The 2005 Stockholm Kayak Marathon

Crunch proves its capabilities at Stockholm Kayak Marathon
Sunny weather and strong headwinds are now traditional ingredients of the Stockhom Kayak Marathon. Over 350 paddlers competed on the 40 km and 20 km races. Point65 sponsored the event for the second year running and it was fantastic to see so many Point 65 kayaks competing!

Martin Nordstrand paddled the Open Class in the Pro-X surfski prototype into 4th place in the 40km race and generated a huge amount of interest for this model. But the biggest upset was when Paul Rosenquists came in second place only 20 secs after the winner of the 20km sea kayak competition in a Point65 Crunch! Paddling was really tough in the lead where Paul battled with the more extreme competition models. Who says that Rotomoulded kayaks need to be slow and heavy?



Paul hard at work

The fastest woman in the 40 km race wasLouisa Rolandsdotter Brichard in a Point65 XP who had warmed up this summer by setting a record for the "Blå Bandet" a few weeks earlier. To achieve the "Blå Bandet" (Blue Ribbon) you have to paddle along the Swedish coast from the Norwegian border to the Finnish border. Louisa paddled 2392 km in 56 days. Louisa held the record for a week before getting beaten by 3 hours!



Many competitors tested the Pro-X after the race

It was wonderful to see Jakob Hammarbäck compete in his Point65 XP, which he won in last years competitors lottery. Jakob placed third in the race and went home happily with his cup.

After the award ceremonies, time came for the lottery among all competitors. For the 3rd year running a Point65 XP was the most coveted price. The happy winner was Erika Merchel who competed in a borrowed kayak and became even happier when she could choose a light blue X-Lite which she brought home.

all in all a fabulous day – see you again next year!

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