Regrettably, first couple of kayaks are a state (6)
I believe the answer is:
alaska
'state' is the definition.
(Alaska is a US state)
'regrettably first couple of kayaks are a' is the wordplay.
'regrettably' becomes 'alas' ('alas' is said before regrettable news).
'first' says to put letters next to each other.
'couple of kayaks are' becomes 'k' (I am not sure about this - if you are sure you should give a lot more credence to this answer).
'alas'+'k'+'a'='ALASKA'
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for alaska that I've seen before include "Forty-ninth US state" , "North-western US state" , "Northmost US state" , "Most northerly US state" , "Land bought by the USA from Russia in 1867" .)