Instructor and IT Requirements - ACA Surf.

These are the bare minimum requirements to be either an ACA Surf Kayak Instructor or an ACA Surf Kayak Instructor Trainer as of now. A schedule of classes and IDW/ICE's around the country will be posted soon

Level 2 Instructor - (Sit On Top Surf Kayaking).
Have paddled a Sit on Top enough to be comfortable in 3 ft waves.
Have good Level 3 class skills. (advise getting input from instructor.)
(Send in DVD of skills if in doubt - before signing up.)
(Sit On Tops only class - thigh straps required.)

Level 3 Instructor - (Essentials of Surf Kayaking).
Have paddled a rollable short kayak enough to be comfortable in 3 ft waves.
Have great Level 3 class and Instructor skills.
Have passed L2 Surf Instructor Award and taught 3 Level 2 classes.
(or be L4 WWK or CK instructor with good surf time.)
(Surf, WW or Sit On Top kayaks only, all rollable - no sea or touring kayaks.)
(Send in DVD of skills if in doubt - before signing up.)

Level 4 Instructor - (Surf Kayaking).
Paddle a Surf Specific kayak or Ski comfortably in 4 ft waves.
Have great Level 4 class and Instructor skills.
Have passed L3 Surf Award and taught 3 Level 3 classes.
(Surf Kayaks, Wave Skis or any other surf performance kayak.)
(Send in DVD of skills if in doubt - before signing up.)


Requirements for Instructor Trainer

IT Level 2 - (Sit On Top Surf Kayaking).
Be a Level 3 Instructor.
Great at teaching Sit On Top Surf Kayaking.
Great comprehension of all Level 2 topics.
Have taught at least 6 registered L2 and / or L3 classes.

IT Level 3 - (Essentials of Surf Kayaking).
Be a Level 4 Instructor.
Great at teaching Essentials of Surf Kayaking.
Have taught at least 6 registered L3 or L4 classes.

West Coast U.S Team Trials

Kate Smith Pictured. Congratulations

It's time to pick the new US West Kayak Team, to represent the USWKA Team at the world Championships in Portugal July 23rd to August 2nd 2009.

Trials will take place at Santa Cruz Surf Fest March 20-22.
Participants must pre-qualify through previous contests.


Congratulations to the following folks, who have qualified for the team based on points:

HP men: Dave Johnston and Matt Radis

IC Men: Dave Johnston and Dennis Judson
(Dave, the team and coach will determine Dave's position)

HP Women: Kate Smith

IC Women: Jameson Riser


Want to qualify for the team? Sign up for team trials at Santa Cruz in March.Athletes who are selected will be asked to commit to attending the World Championships with the submission of a $200 non-refundable deposit. Top ranked surfers who decline to commit will relinquish their place to the next person on the Ranking List. Monies from this process will be used to facilitate sending athletes to the up coming World Championships.

U.S East Coast Surf Team Trials

February 14-15 at Hanna Park, Jacksonville, Florida.

U.S East are looking for a few good surfers...so come on down and get on the team.
The surf will be up, the sun shining and the water warm.


The United States East Surf Kayak Team represents the United States, along with the US West Surf Kayak Team, at the World Championships of Surf Kayaking, held every other year in countries around the globe by the World Surf Kayaking Association.
The team consists of Men, Women, Masters, and Junior representatives, selected based on circuit rankings and team trial placements over a two year period.
Over the years the US East Team has competed in many World Championship contests, and has placed 2nd or 3rd on several occasions.


This year the world Championships take place in Santa Cruz, Portugal at the end of July.


There are 16 Team positions total, plus a manager and a coach.

High Performance Men: (4 positions)
#1 boat will be selected based on #1 position in Men’s HP East Coast Circuit rankings.
#2-#4 boats will be selected based on finish at team trials.


High Performance Women: (2 positions)
#1 and #2 boats will be selected based on finishes at Team TrialsTo qualify for team trials you must have competed in the Women’s expert or equivalent class at 1 ESKA circuit event.


