Celtic Paddles have a long heritage dating back over half a century. Originally trading under the Lendal name the journey started back in 1964 with Alistair Wilson. As a young man growing up in Western Scotland, he became interested in paddling on the sea while he spent time at his family's summer cottage at a place called Lendal foot. Being competitive and enterprising by nature it was not long before Alistair was paddling competitively and designing his own paddles. Alistair competed in the 1964 and 1968 Olympics and in doing so picked up a business partner Marianne Tucker also a two-time Olympian. Lendal started a revolution in Paddlesport and introduced a number of firsts including glass fibre and composite shafts, index grips and cranked shafts. Working in partnership with a champion slalom paddler Neil Baxter, Lendal developed the Kinetik blade concept, now widely copied and the most successful design in slalom paddling.
In October of 2006 Lendal was acquired by Johnsons Outdoors Inc and operations transferred to North America. This was a short interlude in the Lendal story as only a few year later the Lendal brand and assets was sold to Celtic Paddles Ltd, owned and operated by Nigel Dennis, renowned sea kayak adventurer and designer. For a few years, Celtic continued to sell under the Lendal brand name, but by 2013 the decision was taken to rebrand and sell under the Celtic brand name.
Celtic Paddles are paddled worldwide and are renowned for their flexibility, reliability and performance. Celtic Paddles use the unique Paddlok ™ system which facilitates the world’s most reliable and flexible range of multi-part Kayak paddles.
Based on the Isle of Anglesey in North Wales, Celtic Paddles have a unique, and challenging testing environment where innovations in materials and design can be tested to the full.
The Pro Range provides strong, lightweight premium paddles for the discerning professional paddler. The choice of many of the world’s top coaches, you can trust Celtic Paddles to deliver the ultimate balance of strength, weight and flexibility.
Our Classic range of paddles is ideal for clubs, paddle centres and new and intermediate paddlers. Celtic are unique in that with our modular design provides a cost-effective upgrade path. With length adjustment, Kayak and Canoe clubs can ensure the best fit for every individual paddler without having to compromise.
Keirron Tastagh, Adventurous Experiences, Isle of Man along with George Shaw are on a RNLI mission circumnavigating Ireland. Another Horrendous Experience the pair are battling strong headwinds as they make their way from their start point on the Isle of Man. Celtic Paddles are delighted to support the expedition and eagerly await daily news.
Get in touch with Celtic Paddles
If you'd like to contact us, it's best to use the contact the form below or email us directly rather than using the phone. We are a small business dedicated to making quality paddles, so all our paddle pixies can be busy. However, we love emails and love to talk all things paddles so drop us a line with your questions and contact number, and you can trust in response 7 days a week
