As I head back home from a very successful show at The Paddlesports Show 2026 in Strasbourg, France, I have some time to reflect on the show itself, the paddling industry and my own journey in it. This will be a long read, an essay of sorts… Grab a coffee!
My journey as a paddler goes back to 1992 when I started training for my first major river marathon. In the 9 years that followed, I immersed myself in different paddling disciplines: river marathons, whitewater kayaking, canoe polo, a bit of slalom, a bit of downriver racing, a bit of open canoeing, a bit of sea kayaking. I also became a qualified raft guide and safety kayaker. Highlights of this period include safety kayaking for the 1997 Raid Gauloises, completing multiple river marathons like the Dusi, Fish and Berg, safety kayaking for the 1999 Camel Whitewater Challenge, my first Zambezi trip in 1996, my first kayaking in the Alps in 1998, and getting my first kayak sponsor in 1997.
My journey in the industry began in 1998 when I started making composite whitewater paddles for the SA market. The next major step was kayaking full-time as a sponsored paddler for two years, 2000–2001. This was one of the best periods of my life; very little money, maximum freedom, sleeping in a tent most nights, exploring new rivers just about every day. This period also included two stints of raft guiding in Italy and Austria. At the end of all that, I published the guidebook “Run the Rivers of Southern Africa”, which I wrote while traveling. Another year of paddling followed, living off the income from the sales of the book. During this period, I also became more focused on freestyle kayaking, which was the fastest growing segment of whitewater kayaking at the time. Subsequently, my focus has moved to what I still enjoy more than anything else: river expeditions.
When I started my first kayak brand, Fluid Kayaks, towards the end of 2002, there was no doubt that I was obsessed with kayaking. Starting a kayak brand seemed like the logical thing to do, utilizing my mechanical engineering background to create a business from my passion. In hindsight, I had no idea how to run a business when I started, but I forged ahead with conviction. While I did create some recreational kayaks during my 12 years of building Fluid, my main focus was on whitewater kayaks. I ended up building Fluid into a real force in the whitewater scene, competing head-on with the main brands of the time: Jackson, Wavesport, Riot, Dagger, Liquidlogic, etc. I sponsored an elite group of kayakers that included the likes of Hendri Coetzee, Tyler Bradt, Steve Fisher, David Arnaud, Bobby Miller, Andrew Kellett, Joe Stumpfell, Seth Chapelle, Adrian Kiernan and many others from all corners of the world. Highlights include winning the Innovation Award at Kanumesse/PaddleExpo in Germany (2010?), medals at World Champs by team paddlers (multiple years), a feature profile article in Kayak Session (2014) and three great team trips: Zambezi (2004), Transkei (2010) and French Alps (2013).
Some unfortunate strategic decisions regarding outsourcing of production created a situation where I ended up with few shares and little say in the business I created. Having to walk away from Fluid after 12 years was a bitter pill to swallow. It did set me up to do some other cool stuff over time, though.
I helped Epic Kayaks to some extent with the development of their V5 and V7 models, after which I manufactured these for 2 years. This period, manufacturing and using surfskis almost exclusively, is what made the penny drop for me regarding recreational paddling. The recreational sit-on-tops that I designed at Fluid were nothing spectacular. My innovations were all focused on the whitewater side, while I designed the rec sit-on-tops to conform to what every other brand was doing. As a result, I never really enjoyed paddling the sit-on-tops I designed. And I thought that it is just the way it is with sit-on-top kayaks. Once I made the connection that surfskis are essentially racing sit-on-top kayaks, I started working on concepts to bring high performance to the realm of recreational sit-on-top paddling.
I used this newfound insight to create a full range of high-performance recreational sit-on-top kayaks and launched Vagabond Kayaks in 2018 together with Lisa de Speville and two other partners. There was some hesitation in the market regarding the new concepts I was pioneering, but we got enough interest to kickstart Vagabond in both South Africa and Europe. Just as we were gaining momentum, Covid hit. With production halted for a few months, followed by a failed partnership in the separate manufacturing business, Vagabond was on the ropes and I had some difficult decisions to make. For a second time, I had to walk away from a brand I created.
Looking back, I’m pretty sure Vagabond would have been a real force in the industry now if we didn’t hit those snags with Covid and the subsequent drama. Instead, I practically lost about everything I’d worked for, and I could not see myself ever starting a new brand again. I built a rotomoulding machine for Swell Watercraft in the USA and did freelance design work for multiple international kayak brands while I tried to figure out what to do with my life.
I seriously considered getting out of the paddling industry completely and moving into a different field. But after 2 years of licking my wounds, I chose to stay. Firstly because I felt I had more to give, and secondly because you don’t just walk away from family. And the paddling industry is a bit like a family. More about that later.