High Performance Masters (40 and up): (1 position)
#1 boat will be selected based on finishes at Team Trials
To qualify for team trials you must have competed in the Master’s HP expert or equivalent division at 1 ESKA circuit event.


High Performance Juniors : (1 position)
#1 boat will be selected based on finishes at Team TrialsTo qualify for team trials you must have competed in the Junior’s HP expert or equivalent division at 1 ESKA circuit event


International Men: (4 positions)
#1 boat will be selected based on #1 position in Men’s IC East Coast Circuit rankings.
#2-#4 boats will be selected based on finish at team trials.


International Women: (2 positions)
#1 and #2 boats will be selected based on finishes at Team Trials


International Masters (40 and up): (1 position)
#1 boat will be selected based on finishes at Team Trials


International Juniors:(1 position)
#1 boat will be selected based on finishes at Team Trials


Coach and Manager are decided on by the US East team after team trials.
In the event that one paddler pre-qualifys for 2 team positions, he will be asked to choose one position to accept and the other empty position will be put into team trials.

Free Surf Kayak, Sir

Robert Taylor stopped by Savanna Canoe and Kayak to pick up his free composite Mega Surf Kayak. Robert won the striking red and black carbon Kevlar Merlin a while back when he entered Mega's 'name the boat' competition. Savannah Canoe and Kayak was glad to help with the shipping of the boat across the pond.
" I thought the name should start with an 'M', like Malcolm and Mega and that the boat looked wizard like with the very up swept bow" said Robert when asked how he came up with the name Merlin.
After Robert's kids jumped in the boat, dad tried it on and found it a perfect fit. We then headed out to the beach for a quick 'splash and slash'.

Coming from the hills of Tennessee, this is Roberts first surf specific kayak and he was very eager to see how different it handled the surf from his ww boat.

" We will be making more trips to Tybee and Folly in '09". said the elated prize winner.

What a great way to start the year...$2000 of super fantastic high performance surf boat compliments of Mr Mega. This is the second Mega surf boat give away SC& K has been involved with in the last few months.
A big thanks to Malcolm Mega for putting up continued incentives and great support for the paddle surfing scene. Rock on big daddy.
Valley, P&H...your up !.

Surf Kayak IDW 09'

For full details please contact Savannah Canoe & Kayak

Thanks from the ACA National Office!

On behalf of the ACA National Office, we would like to thank the entire Surf Kayak Committee, especially Ben Lawry, for all of their time and efforts to develop the new Surf Kayak program. The SEI Department is excited to work with the Surf Kayak community to continue to grow and develop this exicting kayak discipline on both coasts!

Please feel free to contact Jeremy Oyen or Chris Stec at the ACA National Office if you have additional questions.

Mark your calendars for October 30-November 1, 2009 as the ACA will be hosting another Surf Kayak weekend in Virginia Beach, VA. This event will be for those looking to become certified ACA Surf Kayak Instructors as well as current Instructors in need of an Update. More information will be available in early 2009.

-Chris

ACA Surf Program Up and Running

The ACA is pleased to announce that the Surf Kayak program is now live and running.
The final leg of the process was completed at VA Beach last weekend with an active Instructor Certification Workshop at L2&L3.
With 12 prospective student Instructors and IT's in attendance under the guidence of Ben Lawry, the event even had some quite decent surf. Chris Stec from the SEIC came out to witness first hand the operation.
There are 4 levels under the heading of 'Surf Kayak'. The curriculum starts at Level 1 which is just the basic paddling class. L2 is specific for Sit on Tops and L3 is for any short paddle boat.
At L4 the class is specific for surf designed craft and works heavily on skills progression and advanced rescue techniques.
There are now also two certified Instructor Trainers to facilitate the advancement of surf instructors.
Chuck Conley of VA Beach is now an IT L2 and
Nigel Law of Savannah Canoe & Kayak is IT L3.
Ben Lawry is now an ITE.