Keep at it…
The next level won’t come from the established brands. They are too busy fighting over a dwindling marlet share… What happens when the “sea kayakers” are dead? That aint too far from now!
delphin
Great Outdoor Provision Company will be getting a delphin shipped out next week - as well - Sea Kayak Carolina in Charleston already has one…and they are getting a whole fleet next week as well…so should be a few places in the NC/SC region. Kayak Depot in Asheville - has all models available for demo any time.
Any at Downeast?
Will there be any Delphins at the Downeast Sea Kayaking Symposium in Bar Harbor next weekend? A few of us would greatly like to play with the boat.
A number of the featured coaches are P&H paddlers…
Thanks
I bike with a local GOPCo manager. I’ll put him to work finding me a Delphin to try.
Fishing
seems like it might be the hottest kayaking segment at the moment - just a guess. Look at Wilderness Systems trying to position themselves with some new offereings. One even has a Captain’s Seat! Even the main page of the website features a lot on fishing. One new model looks kind of like the Native boats.
Fishing is recession proof and a relatively inexpensive hobby, but those that have $ will spend big bucks on gear.
Sea kayak market = small
Whitewater/Surf kayak market = pretty big
GP kayak market = pretty big
Angler kayak market = hot! big potential
sigh - us sea kayakers will just have to live with the (too?) many choices that already exist.
Best,
~wetzool
Fishing is BIG, as are SUP’s
Not sure WW and surf would be “big”??? Agree, the fishing gig is and has been a big plus for the manufacturers. Consider a company like JOI that will sell 100,000 rec boats and sit atops including fishing boats, and “maybe” 700 composite sea kayaks (total)a year! A successful new touring boat in plastic “may” sell over 500, whilst a rec model may be 5000 and dealers are screaming for it! Cost to produce rec boat is half and margin is double!! What ya gonna do if you’re an MBA with shareholders to satisfy.
No secrets here folk…follow the money. Which is why when a trad sea kayak company introduces yet another re-make I wonder about the math???
ww is so big
– Last Updated: Sep-05-10 3:13 AM EST –
The numbers of ww boats sold annually dwarfs the figures for sea kayaks.
It was noted last year: "Jackson Kayak expects to manufacture more than 7,000 boats by year's end, about the same number as last year's record turnout, if not more, despite the economic downturn."
http://wbusinessnews.blogspot.com/2009/10/jackson-kayak-tops-industry-sales-in.html
Compare that to the figures Salty notes for touring boats.
Nigel Dennis in an interview for the BBC in late 2004 stated he ships 350 to the US. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/4045111.stm
Peter Orton noted that Valley was selling about the same number of composite boats in the US at the time.
hehe
well, i have both z155 and t165 and they sure are different. the T165 have a larger BOXY area and is slimmer. it has somewhat harder chines and would be my kayak of choice for wind and waves. The zephyr is wider and have a quite small boxy area around the cockpit, that might work as a “pivot point” sides are flared so the width by the waterline is much less than 57. its very easy to manouver. Having the cockpit behind the center and its low wide rear deck the Z is i guess perfect for play in bigger waves surf etc…despite being a surprisingly fast kayakk. in wind and heavy conditions id take the tempest, over anything ive tried. still waiting for my PINTAIL.
that is propably a nice kayak for rolling…
the zephyr is avery ice rolling kayak by the way…
yes
ben Lawry currently has one. and, depending on when they arrive this week (hopefully tuesday) there should be a few more of the team with boats at that event. Sam and Carl over at Osprey have a couple they’ve been playin with as well - in RI.
Ability to change…
This is just anecdotal, but around here the same change that could produce a ceiling in what many would call sea kayaking seems to be producing a really nice bump for WW kayaking. By sea kayaking I mean paddling longer, expedition-equipped, more expensive boats that are designed to go into solid ocean conditions - I’ll leave off the question of whether the paddler in said boat could handle what the boat was designed to.
Both sea kayaking and what we are seeing in WW around here are profiting from a boom in participation by people who are approaching or at the age of grey hair. Sea kayaking because of the cost, my guess is WW because that is the group that has leisure time and the ability to retire early compared to younger folks who are trying to start a life with crippling college loans and at best shaky assurances about having affordable health insurance. So on the class 2/sometimes 3 runs in this area classes that used to be full of 20-somethings in boats like Inazones or now Jackson Fun boats are loaded with white haired folks in creekers. In sum, WW is showing a really solid ability to change in terms of its population base.
In both cases this population of boomers may max out then drop as those like me hit the nursing homes… but it’ll be a lot cheaper to replace in WW than in sea kayaking. So time will tell - in any case it hasn’t happened yet so we are all guessing.
WW shelf life
The difference for WW is that a given boat model may be HOT for a year or two till the next latest and greatest hits the market. Even EJ melts recreational boats and they probably make it possible to do what he loves best…WW boats.
There’s a ton of competition and less margin, but a lot more innovation for sure.
The next ten years will be interesting I think.
Pintail
I finally got to paddle a Pintail on Sunday. Traded off my Nordlow for a Pintail for a while on the Great Sacandaga Lake in some stiff winds, chop, and wind blown waves.
What a fun boat! It is the most fluid feeling sea kayak I’ve ever paddled. I did give in on a beam wind crossing and use some skeg… It is the loosest sea kayak I’ve been in - but we all know this 
What surprised me most was how confidence inspiring the boat felt in lumpy water. I’m beginning to understand why those who have Pintails tend to keep them!
hm
sound good…!!
How about a Valley Avocet?
avocet
– Last Updated: Sep-07-10 2:26 PM EST –
sorry..
avocet
its propably a fantastic kayak. i have paddled the RM i fairly rough conditions. force 7 in a semisheltered place.1-1,5m waves. despite the fact that i didnt have time to make all adjustments i would have liked to, it behaved extremely well. I got some pyramid waves that made me a bit worried, but the avocet was just danced through it…following seas too.its a low kayak -low windage. its very easy to edge and paddle…
it felt very reasuring. its very different from the T165. both among the best roughwater kayaks around.
Seems like my pintail comes to norway tomorrow!
thats pretty exiting…Thanks for fast building to the people at VALLEY…ive been in love with the pintail since i first saw it some years ago. never tried or seen one.FUN
Cool, Thank you
Looking forward to playing with boats in Bar Harbor!
not getting rid of mine anytime soon.
It’s slow, and tends to wander, but it’s soooo easy in confused seas, and catches swells downwind better than anything.
Everything’s a compromise, but this one definitely rewards you for what you give up.
Jackson Kayaks
Eric Jackson was selling thousands of ww boats before he started producing rec boats. By the second year of Jackson Kayaks, EJ was outselling competitors with numbers well into four digits. Then he started making rec boats…
Interesting
I too have an old-style pintail. I would say in my experience it weathercocks the least of any boat I’ve used. I’ve only noticed a hint of weathercocking in strong winds. And then it’s minor enough that I sometimes just compensate with a lean or shifting the paddle in my hands. Other times I put down an inch or so of skeg.
Perhaps my weight has something to do with the difference you and I observe. I expect I’m at the top end of the weight capacity - 180 pounds plus 20 or so pounds of day-gear usually. It would be understandable for it to weathercock more if lightly loaded I guess.