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2026 PRODUCT GUIDEBE ST NE W B OAT S, B OARD S & GE AR FOR KAYAKING, C ANOEING, SUP, WHITEWATER & FISHINGPLUS: HOW ESQUIF BET BIG AND WON // REBUILDING AFTER HURRICANE HELENE // PADDLE SP OR T S PAR TICIPATION PEAKS P.5 // GRE Y OWL’S B OLDE ST PL AN YE T // HOW TO HOOK NEW PADDLERS // IS “BUT T S IN B OAT S” FINALLY PAYING OFF? P.25 // INDUSTR Y LE ADER S ON DTC, UNCER TAINT Y, THE FUTURE OF TR ADE SHOW S AND WHAT ’S NE X T P.6TARIFF TURMOIL: SWEEPING TRADE WAR SLAMS PADDLESPORTS

5BOWLINESParticipation peak6SIGNALSIndustry experts on what’s next 14HOT TAKESBig ideas, spicy opinions 17NEWSWhat everyone is talking about 19EDUCATIONKeeping new paddlers safe21INSIDEHow Esquif bet big and won23PROFILETodd Frank on risk and retail 25OPINIONThe long-game strategy of butts in boats27LEGACYGrey Owl Paddles’ revival31INDUSTRYRebuilding after Hurricane Helene35TARIFF TSUNAMISweeping trade war slams paddlesports from all sides402026 PRODUCT GUIDEPLUS KAYAK ANGLER BUSINESSDon’t miss gear innovations, the future of kayak fishing, and the real story behind industry chaos and consolidation. Just flip this magazine! 2026PRODUCT GUIDE HOTTEST NEW KAYAKS, PADDLES, PFDS, MOTORS, TOOLS, TACKLE AND MORE// THE FUTURE OF FISHING // ONE TAX ANGLERS LOVE TO PAY P.13 // NORTH AMERICA’S FAVORITE SETUP PLUS: INDUSTRY LEADERS ON TARIFFS, INNOVATIONS, GROWING THE SPORT AND HAS THE KAYAK FISHING ARMS RACE GONE TOO FARCHAOS & CONSOLIDATIONINSIDE THE SHAKE-UPS RESHAPING THE INDUSTRYM O R C H U E A L A K E N E A R I S K U T, B R I T I S H C O L U M B I A , W I T H V I E W S OF MOUNT EDZIZA.PHOTO: ANDREW STRAIN3 PADDLING BUSINESS

4 PADDLING BUSINESSEDITOR-IN-CHIEF KAYDI PYET TEBUSINESS ANNUAL EDITOR JEFF MOAGKAYAK ANGLER EDITOR RIC BURNLEYEDITOR MARISSA TREPANIEREDITOR JOE POTOCZAKDIGITAL EDITOR MADDY MARQUARDTART & DESIGN DIRECTOR MICHAEL HEWISPUBLISHER CRISTIN PLAICEEDITORIAL & PARTNERSHIPS BRENNA KELLYEDITORIAL & PARTNERSHIPS KEITH STEVENSONMARKETING & MEDIA COORDINATOR KARLA LINTOPERATIONS MANAGER JEFF PRIESTCUSTOMER SERVICE JENNIFER QUADEMEDIA SALES(613) 706-0677 | [email protected] MAGAZINE SUBSCRIPTIONSPrint + Digital: $19.95 | Digital (Apple, Android, desktop): $11.95(866) 709-4985 | [email protected]/subscribePADDLING BUSINESS SUBSCRIPTIONSpaddlingbusiness.comR A P I D M E D I A PO BOX 2244REVELSTOKE, BC, V0E 2S0CANADA(613) 706-0677www.paddlingmag.comS E N D A D D R E S S C H A N G E S T O [email protected] CALL (866) 709-4985.COPYRIGHT 2025 RAPID MAGAZINE INC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.PRINTED IN CANADA.OFFICIAL PARTNERSCOVER PHOTO: RILEY SEEBECKPHOTO ABOVE: PAUL VILLECOURTJOIN OURPRO SHOPPROGRAMJOIN AN EXCLUSIVE LIST OF PREFERRED SPECIALTY RETAILERS AND TAP INTO OUR ESTABLISHED READER BASE OF MORE THAN 100,000 PADDLERS ACROSS NORTH AMERICA. OUR AFFORDABLE PRO SHOP MEMBERSHIPS INCLUDE UP TO 62% RETAIL MARGINS, HASSLE-FREE, NO-RETURNS SHIPPING AND FREE ADVERTISING IN EVERY ISSUE. BECOME A PRO SHOP MEMBER TODAY.1-866-709-4985PADDLINGMAG.COM/PROSHOP

5 PADDLING BUSINESSBOWLINESHighs & Lows Participation reaches record heights but 2025 is anything but easyby kaydi pyetteAS YOU DIVE into this issue of Paddling Business and tales of a tumultuous year, here’s something worth remembering.There’s an old Taoist parable about a farmer whose horse runs away. When his neighbors cry, “What bad luck,” the man simply replies, “We’ll see.” When his wayward horse returns with another, the neighbors cheer, “What good luck!” Again, the man says,“We’ll see.” When the man’s son breaks his leg riding the new horse, again the neighbors cry, “Terrible luck,” until the injury spares the son from going to war. The point, of course, is no one knows what fortune brings while the story is unfolding. Paddlesports is living that parable. Five years ago, the industry was riding high on a pandemic boom. Then came the bust. This year, tariffs, economic uncertainty and cautious consumers have many bracing. On the pages ahead, you’ll hear many predictions, though no one knows for certain what comes next.Here’s one thing we do know, and it’s this year’s underappreciated good news story: Paddlesports participation is at an all-time high. Nearly 30 million Americans went paddling last year, up 2.7 percent year-over-year, and up 22 percent since 2019, according to the Outdoor Industry Association’s (OIA) newly released 2024 participation report. Research director Kelly Davis dubs paddlesports “healthy and growing.”There was growth across all disciplines, though modest in some. Standup paddleboarding continues to lead, averaging 4.4 percent annual growth over the last five years, and a 6.6 percent increase between 2023 and 2024. Canoeing saw the smallest growth year-overyear (1.1 percent) while sea kayaking saw the smallest growth over the last five years (1.7 percent). Still, both stats are an improvement from 2015-2018, when participation in canoeing and sea kayaking was shrinking. In 2017, recreational kayaking overtook canoeing as America’s most popular paddlesport, and it remains not only the largest discipline, but it also boasts the highest share of frequent paddlers at 23 percent—defined as those who paddled more than eight times a year.Last year was also a milestone year for another reason. The paddlesports gender gap has narrowed significantly over the last decade, and 2024 saw an almost equal number of male and female paddlers (49 percent female versus 51 percent male). Sea kayaking had the largest proportion of male participants (66 percent), while paddleboarding had the highest percentage of female participants (58 percent). Recreational kayaking also had more female participants than male participants, though by a smaller margin (53 percent). Ethnic diversity has increased in paddlesports, too, though not as much as in other outdoor activities, which has contributed to outdoor participation growth across the U.S. “Diversity has driven growth across the outdoor participant base for the past five years, and paddlesports has become more diverse during that time period. However, there is room for growth in diversity across paddle disciplines,” writes Kelly. And despite the classic dirtbag image, more than 40 percent of frequent paddlers have a household income higher than $100,000, compared with one in three households in the study. Nearly every signal in the OIA’s 2024 participation data is positive. Times are tough for many, but as the Taoist farmer might say, we’ll see. What’s certain is that the base is bigger, more diverse and more affluent than ever. Dive deeper into the participation data at paddlingmag.com/0195.GET TING A BIRD’S EYE VIEW.PHOTO: PAUL VILLECOURT

6 PADDLING BUSINESS Sound Off We asked retailers, brands and industr y leaders for their thoughts on ever y thing from tariffs and direc t-to - consumer sales to freight costs and how to invite new paddlers into the game. Here’s what some of you had to say.LOOKING TO THE HORIZON.PHOTO: NICK SPOONER

