Women are catching a case of kayakmania
0:07 AM 3/13/04
Anita Clark Wisconsin State Journal

Women are learning to paddle their own canoes. <

Or, in many cases, they're learning to paddle their own lightweight, easy-to-handle kayaks. <

"Women are taking to paddling in droves. The nice thing about a kayak is it's really the great equalizer," said Forrest Aguirre, inventory analyst for Rutabaga. "It's not about muscle. It's about technique." <

By early Friday evening, people were pouring through the doors for Canoecopia, the annual paddle sports show presented by Rutabaga, the store at 220 W. Broadway. <

From a sidewalk sale on Park Street that sold fewer than a dozen canoes in the mid- 1970s, the show has grown into an international exposition expected to draw 20,000 to 25,000 people this weekend. Between 600 and 700 boats will be sold. <

Attractions at Canoecopia include not only a wondrous display of boats - from handcrafted wooden canoes to a folding kayak - but speakers on topics ranging from arctic expeditions to guerrilla paddling in northern Illinois. <

One new product this year is the Kestrel, a kayak from Creative Designs of Winona, Minn. It's a 12-foot beauty, 40 to 46 pounds, in trendy colors like tangerine and speckled mango. <

One potential buyer climbed into a Kestrel to try it out. <

"I'm thinking of finding something lighter," said Diane Walker, 57, of Hartford. She's been kayaking since 1998 and calls the sport her passion. But her late husband used to help her put the kayak on her vehicle, so she wants a lighter craft and might buy one this weekend. <

Another shopper was Steven McComis, 6, of Oconomowoc, who's going to paddle a kayak this year instead of sitting with his mother, Laura. His sister, Erin, 13, also paddles on her own. <

"What really intrigued me was I could put it up on the car by myself," Laura McComis said. "I think it irritates my husband a little bit." <

Progress in manufacturing is creating lighter kayaks even for beginning recreational paddlers, said Chris Mitchell, executive director of the Trade Association of Paddle Sports. In town from Olympia, Wash., for Canoecopia, he agreed that paddling is increasingly popular with women. <

"So much of it is not upper body strength, and women are so interested in the natural world. They want to get out," he said. <

Allison Naber, who sells the Kestrel kayaks, says up to 60 percent of customers are female. <

"It's recreation that you can do by yourself," she said. "It's skill, not strength, so women generally excel. They have a higher learning curve when it comes to kayaking." <

Kayak prices range from less than $300 up to $6,000, with most people spending $800 to $1,600, said Peter Graper, Rutabaga's sales manager. <