The Global Paddling Community

What is it about New Zealanders? For a small country way down under lost in the antipodes, far away from anywhere but Australia (which makes this even more remarkable) one would expect the population's gene pool to have gone to pot. But obviously not, maybe there is a parallel to the Galapagos Islands. Look at Sir Ed Hillary, the All Blacks, Neil Finn, Kiri Tikanawa, the 4 minute mile runners Jack Lovelock, Peter Snell and John Walker, Earnest Rutherford, Sam Neil...

Bliss-stick Kayaks

Point of fact, if you meet a kiwi, they'll entertain, excel AND have attitude. The Bliss-Stick 'Blitz Special' is personified by these qualities.

This little boat is creating a big noise at an international level. Its only a little company, stuck out in the wap waps of Taihape New Zealand, but Bliss-Stick boats embarrass the designers of far bigger companies. There are no hydrodynamics certificates or engineering degrees here. This is the result of pure Kiwi ingenuity and intuition.

Since it first sprung from the mould, the Blitz Special's bag of wins include the Australian Nationals 00, the New Zealand Nationals 00, the NZ Selection Rodeo for Spain 01, NZ Kaituna Rodeo 01, the New Zealand BullerFest two years running, and bronze at the Oregon Cup 01. And on the road to the World's, gold at the Lofer Rodeo 01 (Congratulations Mark Eames!).

Then at the World's over half the New Zealand team was paddling the Blitz's. Congratulations Paul Eames (5th OC1 and 13th C1), Johann Roozenburg (10th Junior K1), Mark Eames (28th Men's K1), Jared Mehann ( 34th Men's K1), Nick Wimset (71th Men's K1), Lawrence Simpson (45th Junior K1), Helen Brosnan (39th Woman's K1) and Jo Lucas (24th woman's K1).

Who's making them? Team Charles and Coke Sage, and mould Jedi Wal - who left the Perception camp at the opportunity to work with Bliss-Stick. Charles is the character behind the lines and shapes. Years before, Sage designed the Incept self-bailing raft, a concept now used widely around the world by commercial rafters - despite initial concern that his design literally had holes in it. He also designed 'Sally', a rigid blow-up, fully backpackable kayak that can be carried into the classic and remote New Zealand wilderness rivers. 'Sally's' source of creation is widely speculated to be his lonely days as a back country shepherd, where blow-up company was better than no company at all...

Then kayaking took over...and Bliss-Stick. Charles debuted the Blitz at the 1999 Worlds in New Zealand, coming in at a very respectable11th place. The Bliss-Stick stable includes the Blitz Special, the standard Blitz, the Freestyler and the newest addition, the Life-Styler. The Blitz is essentially the same as the Blitz Special, just not quite as slicey for those who prefer to keep a little drier and more horizontal. The Freestyler is a new boat, the first one out of the mould only a few months back. It's a sweet boat, a very similar hull and shape to the Blitz's, just bigger dimensions for those who can't squeeze their corporate bodies or moose feet into the Blitz, but still want to have a blast in a low volume freestyle boat. For smaller paddlers, its also a good river runner/freestyle boat combination.

And the first Life-Styler was literally still cooling from the mould as Sage boarded the big plane for Spain. Still a thoroughbred in its own rite the 'Styler' ain't the freestyle machine Bliss-Stick is known for. In many respects the Life-Styler fits the definition of a creek boat. Its design allows tight technical turns in steep full-on water. Its volume is generous - sitting higher in the water and moving faster than the Bliss-Stick smaller boats with its slightly longer hull length. The cockpit is wider allowing more comfort and faster exit, the edges more forgiving in boils and eddy lines. Underneath, there's still a hull that is going to rock on a wave when asked to. Its flat in nature but without the definate plane faces of the freestyle boats, and with more mellow chines and edges. The volume is relatively high at 235 litres, yet Charles Sage still throws it end over end in a hole, proving this puppy still wants to play.

Here is a boat that is going to please a wider range of people. Big water junkies and creek boaters will be kept quiet, but also, those after a bit of life-style without 'life fear', heading from the learning grounds into bigger or more technical waters are going to find this boat a real relief. Its fast enough and with relatively high volume to avoid the mandatory backloops and verticality experienced during the learning curve associated with the Blitz's, yet its far from being short of style and performance.

Keep an eye out for this little company, it will be around for a long while yet, producing boats that are on the edge, demanding respect from the bigger companies, until one day soon, it may leave them in it's wake.

For further information check out Bliss-stick's site www.bliss-stick.com.

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Editor: Bliss-Stick are working on a new ultra short, high rocker, mega fun playboat called the Flip-Stick. Check out the pics here and here.