For those of you who attended the OR (Outdoor Retailers Show) in Salt Lake City (Flatpick?), could you give us an overview of what we have to look forward to for '07?
Thanks!
well now…
I can’t really comment on the ‘other’ guys NEW stuff (and there was alot) but Confluence had some new additions to the lines:
Wave Sport: New CREEK boat called the Habitat. 1st new WS creek boat in 10 years.
Dagger: New playboat called the Agent. sweeet.
Mad River Canoe: New recreation canoe called the Destiny. interesting shape with a wineglass stern and sailboat styling. Composite for now, soon in roto. New sit-on-top (style) canoe called the Synergy. 2 sizes 12’ and 14’. roto. Re-introduced the Dagger 2X whitewater canoe, Caption. Royalex
Perception: New REC boats 10’-12’ Prodigy. very user friendly. NEW 12’ - 14’ completely re-designed Carolina. Only thing that stayed the same was the name. VERY sweeeet, quiet, fast, stable. New S-O-T called the Search. 11’-13’. will give the Tarpon a run for the money. A more maneuverable option.
Wilderness Systems: New Tsunami SP, small persons boat. full featured sea boat for kids/ small folks. roto. Kajaksport hatches on ALL composite boats (the ones with rubber hatches)
AT Paddles: New price point paddle with famous AT shape. $169 New Fish Stik, fishing specific Exception.
Harmony: all accessories except floatbags and canoe accessories will be branded Harmony.
Voyageur: floats and canoe stuff.
I probably missed a few items but…this is the stuff that was new to us.
steve
For more on the show
see here:
http://www.paddling.net/message/showThread.html?fid=advice&tid=527546
(PS: Anyone know anything about the new 2007 Eddyline “Fathom”?)
Hey Flatpick…
The one Confluence ‘bombshell’ you forgot to mention was the fact that dealers now have to order 3 times the amount of boats at wholesale than they have ever had to order in the past to place a preseason order. What does this mean? For one it means small shops such as mine now have to decide if we are going to be able to be a Confluence dealer anymore. Simply put, I can not meet these new, higher ‘buy in’ dollar amounts they have levied on us and have to concider new lines, lines NOT owned by Confluence. Not preseason ordering does not mean I can no longer get boats from Confluence, it just means I’m gonna get really stiffed on shipping from now on, and that I get placed at the end of the ‘priority’ list for deliveries also. As a dealer, I think this reeks of a corporation trying to ‘eliminate’ or squeeze out smaller shops (are we that big a hassle?) in favor of bigger stores and chains who have now been given the ‘hammer’ to nail the coffin shut on the small stores. When Confluence started grabbing up a lot of the major players in the boating world I had an uneasy feeling that it would one day come back to bight the little shops in the a**. Right about now, having just returned from O.R., I am feeling the distinct presure of a corporate giants teeth in my backside. The really sad part of all this is that I was actually doing well (for Southern Illinois, the ‘black hole’ of the retailing world) with Wilderness Systems boats. Don’t get me wrong, I had to frequently match prices with big chain stores who sold the same boats, but I still could make a few bucks. Now that I’ll have to pay higher shipping because I won’t be able to presseason boats anymore, and being told I’ll be at the ‘end of the line’ as far as priority goes, I’ve just about lost any ability to compete selling Confluence products and have to look around for independent lines. Yep, really great news from the Outdoor Retailer show. Great news for the big box stores and chains.
kajaksport hatches?
will they fit on a 2006 170pro hatch???
r
Bummer Stickman
That really blows.
no and yes
no, the KS hatches do not fit on the Wildy rims.
yes, if you have issues with the WS rims you can replace them with KS. Takes a few hours and cosmetically is 85%. The KS hatch will mount on top of the exsisting hatch rim, after you cut it down.
steve
sorry
I work in R/D and have little input on company policy.
This is probably not the place to discuss this and it REALLY isn’t my place to comment.
steve
Company Policy
Don’t take my comments personal Steve, just blowing steam, and you’ve been blowing the ‘company horn’ here, so to speak. So… maybe you could pass this on to someone in house who REALLY can comment on this publically, and I’m sorry, but I think this IS a good place to discuss this. I’m just wanting to know exactly what could motivate those who DO make policy, if it isn’t to eliminate the small shops? So sorry if I see this as a corporate conglomerate making bad policy. The really scary part, so I was told in the Confluences booth at O.R., was that Confluence (or should I say those who CAN, but probably WON’T comment?) actually wanted to increase a shops (no matter their size or location) preseason order minimums by 6 fold. I’ll just assume, at this point, those who CAN comment will in the not so distant future be at that desired mark?
your REP and Kelley
I don’t want to be the messenger.
steve
hmmmmm
okay…
btw: is confluence making use of the Watermark website for OR???it used to be a site where watermark would put up pix from OR on their boothes…
know of it???i forogt the site…ugh
Confluence
Love their boats
Hate their corporate policy
Good golly!
From the photos, it looks like you could put a keg under that foredeck.
A tip of the hat to the brit-boat crowd
With lines and styling reminiscent of familiar Greenland boats that began with the Skylark and continued with the Equinox, it would appear Eddyline is recasting its fleet boat by boat. Notable features not highlighted on the company’s website:
• a low aft deck
• a day hatch (on an Eddyline boat!)
• a cockpit in the MIDDLE of the boat. (Will wonders never cease!)
• Is that a BACKBAND I see?! (One wonders if the bulkhead will be closer to the rear cockpit edge to facilitate emptying the boat in rescues.)
• gone is the keel-like protrudence characteristic of Eddyline hulls that has allowed the company to boast of “rudderless design” but renders paddling backwards well nigh impossible. At last an Eddyline that may paddle in reverse.
• as asthetically offensive as it may be, the cavernous deck is only slightly more ridiculous than the bulbous goiter of the Chatham, and represents the final vestige of the boat’s PNW provinence. Windage should not be an issue since a boat with too low a foredeck will even leecock (cf. again the Chatham).
• toggles are misplaced, but that’s not a sin unique to Eddyline boats; WS, Impex, and others would break off the arm of a swimmer in surf, as well.
In short, it’s a good looking boat! A welcome addition to the Eddyline fleet.
Funny
Such prophetic judgement from a beginner who’s favorite paddling area is South Puget Sound! Oh well.
I have been told
– Last Updated: Aug-22-06 4:58 PM EST –
that there are lots of women with nice racks.
I'm intrigued.
We’re all beginners here
aren’t we? Okay, maybe me more so than others, and maybe not you. But …
The only prophetic utterances I made were carefully couched in the subjunctive mood: “MAY paddle in reverse”, “SHOULD not be an issue”, etc. The rest, I’m calling it like I see it, having already owned three Eddyline boats.
If any of my observations looks off the mark, please set me straight! I’m only going by what I’ve seen on the website. How it performs, of course, I do not know. (If it’s any consolation, I can’t wait to paddle it, and will probably end up buying one.)
Finally, please don’t confuse my FAVORITE paddling spot with the only place I’ve paddled. I’m embarrassed to admit it, but there you go–I’ll say it–I like the South Puget Sound! So pretty, in a subdued kind of way. De gustibus non disputandum est, 'n all.
we are???
don’t lump ‘us all’ into a beginner catagory. me thinks there are quite a number of posters (NOT posers!) here with more than ‘beginner’ skills.
me thinks there are a few ‘posers’ here as well! 
an Eddyline that paddles in REV! cool on Tom!
steve
Stickman… I like the way to talk : )