teaching over 3,500 students in Montreal since 2005.[10][11] Imagine also manufactures and sells surfboards, suits and accessories.

Soul Waterman

In 2015 Corran started his latest company, SOUL WATERMAN. Based in Montreal Canada, where he started Riot, the brand is designing a new line of highly innovative whitewater specific paddleboards and kayaks. Since the enterprise is new little information exists to date about the venture.

Other Sports

Corran retired from competitive kayaking in 2002, and since then has gone on to compete in Paddleboarding and SUP Surfing. He has competed at a world class level, taking part in the surfing world Cup, and has competed and won SUP racing events internationally. Corran was one of the first people in the United States to be certified by the National Ski Patrol on a Snowboard. He was a sponsored rider for many years, racing in the Mid Atlantic series for several years. Corran is also a licensed motorcycle racer, competing on sportbikes.

References

  1. ↑ Ford, Kent, interview with Addison in Take the Wild Ride, video, c. 1993.
  2. ↑ 1992 Summer Olympics official report Volume 5., p. 150
  3. ↑ David Ferrell, Los Angeles Times, Chasing a Dream and the River, February 21, 1998. Retrieved June 16, 2015.
  4. ↑ World Freestyle Kayaking Championships '99 New Zealand
  5. ↑ Jesse Metzger, Newton North High School CAPStone Research Program, The Evolution of Freestyle Kayaking, May 2014
  6. ↑ Bluegrass Whitewater Association, Corran Addison Kayaker, January/February 2004
  7. ↑ Playak.com, Q&A with Corran Addison about his homecoming to Riot
  8. ↑ Martin Vilaboy, InsideOutdoor Magazine, Kayak Distribution Acquires Corran SUP, December 1, 2014. Retrieved June 16, 2015.
  9. ↑ Woodley, Matthew (June 9–15, 2005). "Surf’s up St. Lawrence". Montreal Mirror. Archived from the original on 2009-09-08. Retrieved 2009-07-10.
  10. ↑ Lamey, Mary. "Everybody's gone surfin' on the St. Lawrence River". Montreal Gazette (Canwest). Retrieved 2009-07-11.
  11. ↑ Hufman, Jesse (July 10, 2009). "Surfing a River When the Wave Doesn’t Move". New York Times. Retrieved 2009-07-10.

External links

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