The Soul Waterman – Proton paddle is hitting production.
From Corran:
After some soul searching (pun intended) of our ultimate goals with the paddle line, we once more have the paddles ready to go. The biggest focus…. the main reason for delays… was making the paddles bomb proof. Like seriously strong. For this we decided to move the production to South Africa, one of the harshest environments you’ll ever find for paddling equipment. If stuff lasts here, it’ll last anywhere.
The paddle is available in lengths ranging from 188cm to 200cm.
We’ve partnered up with maxpaddle, South Africas premiere paddle manufacturer (who also make some of our SUP designs). They’ve been making what amount to almost unbreakable (and light) SUP paddles for several seasons now, as well as a decade of experience making whitewater marathon racing paddles. In a nutshell… they make awesome paddles and so it made sense to produce ours there.
We’ve remained true to our original paddle design goals, but shifted our focus more towards sheer strength and wearability. It’ll be worth every minute of the added delays. It’s also why we decided to completely change direction with the branding. We wanted to separate ourselves from some of the strength and quality issues related to some of the early “grip style” paddles from the early 2000’s. This is after all a completely new beginning based loosely on proven ideas.
The Powerstick Proton to give the paddle its full name has paddle shaft constructed from 100% carbon, with a carbon/kevlar blade construction, and Sanoprene grips which are molded directly onto the shaft. The grips give the paddle the ergonomic feel as a paddle with a crank shaft.
Now, will Corran be able to make a set for a righty that paddles lefty?
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