7 PADDLING BUSINESS WILL YOU CHANGE YOUR MANUFACTURING LOCATION OR SUPPLY CHAIN IN RESPONSE TO TARIFFS? ON THE REAL COST OF TARIFFS The uncertainty is a bigger factor than the prices currently. We’ve only seen a few increases so far, but we’ve certainly noticed people tightening their fiscal belts because of the uncertainty. — Matt Gerhardt, 4Corners Riversports, Durango, ColoradoTariffs have been very bad for our business. We manufacture our products in China with trusted partners we’ve worked with for years. Beyond the obvious financial impact, the uncertainty surrounding tariff policy makes it extremely difficult to plan. We’re a relatively small company already stretched thin, and we’ve spent an enormous amount of time and energy strategizing, adjusting and re-strategizing around a policy environment that can shift week-to-week. It’s a massive distraction from what we should be focused on—designing great products and serving our customers. — Mike Harvey, Badfish SUP, Salida, ColoradoWe assemble our raft packages in-house but outsource materials, parts and other accessories from overseas. We have had to shrink the volume of our orders significantly to have a cushion protecting us from unexpectedly high tariffs.  The worst part is the uncertainty. There is no way to anticipate costs and, in turn, what we should charge the consumer. I have an order set to arrive in early August, just after the 90-day pause. What will my tariff be when my shipment lands? No one knows for sure.  — Rich Stuber, Water Master, Stevensville, MontanaNo, we won’t. In 2018 we attempted to manufacture in North America and after going through three factories and wasting $100K and a year’s downtime on production, we were unable to get quality that’s even close to the high quality, and service, we get from our Chinese supplier. Instead, we are simply pulling out of the U.S.A. market and focusing on Canada and Europe. — Corran Addison, Soul Waterman, Montreal, QuébecNot for now as we sell globally and the U.S. is in trade wars with a good part of the world. It would also cost us a lot more to produce in the U.S. and slow down our ability to innovate. — Marc Pelland, Kayak Distribution, Montreal, Québec There’s a big push here to buy Canadian and all the supermarkets are labeling what’s Canadianmade and what isn’t. But for us, if we didn’t have U.S. products we wouldn’t have anything. — Simon Coward, AQ Outdoors, Calgary, AlbertaMost U.S. suppliers have brought in their seasonal inventories early in 2025 to avoid the tariffs, so for this year, it will be minimal exposure. 2026 remains unknown. As we move forward, we are looking for opportunities to move away from U.S. suppliers. The longer these tariffs remain, the more permanent our foreign relationships will be. — Morten Fogh, Fogh Marine, Toronto, OntarioAll Pyranha and P&H kayaks are manufactured in the U.K. and as such are subject to the new 10 percent U.S. import tax. Our small size allowed us to act quickly as the threat of tariffs loomed and bring as many kayaks into the country as possible to supply our order book. The narrow margins in our industry forced us to adjust our U.S. pricing, and the tariff impact was distributed between Pyranha, our consumers and dealers. However, the saber-rattling and U.S. tariffs on Canadian goods resulted in a swift backlash toward U.S.-made products. As a U.K. brand we have a special trading agreement with Canada and were able to supply Canadian dealers and consumers to fill the vacuum. While our increase in Canadian business has been very positive, it does not come close to making up for the 10 percent tariff on the other side of the border, but it has allowed us to keep charging forward with product development and other exciting opportunities for the future. — Chris Hipgrave, Pyranha US, Erwin, TennesseeSome of the degradation in quality and service started when domestic manufacturers moved their manufacturing offshore. The tariffs shouldn’t have an impact on the paddlesports industry in the U.S.—and they wouldn’t if it weren’t for greed and sacrificing the essence of the industry for profits. I think if these tariffs kick anyone in the gut, then they probably deserve it for selling out.  — Pete Koerner, Adventures Up The Creek, Fernandina Beach, FloridaThe freight company is the biggest winner of the paddlesports industry. — Colin Kemp, Jackson Kayak

8 PADDLING BUSINESSCreating communit y is the only way to sur vive in this industr y as a small business. Focus on instruc tion and communit y building to create and foster your customer base.  — Matt Gerhardt , 4Corners Riverspor t , Durango, ColoradoMany dealers are lazy when it comes to produc t diversit y. They sell year in and year ou t the same produc ts they always have. S tabilit y is nice, and working with the same suppliers for years on end makes things easy, bu t customers have little reason to come in and browse when ever y thing in a store is the same stuff they have seen for years. — Corran Addison, Soul Waterman, Montreal, QuébecThe industry needs to consolidate as right now there are too many players for too few clients. — Marc Pelland, Kayak Distribution, Montreal, QuébecOne of the biggest problems the industry faces is that millennials have less discretionary income, and from observing my own kids, what discretionary funds they do have, they’re spending on experiences, not on stuff. Which is a problem for people who sell stuff. — Darren Bush, Rutabaga Paddlesports, Madison, WisconsinWe have a real ceiling problem in our sport. A $4,000 bike in Bend is a starter mountain bike, but a $1,600 recreational kayak is considered expensive. And that boat will last 30 years while the mountain bike lasts three. — Ethan Ebersold, Independent Brand Rep, Bend, OregonWe have undervalued our sport. Prices and profit margins have been too low since the beginning. On a positive note, paddling is still an incredible thing to do. First timers are still wowed. So are OGs. — Tom Moore, Sierra South, Kernville, California People are waiting for the world to calm down before they start buying paddle gear. With war in Ukraine and the Middle East, and Trump’s unpredictable interference in trade, people dare not spend their money. — Lars Gram, Gram Kajak, Skoedstrup, Denmark For anyone who is doing paddlesport retail, the highest and best use of whatever real estate they sit on is not paddlesports. So the business relies on passion. The passionate individuals who make it work are reaching the end of their careers, and who in their right mind is going to take over? — Scott Holley, Eccles School of Business, University of Utah PREDICTIONS FOR PADDLESPORTS ECONOMICS If these tariffs kick anyone in the gut, they probably deserve it for selling out.  — Pete Koerner, Adventures Up The CreekPHOTO: ANDREW STRAIN

9 PADDLING BUSINESS ON MAKING PADDLESPORTS MORE ACCESSIBLE HOW CAN THE INDUSTRY MANAGE DTC SALES TO SUPPORT BRANDS AND RETAILERS? It’s not the most talked-about or glamorous part of the sport, but nothing gets more people into kayaks than livery. We’ve got clients with hundreds of our Rivieras in a fleet, and in some cases those boats go down the river two or three times a day. That's one operator. On some rivers we have multiple operators.— Colin Kemp, Jackson Kayak, Sparta, TennesseeThe low-use permit application period for the Gates of Lodore on the Green River lasted well under 60 seconds before every launch was claimed, and this has been the case for years now. Think about that for a moment, what it means concerning demand in general and the resource that is being asked to support that demand. — Andy Neinas, Echo Canyon River Expeditions, Cañon City, ColoradoDTC is here to stay, but if we want a thriving industry, we need to work together to support brick-andmortar retailers. — Mike Harvey, Badfish SUPRetailers having to compete directly with their own brands via DTC sales is the biggest issue facing our industry today. Brands are inadvertently choking growth in our industry with DTC sales, along with excessive “pro” deals and MAP discounting in season. We need a collaborative, industry-wide effort to establish solutions that benefit both parties, such as DTC dividends, utilizing retailers as points of purchase for “pro” clients as opposed to direct sales, and more requirements on dealers to provide instruction and demos to help foster the sport. We need to make our industry flourish again from the ground up. — Matt Gerhardt, 4Corners Riversports, Durango, ColoradoWe have turned down the knob on people that sell DTC, and we’ve turned up the knob on people that don’t. That’s all. — Darren Bush, Rutabaga Paddlesports, Madison, WisconsinIt’s just not that hard to support local retail. But we got here by brands thinking they didn’t need retailers to build the activity, support the local community, and build the brand equity they’re burning in the dumpster out back with DTC discounting. — Todd Frank, Trail Head and SOAR, Missoula, MontanaI said to my dealers, we’ll sell DTC and we’ll take the zip code or postal code of whoever buys the product and we’ll give that commission to whichever dealer is closest to that home. Dealers said, “Let me get this straight. We don’t have to buy this thing. We don’t have to handle it. We don’t have to ship it. We don’t have to do anything, and you’re going to send us a check for every stick you sell direct to consumer? Sign us up.” There has to be a new model where we share in the opportunities… It has to be a two-way, win-win partnership, or else it doesn’t work. — W. Graeme Roustan, Roustan Sports Ltd., Brantford, OntarioAs baby boomers age out and move on, the tech-savvy younger people will replace them and they are used to buying everything online. We know it’s not the best way to buy a kayak or canoe, but it’s becoming a bigger piece of the paddlesports market.  Reviews, pictures, specifications, explanations and ease of buying are the online tools the industry needs to ensure are there for customers to join our recreational sport. — Mor ten Fogh, Fogh Marine, Toronto, Ontario

