Ventura Canoe & Kayak Club

2026 Winter Update

Drew Story — Tue, 17 Feb 2026 23:32:37 +0000

Nearly all of our club members took part in the Hal Rosoff Classic “Short Course” race at the Newport Aquatic Center on Valentine’s Day this past Saturday. (One of our paddlers couldn’t attend due to illness, another due to being at a team boat training camp in Gig Harbor, Washington, and a couple did not make our group photo…) Despite somewhat rough conditions and a strong headwind on the…

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2025 Annual Report and Board Minutes

Drew Story — Thu, 01 Jan 2026 20:43:53 +0000

We worked hard to improve our equipment and infrastructure this year, selling older unused equipment, buying a new utility trailer, and purchasing a new Hody Sport training K-2 among other improvements. Some of our boats are over 30 years old and still quite useful and good for our club members. We are sure the purchases we made this year if treated with the same respect will last at least as…

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Fall Update 2025

Drew Story — Tue, 18 Nov 2025 17:59:31 +0000

We wrote in our Summer Update about getting a new double kayak from Hody Sports. This K-2 is a “touring” or training boat, being a bit wider and much more stable than the racing K-2s we also have. This boat we had thought would be in Seattle for us to pick up at Nationals in August but instead, it didn’t arrive in a shipping container from Hungary until this Fall. We were stuck wondering if we’…

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What It Takes to Build a Sprint Paddling Club

Drew Story — Thu, 13 Nov 2025 00:49:05 +0000

Perhaps the title should include “in the United States of America” as the requirements are vastly different in other countries. The United States prioritizes sports played in our high schools, and especially sports that have collegiate and professional leagues like basketball, baseball, and American football. Most Americans have never heard of sprint canoe and kayak. Coach Drew here.

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Summer Update 2025

Drew Story — Thu, 21 Aug 2025 18:49:17 +0000

The club has had a very busy summer! Here are some of the highlights – While we also purchased new equipment, we sold a great deal of our older inventory this summer. We found new homes for two surfskis, five kayaks, and one canoe, plus a few of our oldest paddles. This older equipment had largely gone unused – some items for several years – and all of it will now get regular use…

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Spring Update 2025

Drew Story — Mon, 19 May 2025 15:58:20 +0000

Spring is the start of our racing season in sprint canoe and kayak, and our paddlers are taking part in races that they can find in California. We had a U16 athlete take part in the Junior World Team Trials in Chula Vista in April, competing against athletes two to four years older knowing this would be a learning opportunity with little hope of making the team at this early stage in his career.

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Winter 2025 Update

Drew Story — Thu, 13 Mar 2025 20:14:37 +0000

For our club, winter is a time for endurance activities and refining of long term goals. Our club members have been taking part in some distance races in San Diego and Newport, with peaking goals set for this summer’s Olympic Hopes Regatta trials in June, and the Nationals in August. The coaches and Board of Directors have been looking at our recruiting goals. We are going to try something…

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2024 Annual Report & Board Meeting Minutes

Drew Story — Fri, 10 Jan 2025 18:24:23 +0000

Below is our 2024 Annual Report which will provide details about our funding, expenses, and the state of our club. We are grateful to the support from our community which has enabled us to be on sound and solid footing. VCKC 2024 Annual ReportDownload in PDF Format Report from Board Secretary, Drew Story on September 2, 2024: Nationals & Competition We had a very successful…

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Fall 2024 Update

Drew Story — Sun, 01 Dec 2024 15:14:37 +0000

We’ve got three new members to the club this Fall — one adult, two youth. With the addition this summer of a club member from the late 80s and early 90s returning to paddle, plus our second and third year paddlers, we have a steady group of paddlers showing up to our off-season practices now. Once we lost our afternoon daylight, we have moved to club workouts being only on Sunday mornings…

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Summer and Nationals 2024 Update

Drew Story — Sat, 07 Sep 2024 21:46:41 +0000

We had a very successful trip to Lake Lanier for Nationals at the first week of August, with the club earning roughly 18 medals in all. Gus Peterson, a Masters athlete and Ventura club member from the 70s and 80s, came to race with us traveling from San Jose by himself and was our high point winner with 4 gold medals, 2 silvers, and a bronze to his credit. Not bad for a guy that hasn’t been to a…

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