New kids on the block, new boat on the beach. “Someone who has recently joined a particular group”, is called the  new kid on the block. In our case: New kids on the beach – we are recently seeing a wider range of boat providers at the coastal rowing beaches. Read here why we benefit from this: 

New kids on the block: a great development:

We have seen a terrific development in the last few months at the coastal regattas in Europe. More and more boat builders are providing Coastal Boats to the event organizers. It started a few years ago: Next to Filippi and Swift, you’ll find new members like Ave, Kanghua, Rubenetti, Leo, Lite Boats and others in the family of boat providers. Off course, all depends on the location. Not every boat producer can affort to carry boats around Europe and have just a few rowers racing in them. But what we see and what we like: Kanghua is really pushing hard and successful offering a great service.

Filippi and Swift are dominating official events

Filippi and Swift are dominating official events. We do not question whether their boats are good, fast or suitable. Important is their enormous financial power to support our sports. Filippi boats have been selected so far to supply the boats for the official beach sprint competitions.  This allowed the boat producer to play with hull designs and do some innovation. It is different for the endurance races: Free boat selection possible for this races.:

Smaller boat companies, in term of sales have recently showed up. Depending on Regattas you find  Rubenettis, Ave’s, Leo’s, Lite’s and Kanghua’s in the sand. All very good suppliers, some are medal winning boats with great speed.

Why is a wider rande of boat suppliers to our benefit?

We can select a coastal boat and match it with the coastal conditions and the racing courses of the event. We as Coastal Rowers can pick from a greater selection of boat companies. We can look at the course and check it’s turning points and stretch distances. There are race course designs where Swift boats do not have an advantages. Some course are to Filipi’s disadvantage. Some layouts favour Rubenetti’s or Kanghua’s

Do we see long stretches and just a few turning points? Are there many buoys, short stretches?  What might be the weather and water conditions?

The more providers we have for the endurance races, the better it is for us. We get more options. The boat providers like  Rubenetti, Kanghua, Leo, Ave are becoming a serious alternative.  Try to match the racing course with the boat hull and select your boat. Keep in mind, that the weather conditions can always change. Most the time the “weather changes” after you have selected your boat. This  becomes tricky once you have selected the boat.

Miramon and his yellow Kanghua carbon rocket

The above said, does not apply to Adrian Miramon, old at new world champion. Not a new kid on the block. This man is presently unbeatable. No matter wich boat he is in. He rows in his yellow carbon Kanghua rocket, wining all the important races.

While Miramon has made up his choice, we can pick from a greater selection. It is worth considering different boat styles. Maybe you do test rows and try to get a feeling for the next regatta and decide wich boat shape fit best to the racing course. The boat rental fee should not influence your decision. Do you want to row in a Kanghua rocket? We will make it happen. Send Email to us.

These are the most recent boat providers (maybe not complete) seen at championships:
Big three: Filipi (1x, 2x, 4x, BS and ED Races), Swift (1x, 2x, 4x, ED), Kanghua, (1x, 2x, 4x, ED)
Local: Rubenetti Coastal Boats (1x, 2x, ED), Leo Coastal Boats (1x,2x, ED), Ave Coastal Boats (1x, 2x, 4x, ED)