So a year ago, I decided that I’m ready to do this again and created Lekker Kayaks. This time, my new brand focuses on three segments: touring kayaks, whitewater kayaks and recreational sit-on-tops. I’m very proud of the touring kayaks I already launched, and I’m very excited about the whitewater kayaks that I will launch soon. But I believe it is with the recreational sit-on-tops that I’m going to have the biggest impact on the sport. My goal is to make paddling more accessible to more paddlers, and I believe the best way to do that is to make recreational kayaks that are really awesome to paddle. These new designs of mine fall in the recreational category purely because they are super stable, meaning that anyone can paddle them. But apart from the stability, these kayaks are quite different from most recreational kayaks on the market. They have real performance. They are fast, ergonomically comfortable, enable good paddling posture and technique, and have all the right features to bring touring within reach for all levels of paddlers.
I started this range with the Piper (for kids) and Albatross (double-seater), followed by the Malachite and Petrel single-seaters. During the design process, I leaned on what I learned when I designed the Vagabond range and what I learned subsequently on a number of multiday trips over the past few years. I also drew on feedback from various paddlers and commercial operators who used these with their clients for the past few years. Instrumental in this process was Andrew Kellett of Gravity Adventures, whose input was invaluable to refine the concepts.
The Petrel was shown for the first time to the world at the Paddlesports Show in Strasbourg this past week, and I walked away with the 2026 Product of the Year award in the Recreational Paddling category. This is a huge honour, and it validates the direction I took with these designs. The feedback from dealers at the show was overwhelmingly positive, with many commenting that this is exactly what is needed to grow the sport of paddling.
Reflecting on my journey with Fluid and Vagabond, I wish I could have saved myself the heartache of losing two brands. But if I’m being perfectly honest with myself, I’m not sure my designs would have evolved to what they are today had I stayed with my first brand all the time. The exposure of designing for multiple brands was invaluable. In addition to that, when I design for my own brands, I can do pretty much what I want. But when I design for other brands there are limitations, as one has to stick to their design briefs and also to the look/image of what they’ve created before. This is a learning process on its own. Also, having to dig deep to reinvent myself more than once forced me to evaluate deeply what the market really needs, and what would really help to move the sport forward.
So this brings me to the show. I exhibited at the Outdoor Retailer Show in Salt Lake City, USA, for about 10 years in a row, when paddling was still a substantial part of the show. I also exhibited at Kanumesse/PaddleExpo in Nuremberg, Germany, for about 10 years, first with Fluid and then with Vagabond. I also exhibited at this Paddlesports Show, which is the successor of the PaddleExpo, 3 times before this year (with my paddle brand, CEKR Paddles): first in Lyon in 2022, and then at the current venue, Strasbourg, in 2023 and 2024. I also exhibited at a number of other random trade shows over the years. The reason for mentioning this: I don’t consider myself to be THE expert on the industry and on the relevant trade shows, but I have enough experience to at least have an informed opinion.
In my opinion, this was the most positive show the industry has had for many years. The show was slightly smaller than last year (much fewer SUP brands) but with more dealers attending. Generally, the vibe was more positive than I’ve experienced in a long time. It makes one believe that the paddling industry is maturing, able to withstand the knocks of a changing world.
One interesting phenomenon that I hadn’t really thought about before is the fact that a substantial portion of whitewater and touring/sea kayak brands exhibit at the show, but only a fraction of the brands that focus on recreation and kayak fishing, and basically none of the racing-oriented brands. The racing brands don’t really need this show, as they have different avenues via the club structures and races to connect with their potential buyers. Conversely, whitewater and touring/sea kayak brands have pretty much none of that, so they need this show to get the exposure needed to reach these niche markets.
On the other hand, the recreational and kayak fishing markets are so much bigger that only a fraction of these brands exhibit at the show. There are literally hundreds of brands in these two categories all around the world, with the majority of them catering only for their own regional markets. Only the brands who have real global reach or aspirations exhibit at the Paddlesports Show. At the same time, it is the brands that exhibit at the show that are responsible for the vast majority of innovations happening in their market segments. The more regional brands generally don’t have the know-how, resources or reason to innovate. They can generally have quite successful businesses just by piggybacking on the work of those who spent their resources on advancing the sport. In fact, many of these regional brands don’t even own their own designs; they just slap their logos on generic designs manufactured by suppliers who copy whatever is hot on the market.
At the same time, the buying public in these market segments is not well educated (meaning educated in paddling craft, not talking about academic education). So the copying brands can get away with substandard products, taking away the potential return on investment from the companies who do the hard yards to create new and innovative products. This happens to be one of my pet peeves in my local market here in SA. I have consistently been designing and manufacturing products that are simply ahead of all competition in our market, yet I have to compete on price because the paddling public here simply doesn’t know the difference between what is good and what is not.
Another highlight for me was the awards ceremony. For sure winning an award myself was great, but what really stood out for me was that there was real innovation in all categories. In years past, there were often some categories where the winners were not really innovative at all. Assuming they indeed represented the best in the category, it meant that the category was pretty stagnant. That was not the case this year, with every category presenting something original. I take that as a sign that the industry is in a relatively healthy space. Personal favourites were the new fabrics from Stig/Level Six and the Eclipse surf kayak by Palm.
