The ‘kagu’ is a bird native to the islands of New Caledonia. Known as cagou in French and nicknamed the “ghost of the forest” due to its ash-white coat, it has become the symbol of the island’s sporting teams who often compete under the banner of ‘Les Cagous’ (“The Kagus”). It’s a somewhat ironic mascot though — the cagou is almost flightless, yet three of the island’s athletes have reached such great heights.

On a chilly Saturday in the French region of Creuse, on an artificial lake more than 200km from the nearest ocean, the New Caledonian trio of Noïc Garioud, Titouan Puyo and Clement Colmas finished 1, 2 and 3 at the French Distance Championships. The race was held 17,000 kilometres away from the postcard-perfect lagoon that surrounds the main island of New Caledonia (which is an overseas “collective territory” of France), but Les Cagous looked right at home on the water.   → READ MORE

While much of the paddling world is still on event lockdown, Europe has been tentatively returning to the water over the past two months. We saw the 11-City Tour in almost all its glory last week, and every weekend there are race photos popping up on Instagram. But it seems the French have been more dedicated than most.

The Alpine Lakes Tour (home of the famous GlaGla Race) resumed two months ago and held another event in mid-August, before the country’s west coast saw four-straight weeks of solid racing that culminated with a classic hit-out in the surf on the weekend. The endless summer in France will continue on to the Fort Boyard Challenge next week followed by the Alpine Lakes hosting the flat-water French Championships on Lake Annecy (same spot as GlaGla) in October, the Corsica Paddle Trophy the week after that, a final Alpine event in November, and then, tentatively, the Paris Crossing in December.   → READ MORE