10 PADDLING BUSINESSIt used to be a handful of e-commerce players that were big enough to pay attention to. Now you’re paying attention to REI. You’re paying attention to Amazon. You’re paying attention to Cabela’s, Bass Pro, Academy Sports. And now, all the brands as well. — Brian Vincent, Appomattox River Company, Farmville, Virginia DTC may prosper, but overall growth will slow due to lack of exposure through regional retailers that also provide demos, advice and classes. — Tom Moore, Sierra South, Kernville, Calif.There is no substitute for qualified guidance at the beginning of one’s paddlesports journey. The wrong boat or gear can ruin your experience. — Pete Koerner, Adventures Up The Creek, Fernandina Beach, FloridaWe do sell accessories online but we will not ship boats because we don’t want to undercut our retailers. We don’t think it’s healthy and we don’t think it’s a responsible thing to do. And there are also challenges to DTC. The freight rates are just so high and it’s so easy for product to get damaged. — Steve Jordan, Hurricane Aquasports, BIG AdventuresOur general consumer has no idea what freight on a kayak really costs. The published rates you see for dealers shipping to customers is highly subsidized. The thought of selling a $1,000 boat and eating real freight to the tune of $300 to $500 or more after shipping that product to your shop—it’s a losing proposition.— Colin Kemp, Jackson Kayak, Sparta, Tennessee WHAT CHALLENGES OF DTC SALES REMAIN? Smart people are doing what they should have done in the 90s, which is trimming SKUs. One year Confluence had six colors of the same boat and I remember thinking, “What are you doing?” — Darren Bush, Rutabaga Paddlespor ts , Madison, Wisconsin Corporations have co-opted what was, at one time, more of a community than an industry and they’ve turned it into a machine with the primary function being thegeneration of profits at any cost. — Pete Koerner, Adventures Up The Creek, Fernandina Beach, FloridaSome paddlers stayed, while most drifted. We’ve kept the engaged ones by building storydriven trail content, focused paddling trips, and meaningful connections on and off the water. — Dennis Vasey, Marsh Paddlers, Collier County, Florida What really killed sea kayaking is it became like karate. It’s a discipline; you need to train. They don’t even call it going paddling. They call it going training. That’s going to turn off 80 percent of the people in this sport. — Ethan Ebersold, Independent Brand Rep, Bend, OregonYou were either bitten by the bug if you came into the river community during COVID, or you weren’t. If someone prefers golf or video games, that’s what they will do. Those who have found the beauty and passion of the river will make it part of their lives. — Andy Neinas, Echo Canyon River Expeditions, Cañon City, ColoradoOn a positive note, paddling is still an incredible thing to do. First timers are still wowed. So are OGs. — Tom Moore, Sierra South NOW THAT COVID IS IN THE REARVIEW MIRROR, ARE YOU SEEING SUSTAINED INTEREST FROM PEOPLE WHO CAME TO THE SPORT DURING THE COVID BOOM? PHOTO: COURTESY AQ OUTDOORS

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12 PADDLING BUSINESSIf you have a stand-alone paddle industry show, you lose some of the retailers who can’t justify the cost of attending for the number of kayaks and canoes they sell in a year. Many retailers sell more than kayaks and that’s why they will show up at an all-outdoor industry show rather than a paddle-specific show. More opportunities.  — Morten Fogh, Fogh Marine, Toronto, OntarioI’m not sure that trade shows are still relevant. In the last 10 years, we have picked up almost no dealers as a direct result of trade shows. — Corran Addison, Soul Waterman, Montreal, QuébecTrade shows are a dying thing. No one can wait for a trade show to introduce new products. And if it is an end-user show, the sales are too limited compared to the time and money spent. If it is a B2B show, it’s much more effective to contact vendors directly. — Lars Gram, Gram Kajak, Skoedstrup, Denmark Accessible kayak and canoe launches should be deployed in appropriate locations whenever possible, to allow paddling access to those with mobility issues. We strive to make northwest Indiana the most accessible region in the world for paddlesports. — Michelle Senderhauf, Indiana Dunes Tourism, Valparaiso, IndianaA lot of what we’re seeing in the last two years has been venture capital people coming in trying to run a kayak company like a widget company. And that’s not how it works. — Colin Kemp, Jackson Kayak , Spar ta, TennesseePaddlers often underestimate the risks and overestimate their abilities, which is a dangerous combination on the water. In our area, many don’t realize Lake Michigan behaves more like an ocean—with sudden weather changes, rip currents and high waves—so we focus on accessible education, promoting paddling as a skilled sport, and normalizing PFD use to help prevent tragedies. — Michelle Senderhauf, Indiana Dunes Tourism, Valparaiso, IndianaSafety and education have suffered as a result of this new industry model. When you had to go to a specialty store to get a kayak, you’d automatically come face-to-face with someone who was experienced and cared about the sport and the safety and education of people getting into it. That’s no longer the case. Now people know kayaks are supposed to be fun, and that they saw one at Walmart for $150.  — Pete Koerner, Adventures Up The Creek, Fernandina Beach, Florida WILL THE INDUSTRY EVER BE SATISFIED WITH A SINGLE TRADE SHOW? ACCORDING TO U.S. COAST GUARD STATS, 38 PERCENT OF FATAL KAYAKING ACCIDENTS INVOLVE PADDLERS WITH LESS THAN 10 HOURS OF EXPERIENCE. WHY DO YOU THINK BEGINNERS ARE SO VULNERABLE, AND WHAT CAN THE INDUSTRY DO TO STOP IT? Creating community is the only way to survive in this industry as a small business. — Matt Gerhardt, 4Corners Riversport

13 PADDLING BUSINESSWe see a lot of interest from young people. We have always strived for a good mix of men and women in our ranks and we are seeing more and more minorities in our staff but also our clients. We have always been welcoming of anyone interested in learning about habitat, wildlife and of course river recreation. The cost of entry should always be nothing more than caring about these things. If you have that, I feel you have paid the price of admission, and it then becomes the obligation of those of us who are tenured to nurture that into the best it can be. — Andy Neinas, Echo Canyon River Expeditions, Cañon City, ColoradoWhile it’s massively important to promote our sport to all demographics, the industry as a whole has shown little success at a national level. However, we have many incredible examples of growing our sport on a more local level. National organizations like the ACA and PTC should focus their efforts on supporting local organizations that are making a real difference on the water. They’re the real heroes bringing people into our sport. — Chris Hipgrave, Pyranha US, Erwin, TennesseeInclusion doesn’t happen through messaging. It comes through invitation. — Dennis Vasey, Marsh Paddlers, Collier County, FloridaGrowing the sport means making sure everyone feels welcome. As a 50-year-old white guy from Colorado, I can say most of my customers look like me—but that’s slowly changing. We’ve partnered with groups like Diversify Whitewater and supported athletes who connect with different communities to help drive that change. I really believe the future of paddlesports depends on inclusivity. The outdoors is for everyone, and we have to be intentional about creating that space. For me, it’s personal—I make a point to introduce myself to as many people as I can when I’m out on the water. My family jokes that I’m the Walmart greeter of the eddys, and I take that role seriously. It might seem small, but small acts of welcome add up. — Mike Harvey, Badfish SUP, Salida, ColoradoAt the end of the day, if we’re not moving everything forward together, then we’re just all squabbling over the same scraps. — Simon Coward, AQ Outdoors, Calgary, AlbertaWhat does the future look like? Big box selling undifferentiated entry-level products, and a few connoisseurs making shiny glass boats. The middle ground is a wasteland for brands and retailers alike. — Scott Holley, Eccles School of Business at the University of Utah WHAT CAN THE PADDLING COMMUNITY DO TO PROMOTE PARTICIPATION AMONG YOUNG PEOPLE, WOMEN AND MINORITIES? PHOTO: DAVID JACKSON

14 PADDLING BUSINESSMINDBLOWN MOMENTSWe all remember the experience that hooked us on paddling. For me, it was the Boundary Waters in Minnesota, seven days living out of a boat, portaging from lake to lake, laughing around campfires. I came home thinking, “I need a canoe, right now.”The conventional demo day, where we go around in circles on a pond, doesn’t paint that picture of what paddling can be. So I think we make a mistake when we tell new customers to start by taking an intro-to-paddling class first, because paddling is more than sweep strokes and bow-draws. It’s an overnight camp. It’s a paddle around the point to see a sunset. It’s that moment—the mindblown moment—where they go, “Oh my God, I need more of this!” All of us in the industry have had these experiences. It’s why we’re in this business. But a lot of people haven’t had their hook-set moment yet. It’s our job to show them that first, instruction second.Paddling gives you that mind-blown moment—where there’s nothing else but your surroundings and you’re just soaking them in. It gets you there faster than a hike or a mountain bike ride, I believe, because once you leave terra firma, you’re predisposed to have your mind blown. You’re floating through space, essentially. —Ethan Ebersold is an independent brand rep based in Bend, OregonTHERE’S AN APP FOR THATWe’ve seen firsthand how trail apps have democratized the outdoors. When I first moved to Idaho, I spent an entire summer getting hopelessly lost on the mountain bike trails, staring at maps I’d printed out from the internet, saying, “Where the hell am I?” Now, anybody can download the Trailforks app and know exactly where they are and where they’re going. It’s really lowered the barrier to entry.NRS created the PaddleWays app to do the same thing for paddlers. When we built it, we thought it would be great for people who need to know where the crux rapids are, or when a remote creek comes in. But when we launched, we realized the need for this information is much broader. Rec kayaking, SUP and canoeing are our three biggest categories on PaddleWays. While avid whitewater kayakers and rafters are downloading the app and finding value in it, the adoption rate has been strongest among those people who are at the more casual end of the scale, and that’s super exciting to me. This technology gives us a pathway to welcome these folks into the sport. It’s also an avenue for promoting safety, responsible use and conservation. We’ve begun engaging our nonprofit partners in this work and look forward to building on those efforts. —Mark Deming is Chief Marketing Officer of NRS THE GOLD STANDARDThe thing that made paddlesports tick in the early days was demo day after demo day after demo day. It was like bashing your head against the wall, but it grew participation and interest. We don’t want to go back to that, but we must continue to be involved at the community level and at an interest-building level. When I was younger and doing this, I used to think it’s not my job—the brands have all the money. They need to market and promote paddlesports. My mindset has changed quite dramatically. I think it’s the retailers’ responsibility to promote paddlesports in their local communities, but it’s the manufacturers’ job to support the shit out of those efforts. That is their job. That comes in the form of cooperative marketing dollars. It comes in the form of demo fleets that don’t cripple our cash flow. We’ve made some huge inroads on that. We’re working on a guiding document of what a gold standard relationship is between retailers and manufacturers, and we’ll have something to present at the PTC Colab. Because at the end of the day, if we’re not moving everything forward together, then we’re just all squabbling over the same scraps. —Simon Coward is the owner of AQ Outdoors in Calgary, Alberta, and a member of the PTC BoardVOICESThe Big IdeaThree pros reimagine how to hook new paddlers

