In September 2008 California based British sea kayaker Sean Morley will attempt to break the record for the fastest circumnavigation of Canada’s Vancouver Island.

The records currently stand at 23 days 10 hours for a single kayak set by Joe O’Blenis and 19 and a half days for a double kayak set by Kieron Tastagh and Jeff Norville, both in 2007. Paddling a Rapier 20 single kayak manufactured by Valley Sea Kayaks, and representing Kokatat Watersports Wear, Sean aims to complete the 700mile journey in less than 18 days.

“Vancouver Island can present some of the most challenging conditions a kayaker can face including fierce winds and huge waves off the notorious headlands of Cape Scott and the Brooks Peninsular, high surf and treacherous reefs guarding the remote beaches of the west coast and raging tidal rapids reaching speeds of 15knots in the myriad of channels separating the Vancouver Island from the mainland” says Sean.

Sean now lives in California where he runs River and Ocean LLC; a sales and customer service agency in the paddlesports industry, and is the Western region sales representative for Kokatat. He has been a member of Kokatat’s athlete team since 2006 and is the current World Masters Surf Kayak Champion in the High Performance category. In 2004 Sean completed the first solo circumnavigation of the UK and Ireland and all the inhabited islands; a six month, 4500mile expedition and the longest journey ever undertaken by kayak in British waters.

Sean will begin his attempt to break the record for the fastest circumnavigation of Vancouver Island immediately after the West Coast Sea Kayak Symposium on September 22nd 2008. You can follow his progress by following the links on the expedition website:www.expeditionkayak.com and his blog http://riverandocean.blogspot.com/

###

Get “Into the Water” with Kokatat Watersports Wear, an independent manufacturer committed to growing the sport since 1971! Please contact Lisa Beckstead, Kokatat Public Relations representative, at (775) 225-8039, or e-mail at [mail address protected from spambots with javascript] . Visit us at www.kokatat.com.