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 Montreal, Canada.

Competitions

Addison competed internationally in whitewater slalom in the early 1990s. He finished 38th in the K-1 event at the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona. In 1987 Addison successfully ran the highest waterfall ever attempted in a kayak: a 31m vertical drop into Lake Tignes in France. The record stood for over a decade until it was broken in 2004 by Ed Lucero's 34m waterfall in the Northwest Territories of Canada.

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 obtained a silver medal in 1995 and 1999, 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

He made a name for himself in the whitewater kayaking community by pioneering a number of innovative designs (including the planing hull kayak which was Addison's invention and is the technology by which all modern kayaks are based). He worked for Perception Kayaks before starting Savage Designs in 1994, leaving in 1996. 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.

Riot Kayaks

The Riot brand was notorious for cutting edge designs and a go-for-broke attitude to freestyle kayaking and extreme white water. Addison was responsible in part for the design of one of the world's best selling kayaks, the Corsica, in 1990. In 1995, he went on to design the Fury, which was the world's first planing-hulled river kayak. These were followed by 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 have 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.

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

Kickstarter Take Apart Paddleboard (Hydra)

In November 2013, Addison started a campaign on Kickstarter to design and build take-apart, standup paddleboards. 71 backers pledged $36,620, successfully funding the project in December 2013. Initially, the finished paddleboards were scheduled to ship in late spring of 2014, giving Addison adequate time "to iron out any potential kinks". On September 29, 2014, Addison updated the backers, letting them know that after numerous, unforeseen delays, the board design was finally finished and needed only minor tweaks before going into production. However, production was delayed again, and in January, 2015, Addison again updated backers letting them know production was now scheduled for March of that year, and boards would be shipped in a couple of weeks.

Shortly after, Addison released a statement letting backers know that he had sold the design for the take-apart paddleboard, dubbed the Hydra, to Kayak Distribution along with his company Corran SUP. He reassured backers they would still receive their paddleboards, but retracted that two days later when he admitted Kayak Distribution would not honor the terms of the Kickstarter project, and backers would not receive paddleboards.

Kayak Distribution stated they did not assume any of Addison's liabilities with the purchase, but Addison claims otherwise. Several backers have begun legal proceedings to recoup their losses.

References

• Sports-Reference.com profile

External links

• Imagine Surfboards surf school website
• The Wave, a video on Montreal surfing by Corran Addison