Learn more.nrs.comNo two people are made alike. Yet, until now, most life jackets were built the same. We’ve developed new design and construction methods to create PFDs that fit the full spectrum of paddlers—no matter who you are, how you’re shaped, or what craft you paddle. Gone are stiff and bulky blocks of foam. Gone are arbitrary his-or-hers distinctions and paper-doll sizing. Here, finally, are life jackets patterned to size, pre-formed for your torso, and flexible to fit. Every Body Design™ with our Orbit Fit System™ reimagines how life jackets are made, making comfortable safety accessible to all.EVERYBODYDESIGN

EXPER IENCE THE DELTA D IFFERENCE .To learn more about our industry-leading design, innovation & complete lineup of lightweight thermoform kayaks, visit DeltaKayaks.comADVANCEDPERFORMANCE,BUILT FOR ADVENTURE.Built for paddlers who want to go farther with confidence, Delta’s Performance Touring Kayaks blend efficiency, stability, and refined handling. Whether you’re exploring open coastlines or covering distance on a multi-day trip, these kayaks respond with smooth glide and precise control. Their shallow V-shaped hull, moderate rocker, and carefully sculpted chines come together to create a ride that feels responsive, balanced, and ready for adventure.DISCOV ER DELTA’S PERFORMANCE TOURING SERIESDELTA DELUXENEO/NYLON SKIRTPROUDLY MADE IN CANADAPROUDLY MADE IN C ANADAFEATUREDMODEL:LENGTH WIDTH DEPTH WEIGHT MAX CAPACITY*15 FT 4.6 M22 IN55.9 CM11.5 IN29.2 CM44 LBS20 KG 270 LBS122 KG* SUGGESTEDDELTA 15S

17 PADDLING BUSINESSNEWSIn BriefFrom legislation to safety trends, this is what’s driving the conversation this yearby jeff moagPUBLIC LANDS SPARED FOR NOW AS CONGRESS SLASHES PROGRAMS In June, NRS Marketing Director Mark Deming published an opinion editorial in the Idaho Statesman, describing the economic boost that public lands provide to NRS and other outdoorfocused businesses. Deming’s voice was one of many pushing back against the proposed sale of public lands in the federal tax and spending bill, aka The Big Beautiful Bill, and the public outcry had the intended effect: a proposal to sell off up to 3.3 million acres of land managed by BLM and the U.S. Forest Service was stricken from the bill. “Politicians listen when businesses speak,” Deming says. “I wish that individual voices held as much weight but that is the world we live in.”Even without the public land sale, the bill proposes sweeping rollbacks to climate, conservation and public land protections. The legislation rescinds all unobligated Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) funds designated for forest restoration, wildfire mitigation and forest conservation programs. The cuts would impact forested river corridors, says American Whitewater Director of Policy and Science Thomas O’Keefe, who read the entire bill with an eye for provisions that could impact river-runners and the paddling industry. The bill also cuts funding for NOAA programs that support climate forecasting, marine sanctuaries, and—whitewater boaters take note—river flow data. The proposed legislation also takes aim at Alaska’s wild rivers, mandating at least 20 million acres be opened to oil and gas drilling over the next 10 years in the Western Arctic, a remote landscape known for wilderness river journeys on the Colville, Utukok, Kokolik and Kukpowruk rivers. It contains provisions designed to expand coal and timber extraction from public lands. It cuts National Park Service staffing, including river rangers. Finally, a lastminute amendment proposes up to $1 billion to raise the Shasta Dam in California, which would inundate sacred sites of the Winnemem Wintu Tribe and drown a spectacular stretch of whitewater on the lower McCloud River. Big, yes. Beautiful? You be the judge.A R A F T O N T H E C O L O R A D O R I V E R B E L O W H AVA S U C R E E K I N G R A N D CANYON NATIONAL PARK .PHOTO: NPS/MARK LELLOUCH

18 PADDLING BUSINESSDIVERSE COMMUNITIES DRIVE PARTICIPATION GAINS Outdoor recreation participation hit a record high in 2024, with 181.1 million Americans—nearly 59 percent of the population aged six and up—taking part in activities like hiking, camping and paddling. The growth wasn’t just in numbers, but also in diversity. Youth (+5.6 percent), seniors (+7.4 percent), and underrepresented groups including Black (+12.8 percent) and Hispanic (+11.8 percent) participants all saw significant increases in the latest Participation Trends Report from the Outdoor Foundation and Outdoor Industry Association. High-income households and high school graduates without college degrees also saw double-digit gains. The number of white and Asian/Pacific Islander participants declined slightly. Still, the overall trend suggests a long-term demographic shift in the outdoor recreation space. Core participants—those who recreate frequently—increased by five million to 93.4 million, reversing a decade-long decline. Notably, Black core participation jumped 11.4 percent and Hispanic core participation rose 5.7 percent. The data suggest sustained growth and increasing diversity in the outdoor community—an encouraging signal for paddlesports and other activities historically lacking representation. Find more info at outdoorindustry.org.BOATING DEATHS HIT 50-YEAR LOW BUT SUP FATALITIES SPIKE Boating deaths in 2024 were the lowest they’ve been since the U.S. Coast Guard began collecting statistics more than 50 years ago. Overall boating fatalities in the U.S. decreased 1.4 percent to 556, according to the U.S. Coast Guard’s Boating Statistics 2024. The positive trend was tempered by an increase in paddling fatalities, which accounted for about one in every three boating accidents in the United States last year. SUP fatalities surged 163 percent, to 40 people. Vessels operated by people who had not received boating safety instruction accounted for roughly 70 percent of the fatalities. Lack of instruction was a through-line in all boating incidents, from motorboats to jet skis and paddlecraft. Drowning accounted for three-quarters of deaths, and 87 percent of drowning victims were not wearing life jackets. Those key takeaways won’t surprise anyone who has worked as a paddling instructor, guide or livery hand, but they do serve as a reminder to model safe behaviors to customers.PTC COLAB EVENT MOVES TO CHARLOTTEThe Paddlesports Trade Coalition (PTC) will host its second annual PTC Colab event October 16 to 18 at the U.S. National Whitewater Center in Charlotte, North Carolina. The event will run in partnership with the ACA PaddleFest, celebrating 145 years of the American Canoe Association. The PTC Colab was originally scheduled to return to Oklahoma City for a second year, but the synergy with Charlotte and the ACA was too good to pass up, says PTC Executive Director Jeff Turner. “We love the Oklahoma City whitewater park and had great conversations with our partners there, but when the ACA invited us to collaborate during their 145th anniversary celebration in Charlotte, it made sense to bring our event there,” Turner says. The event will coincide with ACA’s anniversary festivities, including a Swiftwater Rescue Conference and the U.S. National Slalom & Kayak Cross Championships, all while the park remains open to the public. The PTC Colab will add a full slate of industry discussions and roundtables, onwater demos and a new product showcase. “We’re excited to integrate our programming with ACA’s,” says Turner, adding that interest from manufacturers and retailers is strong in the coalition’s second year. Find more info at ptc.connectedcommunity.org.PHOTO: SHUTTERSTOCK.COMPHOTO: COURTESY U.S. NATIONAL WHITEWATER CENTER

