About FastPaddler

Why the name FastPaddler? It’s easy to remember.

Whether paddling on the beaches of Cape Cod, shores of Rhode Island or locally in the Sudbury River, curious folks are always approaching us and inquiring about the paddle or boat we’re using. It is often difficult for them to write down a website name (if on the water) and our thought is “FastPaddler” will be easy to recall.

Higher performance then the typical kayak paddler.

So while the name is not to portray the image that we are the “fastest paddlers”, it does reflect that our community of paddlers are faster than a typical weekend kayaker. BRAČA-SPORT® is one of the highest performance paddling brands in the world!

FastPaddler represents all paddling sports.

We don’t just carry surf ski and kayaks paddles, we carry the entire line of Braca-sport paddles! We have inventory of Braca Dragon paddles, Braca SUP, including the brand new Marlin SUP and the also the new flatwater SUP racing paddle the Maui SUP. We also have Braca Polo and Braca Outrigger. And of course with our original focus on surf ski and racing kayak paddles we always have Braca IV and Braca XI Van Dusen ’92 in stock so that Braca’s carbon wing paddles are available for paddlers in the USA. That’s the reason we started – to get high quality Braca-sport paddles in our community of racers – and we are happy to provide these exceptional Braca-sport paddles to athletes in all paddling sports.

How FastPaddler Got Started

Getting started with paddling.

I currently paddle a Nelo Sete and Nelo 560 XXL for most of my training sessions. I started paddling 15 years ago. I grew up on the ocean in Connecticut as well as being a competitive swimmer in college, so always looking for ways to be around water. I also had taken up windsurfing during my twenties. With a new Achilles injury preventing my running, paddling a kayak seemed like a great sport to try. I live very close to a long river – the Sudbury River – as well as taking frequent trips to Atlantic Ocean at Cape Cod and my hometown Groton, Conn.

Live near a river and near Composite Engineering, the Mohican.

My first boat was a CD Solstice GT. I purchased it on Craigslist after doing a little research for kayaks for bigger sized athletes. I paddled it for a month, with a traditional flat paddle, and quickly realized I needed to move up in performance, so I picked up an Epic 18X and wing paddle. This worked great and I realized performance paddling was going to fill that gap of getting great cardio workouts without putting stress on my joints. Now I knew it was time to look for a lighter, higher performance boat for the river, and started investigating what boat may be good for the ocean as well. After about a month of Googling, reading message boards, reviews, etc, I stumbled across a guy in Colorado that had this boat called a “Mohican”. Sounded like exactly what I wanted. I’m 6’3″, 215lbs, paddling on rivers and was looking for something fast, that fit well, and that I could grow into and race as well. The Mohican sounded perfect! So where do I get one? Well, I found Ted Van Dusen’s information and was shocked that Ted’s Company, Composite Engineering, was located in Concord, MA – about 15 minutes from where I lived. After a brief visit to the shop ordered my first Mohican in 2009 (which I still paddle, having over 4,500 miles on it and still going strong!). Eventually Ted’s Braca XI Van Dusen ’92 would become one of my favorite paddles and one of our top selllers.

FastPaddler becomes exclusive Braca Dealer in USA due to commitment to service and online inventory!

A couple years later, motivated by the quality and performance of Braca-sport, I started FastPaddler focusing on Braca-sport® paddles in the USA. Through excellent customer service and easy online ordering, we have become the exclusive dealer for Braca-sport in the USA. I’m very excited to offer Braca-Sport®’s excellent products to the paddling community. Please check back often as we will continually be adding new products and new content. Any questions or suggestions are always welcome at Chris@FastPaddler.com.

Chris Chappell