What I would have liked to see at the show is Corran Addison/Soul and Eric Jackson/Apex exhibiting as well. They always have interesting things to share. I also would have liked to see brands like Nelo, Epic and Vajda exhibit. It would be super cool to have the benchmark for racing kayaks showing off what makes them so good. They might not see much benefit in a show like this, but I believe that cross-pollination between disciplines and market segments helps to drive innovation, and it could help grow the sport by exposing more dealers in the industry to different types of craft.
Talking about Corran and EJ, this reminds me of a poll run by Boatertalk back in around 2004/2005. For those who don’t know, Boatertalk was the premier international chat group for whitewater paddlers before social media took over. It so happened that 5 whitewater brands launched on the market in a short period of time: myself with Fluid, Corran with Dragorossi, EJ with Jackson Kayaks, plus two other brands that I simply can’t remember the names of now. The poll asked paddlers who they thought had the best likelihood to survive long term. Jackson got the most votes and Dragorossi was second; this made sense, as both EJ and Corran were recognised paddlers in all the main markets, while I was really just known in SA and Europe at the time. Fluid got the third-most votes, and then the other two brands followed.
Looking back some 20 years later, Jackson, Dragorossi and Fluid are still going, while the other two brands have disappeared. Jackson also ended up becoming the largest brand in the whitewater market. In its heyday, Fluid was bigger than Dragorossi, but since my departure, Fluid has not done any new development work and is now a shadow of its former self. Dragorossi on the other hand keeps putting out new designs and they are very much still a happening brand, although I guess mostly just in Europe.
The other interesting fact here is none of us three founders are still with these respective brands. EJ has moved on to his second brand, Apex; I now have my third brand with Lekker, and Corran is on his 6th (or is that 16th?) brand with Soul.
As mentioned earlier, the paddling industry is a bit like a family. I have always been somewhat of an outsider, especially with me being from SA, far away from the main markets, but it is my family nonetheless. It was evident at this show, with many industry people that I have known for a long time, even though not necessarily knowing them well, commenting on how good it was to see me back in the game with new kayaks. To give a more specific example: on the second day of the show, Steve Jordan, President of Hurricane Aquasports, walked into my booth with one of his key dealers from the USA. I consider Steve to be a friend, but we are competitors after all. Nonetheless, he brought one of his clients over to me, introduced us and suggested to him to carry my kayaks in his store. In what other industry does this happen?
Another example: a French dealer wanted to buy a few of the kayaks from my booth to test out to decide how many of which model he wanted to order for the new year. He did not have a way of transporting them from the show, so he asked RTM, whose factory is close to his shop, to take the kayaks along with them. RTM is one of the largest kayak brands in Europe and I am very much a competitor to them. The owner of RTM did not hesitate — of course they would do that! Again, generosity beyond what can be expected.
What I also really enjoyed was reconnecting with guys that I have shared eddies with in different parts of the world: NZ, Canada, Corsica, Italy, Austria, Germany and more.
As far as shows go in the context of the future of the paddling industry, it is clear that the Paddlesports Show has become the most important trade show for the industry worldwide. Exhibitors and dealers from many corners of the world pitched up. I think Philippe Doux can be proud of what he created. He had big shoes to fill when he decided to create the successor of Kanumesse/PaddleExpo, organised by Horst for many years. I believe his show has now reached a critical mass and will be the dominant show for years to come.
Having said that, I really do hope that the new PTC Colab in the USA, where I unfortunately won’t be exhibiting this year, will become a critical hub for the North American paddling industry. The years when paddlesports was a central part of the Outdoor Retailer Show in Salt Lake City was the period when the sport was growing the fastest, and it is probably no coincidence. It is important to have a hub for the sport, and I think the cross-discipline exposure of that show, where many other outdoor brands and products were showcased and with many outdoor-related dealers visiting, created cross-over to reach outdoor people who were not entrenched in paddlesports specifically.
The industry is certainly not made up of a bunch of saints, and there sure are some dodgy characters too. But by and large, just about everyone involved in the industry has a shared passion for what they do. Apart from a few conglomerates that now belong to big corporates, most brands in the industry are owned by paddlers. Paddlers in general tend to be well travelled, open minded and care for the natural environment. It is not an industry to get involved in if you want to become rich. But you can make a decent living, and you can spend your time doing stuff that is quite fulfilling.
I have written before about the moral dilemma I sometimes face when I look at what I do for a living. I am essentially in the toy business. Kayaks are toys, they are not necessities. But then I always remind myself that what we do enables others to get out in nature. And I think today, maybe more than ever before, it is important to get out and reconnect with our natural environment, and be reminded of what life is really all about.
I think the future of paddling lies in greater accessibility and stronger community. The sport will only thrive if more people feel that kayaking is something they can do — not just something reserved for the elite or the adventurous few. That means boats that are stable, enjoyable, and welcoming for newcomers, without sacrificing the performance that keeps experienced paddlers excited. This is where I think my designs will make a big contribution.
But accessibility is only half of it. What keeps people paddling isn’t just the kayak under them, it’s the people around them. Clubs, outfitters, festivals, and informal groups are what turn a fun day on the water into a lifelong passion. If we can strengthen those communities, and keep the spirit of generosity and camaraderie that makes this industry feel like family, then paddling will not only grow — it will endure.