19 PADDLING BUSINESSTHE AMERICAN CANOE ASSOCIATIONhas released a new series of instructional materials aimed squarely at new paddlers. The illustrated Smart Start for Safe Paddling books are available using print-on-demand, which keeps upfront costs down and allows retailers and others to create co-branded versions, featuring local venue highlights, programs or relevant paddling tips.The project is a new venture for the association, which celebrates its 145th anniversary this summer. Until now, the ACA’s instruction model has been heavily focused on in-person training and the certifying of highly skilled instructors and leaders who then pass their knowledge along in paddling skills courses or trips. The new Smart Start materials take a more expansive view of paddlesports instruction, starting with basic skills and knowledge that are accessible to anyone, anywhere at very low cost, says ACA Education Director Kelsey Bracewell.The idea took shape late last summer, when Bracewell joined forces with former ACA President Robin Pope and ACA Public Policy Chief Brett Mayer. Right away, the project ran into an unforeseen challenge in Hurricane Helene, which tore a path through Western North Carolina, home to Mayer and Pope. “Brett lives in Asheville and was deeply affected,” Bracewell says. Pope’s home is on higher ground, but as a medical professional, his time was in high demand in the aftermath of the storm. Somehow, the trio carved out time for the project. “I feel an even greater sense of pride in the fact that we were able to produce this in the wake of all of that happening,” Bracewell says. “It shows Robin and Brett’s dedication not only to their work with ACA, but to the paddling community as a whole.”The result is a comprehensive resource collection which is centered around a three-book series designed to remove barriers for beginner paddlers. The primary manual is accompanied by a student workbook and a facilitator’s guide to help any paddling leader deliver high-quality content in engaging and memorable ways. The tone and design of the project is designed to be inviting, approachable and jargon-free. “These books—print or digital—are complementary resources,” Bracewell says. “There’s so much heart, soul, expertise and care that went into them, and they fit perfectly together.”While the ACA remains committed to its traditional instruction model—the association has certified more than 52,000 paddling instructors since 1972—Bracewell sees Smart Start as a vital new tool to engage a new audience. “The ACA has trained so many accomplished paddlers, instructors and expedition leaders who have fascinating stories and tips to share. As interesting and valuable as that is, it’s sometimes hard for people who just bought EDUCATIONSmart StartACA’s new instruc tional series welcomes newcomers by jeff moagA C A E D U C AT I O N D I R E C T O R AND SMART START COA U T H O R K E L S E Y B R A C E W E L L . PHOTO: TED SCHUBEL

a boat at Tractor Supply or Costco to relate to and firmly grasp.” To be fair, the same can go for someone who just purchased their first boat from a specialty retailer. The writers recognized the need for plainspoken accessibility. Pope is a physician’s assistant with a data analysis background and many years of class V paddling experience. Mayer is a science teacher, also with many years of highly technical whitewater paddling experience. The challenge became translating that expertise for an audience that is brand-new to paddling. “We wanted to provide clear, consistent content at a third- or fourth-grade reading level,” Bracewell says. “We wanted to demystify the first-time paddling experience for newcomers, and for these materials to make sense to someone who doesn’t already know essential safety skills and paddling lingo.”Accessibility also influenced the distribution method. Rather than stock warehouses of print copies, ACA chose a print-on-demand model, allowing individuals to order single copies and shops or clubs to place bulk orders with significant discounts. Retailers, outfitters and community programs can customize the books with their logos, photos and localized content.Bracewell says the industry has a big role to play in pointing new paddlers toward safe and positive experiences in the sport. “If you’re a brand or a retailer or an outfitter, I would ask you to get one of these books—or let me send you one—and tell me what you think about the content’s relevance to your customers and clients,” she says. “If you like it, stock it. And let me know what your customers think.”At its core, Smart Start for Safe Paddling is about welcoming people to the water with clarity, warmth and encouragement. “My hope is that it provides the entry point a lot of people need,” Bracewell says. “And that it becomes a quality and consistent tool that can be used anywhere.”For more information, visit americancanoe.org/smart-start.northwater.comCANYON CREDENTIALED

21 PADDLING BUSINESSONE SUMMER IN MAINE, as I hoisted my canoe for the quarter-mile portage around Allagash Falls, I noticed the stones at the landing were covered in streaks of dark green and red. Continuing over the rise, blinking sweat from my eyes, I stared vacantly at the trail scrolling beneath my boots. It was rugged and steep and full of rocks, every one of which was marked with red or green, or both, even at the height of land where I stopped to catch my breath. On the way down there were even more colorful streaks, which makes perfect sense because it’s easier to drag a rented canoe downhill than up. From that day on, I’ve been a believer in Royalex, the green (sometimes red) miracle material that dominated the middle of the canoe market from its introduction in 1972 until 2014, shortly after plastics giant PolyOne acquired Royalex manufacturer Spartech and shuttered the Indiana factory where it was produced, citing insufficient demand from the canoe industry. Jacques Chassé is also a believer. So much so that he gambled his company, Esquif, on creating a replacement for the famously durable material. While other canoe companies looked to fill the gap with high-end composites or rotomolded boats, Chassé never saw those materials as an option for the canoe company he founded in 1997 with an order of five sheets of Royalex. While Esquif had grown to employ about 20 workers at its Frampton, Quebec, factory, it never moved away from Royalex.“The other manufacturers already had composite boats in their pocket or rotomolded boats in their pocket, so they were able to survive with that,” Chassé says of the years after PolyOne ceased deliveries. “We did not have that. For us, developing T-Formex was a question of survival.” Royalex consists of a foam core sandwiched between layers of ABS plastic, with a very thin outer skin that provides UV protection and a slick surface that tends to glance off rocks and slide over shallow river bottoms. Those qualities made Royalex a favorite of canoeists for more than 40 years, particularly expedition paddlers and rental liveries who valued its nearly indestructible nature and middle-of-the-road price point.Manufacturing Royalex, or any viable replacement for it, requires sophisticated chemistry and machinery to produce each layer of material, and still more complex equipment to bond them together in a process called vulcanization. Chassé was somewhat familiar with the final step, because he had proposed to Spartech that Esquif could take over the vulcanization to expedite delivery during the busy spring season. He knew nothing about Royalex’s real secret sauce—the formulation and manufacture of the three component layers. He decided to go all-in anyway. “There are things that you will do when you are a believer, no matter the challenge,” he says now. “When I received the letter from PolyOne saying they will cease their operation, instead of INSIDEThe BelieverEsquif ’s long-shot bet on a replacement for Royalex is finally paying off by jeff moagJ A C Q U E S C H A S S É AT E S Q U I F ’ S FA C T O R Y I N F R A M P T O N, Q U E B E C . PHOTO: FRANCIS VACHON

Multi-day & ExpeditionTrip Length WeightLightweightWhitewaterClass I-IIIDurabilityRock-readyHORIZONwith Lam-Lok™LAM-LOK™ Patent Pending technology mechanicallybonds blade layers together, resisting delamination,abrasion, and impact.The Horizon is built for demanding backcountry travel—pairing advanced composite materials with nextlevel edge protection to go the distance.23OZ | CARBON SHAFT | $349.95 MSRPAA NNEEWW HHOORRIIZZOONNIINN PPAADDDDLLEE TTEECCHHpanicking or feeling destroyed by that news, I saw it as an opportunity.” Chassé bought up every sheet of Royalex he could put his hands on, expecting it to bridge the gap until he could introduce the replacement laminate he would call T-Formex. He spent 2014 working to reproduce the Royalex recipe. Chassé read everything he could find about plastics and began working with Polytechnique Montréal, a research university with a pilot plant where Chassé pursued his own version of the Holy Grail: A trio of materials that, when bonded together, will hold its shape after impact, slide over rocks and resist the sun’s ultraviolet rays—a material that won’t weigh too much and can be made in sheets with reinforcements where needed, such as the places that will become the bow and stern when the material is draped over a mold and thermoformed into the timeless shape of a canoe. Chassé ran out of Royalex, and cash, in early 2015. “I didn’t pay myself for six months, but I kept my longtime workers until I had to tell them one morning, I can’t pay you anymore,” Chassé recalls. He eventually let all his employees go, and Esquif went bankrupt. Still, he believed. He gathered a few friends and investors and bought Esquif out of bankruptcy. He was convinced he could bring T-Formex to market, and that when he did the company would thrive like never before.A VOID, AND AN OPPORTUNITYIn the early post-Royalex years, Chassé remembers talking to paddlers at shows like Canoecopia or on his favorite local runs. “Quebec rivers are tough and rocky, and it’s part of our DNA to paddle them,” Chassé says. “We are involved in whitewater as well, and paddlers were telling us they really needed a material that is durable enough for that.” Those conversations gave Chassé the confidence that there was a strong market—more than that, a real need—for T-Formex, if only he could deliver it. After more trial and error he developed what he calls an evolution of the Royalex formulation, and found a processor in the United States that could produce the core and the skin. Then he bought the shell of an autoclave in Texas, shipped it to Quebec, and spent months making it operational and converting it from steam to electric heating. This solved one of the problems that had plagued Royalex, Chassé says. “Moisture doesn’t fit very well with plastic, so our equipment allows us to control the process much better. ” By the 2016 model year, Esquif was shipping a full line of canoes in T-Formex and was soon thriving like never before. In the Royalex years, Chassé says, Esquif had always been in survival mode. That changed with T-Formex. “It became the second profit center we needed to support our growth,” he says. Esquif has made T-Formex available to other canoe manufacturers and Chassé has explored its use in different industries. Finally, he says, because a canoe manufacturer owns the formula, the paddlesports industry is no longer vulnerable to the whims of a multinational corporation. The path hasn’t always been a smooth one. When a factory fire halted production during the peak of the pandemic boom in 2021, Chassé gathered his employees and told them they would be making canoes again in a matter of weeks—and they did. “If you want your team to follow you, you need to be inspiring. You’ve got to feel the confidence that you’re going to make it,” he says. “You’ve got to believe.”

23 PADDLING BUSINESSIN 2024, longtime paddlesports retailer Todd Frank, owner of Trail Head and Trail Head River Sports in Missoula, Montana, purchased inflatable canoe manufacturer SOAR Inflatables from longtime owner Larry Laba. The move abruptly saw him join the ranks of paddlesports manufacturer as well as retailer, providing a perspective few have in this industry.  For Frank, the acquisition just made sense. His existing paddlesports shop, Trail Head River Sports, already employed four canoeists on staff, and he loved the product. “We’re thrilled with the purchase,” he says. “I knew about SOAR for years and a number of friends swore by them.” Frank was excited to take over a 30-year-old legacy brand of inflatable canoes for whitewater. “While I wasn’t looking to expand, it was a fantastic fit,” he says. The move also quickly thrust him into the role of paddlesport manufacturer, a far cry from his familiar role of specialty retailer. “Retail I know and understand,” he says. “But being a manufacturer is new to me and the nuance of that is quite different. Both have similarities, but demand planning on the manufacturing end is far, far more important. That part in retail has a degree of insulation; we can and do cancel orders. But that doesn’t work well as a manufacturer.”Finding his first retailer was easy: his own Trail Head River Sports, which he opened in 2019 in a 12,000-square-foot building a mile and a half from his main Trail Head outdoor store, which has carried paddlesports for 50 years. He has since grown his distribution to include three more retailers by showcasing the boats at the Grassroots Outdoor Alliance trade show and is working to develop a tight group of retailers to bring SOAR to another layer of core boaters. “SOAR owners are a tight-knit group that love the brand, but no one has ever seen one in a store and there’s been little opportunity for third-party validation of how awesome they are,” he says. While he admits that retail is “a magnitude more challenging,” manufacturing has its own challenges that have required some adjustment. “Honestly, as a tiny manufacturer, I spend far more time managing the day-to-day of retail. The timelines are pretty long on manufacturing and it has some crunch times, but generally it’s easier—especially at my size.”Frank has learned a few things from retail that he brings to the manufacturer table as well. “Be consistent, be fair, and understand that it’s boots-on-the-ground retail that builds brands. Nothing else works as well or as costeffectively,” he says. “As a brand, it is a different challenge, and the fun is in learning.”As for direct-to-consumer sales while wearing each hat, he says that’s simple. “If you want retailers to support your brand, think like a retailer,” he says. “Never discount your products online, or if you do, offer the same or a larger discount to the retailers for fill-in or preseason.” That, and always charge the same shipping to DTC customers as you do to retailers. PROFILEBuilt For Retail Retailer-turned-manufac turer Todd Frank on brand building, margins and shop-floor strategyby eugene buchananL O N G T I M E R E TA I L E R T O D D F R A N K I N M I S S O U L A , MONTANA.P H O T O : C O U R T E S Y TODD FRANK

“If a consumer buys a boat from one of the few markets we’re in, ask them to buy it from the retailer,” he says. “If you ship it directly to them, give the shop the margin as a credit on their account. It’s easy at our size, but it’s scalable to a point.” “If you’re one of the big ones or even a medium-sized brand, are you doing the end consumer justice by taking that sale DTC if you have a stocking dealer in the market? I see ‘good’ big vendors giving consumers the options that suit them best: One, buy from the site. Two, buy from another online retailer. Three, try saying, ‘Did you know that your local retailer is 4.2 miles from your house and has this product in stock?’”This might add more steps, he says, but it also adds more value. “As a vendor, I may need to sell it two times—once to the retailer and again to the end consumer who visits our site,” he says. “Then we tell them they can look at it in person and save shipping in most instances. It’s just not that hard to support local retail. But we got here by brands thinking they didn’t need retailers to build the activity, support the local community, and build the brand equity they’re burning in the dumpster out back with DTC discounting.”  “It’s stupid simple,” he says. “Owning a brand has made me even more entrenched in the value of retailers. I am a retailer at heart, and even with SOAR, the magic happens with the end consumer.”T O D D F R A N K ( C E N T E R ) W I T H T H E T R A I L H E A D A N D S O A R S TA F F. P H O T O : C O U R T E S Y TODD FRANK

25 PADDLING BUSINESSTHIS SUMMER I BOUGHT two kayaks and two paddleboards for a vacation rental property. I bought them from a box store. I’ll probably never paddle these boats and boards. You probably wouldn’t either. Nor would I now paddle the tri-keel fiberglass canoe that lived under the porch of the shabby cottage my parents rented each summer. However, if not for the confidence I gained from that junker canoe, I wouldn’t be writing this today. If I could go back, knowing what I know now, to the beginning of the recreational kayak boom, I’d tell brands and retailers to stop believing recreational kayak sales from box stores would lead to any significant short-term industry growth. I’d shut down the idea that simply putting butts in these boats would generate more paddling enthusiasts. I’d argue box store kayak buyers will not magically become paddling enthusiasts, and they will not soon wander into specialty retail shops to upgrade. Because they didn’t. Sure, every specialty shop owner tells their story of the one or two Pelican customers who upgraded to Pungos. But if you play the numbers game, of the millions of units sold at Costco, Walmart, Dick’s and Canadian Tire, one or two new consumers each year in the 200 paddling shops across North America is not a viable growth strategy. The few who did find their way to specialty stores probably would have done so anyway. I believe however we did miss an opportunity to educate years of box store kayak consumers. Why didn’t we include information, like a catalog or a magazine, in all those boats? Something, anything, that could have enlightened Walmart shoppers about the bigger, better paddlesports world. Pelican, which owns the Confluence Outdoor banner along with Dagger, Wilderness Systems, Perception and Advanced Elements, is in a fantastic position to test this theory. They could be cross-marketing their specialty kayak brands to box store kayak buyers. If nothing else, wouldn’t it feel good? Message: “Hey, thanks for buying this kayak… please check out all the other kayaks we sell, available at these fine paddling shops.”Good idea, right? What would this cost? Almost nothing. If you had asked me when I was running Rapid Media to create a special issue of Paddling Magazine to include with every new box store kayak sold, I would have jumped at the chance. Would any of this drive immediate sales? Maybe, maybe not. Either way I’m sure this type of marketing would have been helpful for long-term brand equity and industry growth. Hard to argue it wouldn’t have. What we do know is box-store sales haven’t led to immediate gains for specialty paddlesports. But like that old canoe at my summer cottage, putting butts in boats has done one very important thing for us. We just need to look at the bigger picture and longer term to see it. Those millions of inexpensive box store kayaks, canoes, and, more recently, paddleboards, have become household items, almost like bicycles. Whether or not a butt in a $299 boat drove anyone into a specialty store doesn’t matter now. OPINIONButts In BoatsTurns out , it ’s more of a long-game strategyby scott macgregorF R O M “ H E L L N O ” T O A L L- I N . PHOTO: JOHN WEBSTER

What matters now is we have a cohort of 20- and 30-year-olds who grew up with their butts in boats and paddles in their hands. They messed around in them at camps, cottages, beaches and trailer parks. When I launched Rapid magazine in the late 90s, people at outdoor adventure shows told me canoes and kayaks were tippy and they were scared of getting caught inside if they flipped. We’ve all heard the same thing, a thousand times. Young adults today know better. Because they grew up playing in kayaks. Kids make it look easy. So easy their parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles and neighbors also give them a try. Imagine for a minute we all worked in the cycling industry selling only specialty shop bikes and equipment. And, imagine a world where generations of children, basically every kid in North America, never learned to ride a bike. Now imagine trying to sell any enthusiast segment of cycling. Try pitching the idea of screaming down hills over roots, rocks and jumps to adults who didn’t grow up knowing the basics of how to ride a bicycle. It would be the same for gravel, bikepacking and road cycling. “Hell no. Those things are tippy and scary,” they’d say to you about your fancy bikes in the aisle of a consumer outdoor show. Not to mention getting them to open their wallets to pay thousands of dollars for the horrifying experience.Luckily for the cycling industry, department store bikes are household items and, as such, almost everyone knows how to ride. Consumers are aware the Kmart 10-speeds they grew up on are not what Tadej Pogačar is racing in the Tour de France. They know the Huffy mountain bikes at Walmart are not what Brandon Semenuk is riding on Red Bull TV. But at least they know they could pedal any of those bikes to the corner store for a jug of milk. In the early years of paddlesports, before the box store boom—canoeing maybe being the exception in certain regions where popularity dates back to the 1950s—we were asking adults who didn’t grow up knowing the very basics of kayaking to jump into whitewater. We were asking them to sea kayak in ocean swells. It’s amazing anyone ever did. The whole butts in boats idea of box store kayaks magically creating paddling enthusiasts didn’t pan out as we hoped it would. However, 25 years later it has created a world where millions of people are now more paddlesports positive. There’s a whole lot less, “Hell no, they’re tippy” in the world today. We now have a base of consumers who are more likely than ever before to buy into what we are selling. We can stop pitching paddlesports, as a concept. It’s out there. Almost like riding a bike. We can now do what most of us would rather do—grow paddling segments. Create paddling enthusiasts. And then, sell them the good stuff they’ll need to enjoy it. Scott MacGregor is the founder of Rapid Media.

27 PADDLING BUSINESSFOR DECADES, Grey Owl Paddles has been a fixture in canoes across Canada. Now, as the brand marks its 50th anniversary, it’s found a new home. The acquisition is the perfect off-season match to complement an already thriving hockey stick manufacturing business, says new owner W. Graeme Roustan, executive chairman of Roustan Sports Ltd. “Here was the challenge: Hockey is a winter sport, so six months of the year, we were very busy making hockey sticks. But the other six months, we were slow,” Roustan says. Roustan Sports is the only commercial manufacturer making hockey sticks domestically in Canada or the U.S. and produces more than 250,000 sticks annually. Grey Owl Paddles was founded by canoeist Brian Dorfman in 1975. He started the company in his garage after he’d fled the suitand-tie life of Bay Street. After being an industry stalwart for decades, Dorfman, now 80 years old, began searching for a buyer for Grey Owl two years ago. The hockey stick and paddle businesses were already acquainted, having once shared wood—and even employees—when both operated in the Ontario city of Cambridge.Roustan is no stranger to dealmaking. A former Wall Street banker, he led a group that acquired Bauer Hockey from Nike for $200 million in 2008. “Two years ago, I sat down with Brian and I said, ‘I hope I’m worthy.’ And he said to me, ‘I’ll talk to your employees. I’ll talk to your suppliers. I’ll think about it,’” says Roustan. Dorfman waited until Grey Owl’s milestone anniversary before retiring.Roustan officially took over Grey Owl on July 1. “I’m going to do my very best to continue on the legacy of Brian and his life’s work,” says Roustan. Dorfman remains involved as an advisor.Roustan spoke with Paddling Magazine in early August, just four days after the first paddle was made in Roustan’s 130,000-square-foot mega-factory in Brantford, Ontario. Relocating LEGACYGrey Owl Flies Again Iconic paddle brand set for expansion under new ownershipby kaydi pyetteH E S H O O T S ! H E S C O R E S ! R O U S TA N S P O R T S LT D . C H A I R M A N W. G R A E M E R O U S TA N A C Q U I R E D G R E Y O W L PA D D L E S I N T H E B R A N D ’ S 5 0 T H Y E A R . PHOTO: PATRYCJA HYRSZ

28 PADDLING BUSINESSGrey Owl’s specialized equipment to the nearby city cost half a million dollars, says Roustan. The price of the sale was not disclosed. Consolidating operations eliminates much of Grey Owl’s overhead, and because Roustan Sports buys wood in greater volume for its hockey sticks, Roustan anticipates substantial cost savings on materials. In 2024, Grey Owl made more than 30,000 paddles. In the first 12 months after acquiring the business, Roustan aims to make 50,000 paddles, with plans to double that within three years. Roughly half will go to the 145 dealers worldwide, with the other half sold direct to consumer (DTC).DTC will be new for the brand, which recently launched a Shopify-powered site on greyowlpaddles.com. Of the 7,000 paddles in acquired inventory, 4,000 were sold in July, says Roustan, mostly direct to consumers, boosted by advertising in The Hockey Newsmagazine and website, where Roustan is the owner and publisher. This isn’t Roustan’s first foray into launching DTC. In 2019, he launched stix.com, selling hockey sticks online. To overcome retailer concerns about DTC, his model used the postal codes from online buyers to assign commissions to his dealer network.He plans to do the same with paddles, supporting dealers while embracing DTC. His message: DTC isn’t going away, but retailers can still win. “There has to be a new model where we share in the opportunities because the dealers are our partners. It has to be a two-way, win-win partnership, or else it doesn’t work,” says Roustan. It’s a model he believes will help Grey Owl build on its 50-year legacy. “When kids put a hockey stick in their hand, a smile goes on their face. When someone has a paddle and they’re in a canoe, it puts a smile on their face,” says Roustan. “We live in a time when not too many smiles are going around. I’m in the business of putting smiles on people’s faces. It’s a privilege.”B E H I N D T H E S C E N E S I N S I D E R O U S TA N S P O R T S LT D .’ S 1 3 0, 0 0 0 - S Q U A R E - F O O T FA C T O R Y I N B R A N T F O R D, O N TA R I O . PHOTOS: PATRYCJA HYRSZ

GO WHEREVER YOU WANT, THIS BOAT’S READY.Crafted from our exclusive T-Formex material, Esquif canoes are built for every adventure—and built to last.Tough, low-maintenance, and ready for whatever nature has in store, they keep your focus where Photo: Northern Scavengerit matters: getting people on the water.LEARN MORE AT ESQUIF.COMOUTFIT YOUR FLEET WITH CONFIDENCE.

30 PADDLING BUSINESSA F T E R T H E F L O O D WAT E R S R E C E D E D O N T H E N O L I C H U C K Y, B L U E R I D G E PA D D L I N G ' S R I V E R S I D E H E A D Q U A R T E R S W E R E A S H A M B L E S . PHOTO: C O U R T E S Y B L U E RIDGE PADDLING

31 PADDLING BUSINESSWHEN HURRICANE HELENE struck the Southeastern United States last October, it left a trail of death and destruction in its wake. It also hit the region’s rafting outfitters in the gut, with area rivers swelling to record levels and outposts left in shambles. The commercially run rivers affected include the Pigeon, French Broad and Nolichucky, where outfitters, as river runners everywhere are prone to do, are putting their heads down and charging into the tumultuous aftermath of Hurricane Helene. Three of the five most popular rafting rivers in the U.S.—the Ocoee, the Pigeon and the Nantahala—lie in the path of destruction Helene carved through Western North Carolina and East Tennessee. The Pigeon and Ocoee each see about 170,000 commercial rafting guests per year, and the French Broad consistently tallies more than 100,000, according to the America Outdoors’ 2022 River Use Report (the most recent data available). Southeast outfitters say those numbers are down precipitously this season.“It’s slower than usual,” says Steven Foy of the Nantahala Outdoor Center, which runs regular trips on both the French Broad and Pigeon. “The impact of the hurricane is definitely influencing tourism.” Foy adds that NOC usually has a combined volume of about 110,000 guest days across all three rivers, and that the Pisgah National Forest in which they operate is the most heavily permitted USFS district for outdoor recreation in the country.On the Pigeon, the storm wiped out road and bridge access to the customary put-in. The North Carolina Department of Tourism, Duke Energy and the county worked with outfitters to establish a temporary launch site about a mile downstream. While three outfitters have suspended operations on the Pigeon this year, NOC and some other companies are running trips from the new put-in. Although the abbreviated run skips three crowd-pleasing rapids, Foy says the river is currently great for rafting. “I went the other day and it’s awesome,” he says, adding that while you can see damage from the hurricane, the river itself is largely unchanged. “We continue to work hard for the area rafting businesses and the long-term recovery of the river,” he says. Outfitters are also working with the state legislature to secure funding for a feasibility study to redevelop the river’s first mile. The Nolichucky didn’t fare as well. No commercial outfitters are running trips on the East Tennessee classic this season. “We haven’t been allowed to operate yet,” says Mason Schmidt, who owns Blue Ridge Paddling with his brother, Brannon. “We all rely on federal permits from the Forest Service, which hasn’t given their authorization yet.” Blue Ridge and the other outfitter headquartered on the Nolichucky, USA Raft, bore the most physical damage from the hurricane. “We were pretty much completely obliterated by the hurricane,” Schmidt says, adding it will take another six months to rebuild. Schmidt and his brother hope to reopen their Blue Ridge taphouse brewery by the new year, and resume river operations by spring 2026.INDUSTRY After The StormAfter Hurricane Helene wiped out roads, bridges and entire outposts,Southeast rafting outfitters are rebuilding and reopening for businessby eugene buchanan

32 PADDLING BUSINESSWhile some of the Nolichucky’s six outfitters have tried to cobble together trips on other, more distant rivers such as the French Broad, that’s not an option for Blue Ridge. “As well as not having an outpost to work out of, we also lost a lot of gear,” Schmidt says. “And insurance completely denied us since we weren’t in the floodplain.” The brothers are staying busy writing grants and working with engineers and architects to rebuild their operation. The close-knit Southeast outfitter community has rallied around the hardest-hit operators. “We’re helping out as best we can by running shuttles for some of them and letting them use our private take-out on the French Broad,” says NOC’s Foy. “We’re all in this together.” While most outfitters keep their guest cards close to their chests, Foy estimates that rafting outfitters on the Pigeon and French Broad are collectively down about 20 percent year-toyear. “The data hasn’t been released yet, but that’s about where we all are,” he says. “We’re all down.” While earlier group-focused trips weren’t bad, he says, they hit a soft spot in June’s shorter-term bookings. That isn’t out of the ordinary, but it’s more pronounced in this first post-storm season. The slowdown is largely owing to people’s perception of the area after Helene. “There’s definitely a perspective that Western North Carolina got flooded off the map,” Foy says. “So, we have to instill the message that we’re open for business.”Nowhere is that more true than on the French Broad, which was hit hard but all of whose outfitters are operating again. Constituents have banded together to rebuild the county-owned put-in at Barnard, N.C., with the Forest Service doing the same at the Stackhouse take-out. Both were operable by mid-March. Those efforts also reopened the five-mile Section 9 commercial stretch, with many outfitters running another three miles down to private take-outs in Hot Springs, N.C. The rapids are the same as they were before the storm, says Foy, and hurricane debris is being removed every day. Many French Broad outfitters are seeing an influx of guides from the Nolichucky. One outfitter notable for its relief efforts is Outdoor Adventure Rafting/Ocoee Outdoors on the Ocoee River in East Tennessee. “The storm diverted at the last second, so it didn’t impact the Ocoee too much,” says owner Sarah Beth Neal. “But our resources were stretched pretty thin with all our recovery efforts, including building and operating a shelter to house people displaced from their homes.“Rafting has a pretty thin profit margin to begin with, so those efforts definitely tapped us,” she adds, saying her companies donated more than $30,000 to operate the shelter, which has housed over 80 people since the hurricane. “We’re still trying to find places for some of these people to live.”While her companies lost the month of October last year, they stayed busy helping others. “We have an amazing staff and the whitewater industry is uniquely qualified to help with disaster relief,” she says. “We’re all certified medically and are rough-and-tumble dirtbag folks.” She says that this year her numbers are actually up on the Ocoee so far, while most others in the region are down. However, group bookings, such as church outings, have fallen off, as has business from storm-affected areas nearby. The Ocoee region’s destination marketing organization has helped fill the gap with a top-of-the-funnel marketing campaign promoting tourism in the region. The post-storm dip has caused ripple effects in the guide community. “A lot of guides are showing up looking for work so we often have too many vying for our trips,” Neal says. “It’s kind of brutal. Some outfitters lost their entire outposts.” As the Schmidts learned on the Nolichucky, navigating insurance waters has also been tough. “They don’t replace what you lost, just the value,” she says. That means an outfitter that lost 30 serviceable old boats might receive a payout that is only enough to buy six new rafts. That makes it hard to run an operation.She adds that most of this year’s customers are caring and truly interested in the aftermath. “It’s a pretty common question we get—people asking how the storm impacted us,” Neal says. “And some people recognize us from all the press we got from helping out.” The take-home? River running is very much alive and well in the Southeast, with the region’s outfitters helping each other to put guests on their waterways. “We’re open and running strong,” says NOC’s Foy. “Come see us.”H A P P I E R T I M E S : N A N TA H A L A O U T D O O R C E N T E R C O M M E R C I A L T R I P S O N T H E F R E N C H B R O A D ( A B O V E ) A N D P I G E O N R I V E R S B E F O R E T H E S T O R M . PHOTOS: COURTESY NOC

34 PADDLING BUSINESSS P O R T I N G G O O D S I S A M O N G T H E T H R E E M O S T- A F F E C T E D M A R K E T S E G M E N T S A M O N G H U N D R E D S O F I N D U S T R I E S A F F E C T E D B Y TA R I F F S . PHOTO: ALAMY

WE ALL SAW this coming. During the 2024 U.S. presidential campaign, Donald Trump frequently expounded on his love for tariffs, a variety of tax on international trade he calls “the most beautiful word in the dictionary.” The president made liberal use of tariffs in his first administration, starting in 2018 with a series of levies that roiled the paddlesports industry. And when Trump left office in 2021, his successor Joe Biden kept many of those tariffs in place. Since regaining office in January 2025, Trump has used tariffs and the threat of tariffs as a cudgel against friend and foe alike. By April, he had tariffed nearly every country on the face of the Earth, with special attention to America’s two biggest trading partners, Canada and Mexico, and its greatest economic rival, China. Dozens of countries announced counter-tariffs, both targeted and broad-based. 35 PADDLING BUSINESSThe Uncertainty TaxSweeping trade war hits paddlespor ts from all sides with little relief in sightby jeff moag

36 PADDLING BUSINESSmany of the so-called Trump tariffs in place when he took office in 2021. In the interim, Sea Eagle had moved the bulk of its inflatable kayak production from China to Vietnam. In January this year, Hoge told Paddling Businessthe shift had given him a relative leg up on competitors who stayed in China. Weeks later, Trump announced a new 46 percent tariff on Vietnam.The episode illustrates the unpredictable tariff environment paddlesports finds itself in. Hoge was not immediately impacted by the increased Vietnam tariffs because he had filled his warehouse with product between the U.S. election in November 2024 and President Trump’s inauguration on January 20th this year. PADDLESPORTS IS VULNERABLE Paddlesports is a globally integrated industry, straddling the retail, service and manufacturing sectors. The United States, Canada and Europe all make boats and paddling gear, and all import boats and equipment from each other. As a globally integrated industry, tariffs hit the paddlesports business both coming and going. The supply chain economist Jason Miller has tracked tariffs by North American Industry Classification System [NAICS] codes, and found that sporting goods is among the three most-affected market segments among hundreds of demarcated industries. “Outdoor products and paddlesports particularly are just incredibly susceptible because you have inelastic price demand for durable goods,” says former Eddyline CEO Scott Holley, now with the Eccles School of Business at the University of Utah. “What you’re paying tariffs for is a larger portion of the finished product compared to something like electronics where you’re buying a lot of engineering talent and marketing. In paddlesports, the ratio of goods that are tariffed to services within the cost structure is much higher.”Okay, class dismissed. How does that play out in the real world? If you ask almost anyone in the paddling business, they’ll say it sure would be nice to know. Because right now it’s still anyone’s guess.“Business owners can handle pretty much anything except for unpredictability. We can predict a lot, but we can’t predict what the president is going to do today,” says Rutabaga Paddlesports owner Darren Bush. “We’re living in a roulette wheel.”Sea Eagle partner John Hoge is no stranger to the tariff game. During the last round of Trump tariffs starting in 2018 he proved to be a savvy player, applying for and receiving exemptions for the drop-stitch kayaks and aluminum paddles he imports from Asia. Those exemptions expired after 18 months, and Biden kept That strategy has paid off—so far. “A company’s reaction could be ingenious if it’s in anticipation, or ruinous if you zig when Trump zags,” he says. “With 145 percent Chinese tariffs, a whole bunch of crazy stuff starts to make sense. But if you put a couple million bucks in that direction and then [the Chinese tariff] goes back to 30 percent—like it did—that’s all wasted.”In July, President Trump announced he’d reached a deal with Vietnam to stabilize tariffs at 20 percent. Hours later, Politico reported that the rate in a draft agreement painstakingly negotiated by both sides had in fact been 11 percent. As Paddling Business went to press no formal deal with Vietnam had been signed. The roulette wheel spins on.NO WINNERS, JUST LOSERSPresident Trump claims his tariffs will revitalize American manufacturing and make the United States “rich as hell.” If those policies boost any American industry, it should be paddlesports. Hardshell boats are produced all over the world—in China, Europe, Canada and in the United States, where leading brands compete effectively with foreign rivals at every price point. “When it comes to tariffs, I’m pretty much in a Jesus-take-the-wheel mindset.” —Simon Coward, AQ OutdoorsA S A G L O B A L LY I N T E G R AT E D I N D U S T R Y, TA R I F F S H I T T H E PADDLESPORTS BUSINESS BOTH COMING AND GOING.PHOTO: COURTESY AQ OUTDOORS

37 PADDLING BUSINESSIf any companies were to benefit from tariffs, it should be the likes of Jackson Kayak in Sparta, Tennessee, BIG Adventures in Fletcher, North Carolina, and Confluence in Greenville, South Carolina. Yet those companies report tariffs have actually hurt their business, both at home and especially abroad. All export to countries that have enacted retaliatory tariffs on American goods. Meanwhile, the Trump tariffs have increased materials costs, sometimes dramatically. “Nobody’s gaining because even for American-made boats, the plastic came from China,” says OKC Kayak owner Dave Lindo. “The screws, the fittings, the seats—all of it came from abroad.”Chinese plastic can be tariffed both coming and going because the polyethylene trade between the U.S. and China is a circular one. China consumes 38 percent of U.S. ethane-ethylene exports, much of which returns stateside as toys, drainpipes, sandwich bags, and the high-density polyethylene pellets many U.S. kayak manufacturers mold into boats. In March, Trump boosted the tariff on the import of Chinese plastic from 10 to 20 percent. While modest compared to the levy on many other Chinese THE EXPLAINER, TARIFF EDITIONSome (but not all) of President Trump’s tariff actions in one sentenceReady? Deep breath . . . Go!Since taking office on January 20, 2025, President Donald Trump has launched sweeping trade policies centered around import taxes, aka tariffs, on goods from nearly every country on the planet, starting with his announcement hours after being sworn in that America’s two closest neighbors and biggest trading partners, Canada and Mexico, would pay for their inability to stop the flow of fentanyl from Mexico (and imaginary fentanyl from Canada) with 25 percent tariffs; then on January 25, 2025 Trump announced a 60 percent tariff on all Chinese imports including electronics, electric vehicles, non-electric vehicles, steel, textiles, and more, as part of an “economic decoupling strategy” from the world’s second-biggest economy; then on February 11, Trump resurrected a 25 percent tariff on all foreign steel and aluminum; and then on March 11, Trump aimed his ire at the fentanyl lords of the Great White North, threatening to double tariffs on Canadian steel and aluminum and maybe annex the whole country, which got Mark Carney elected prime minister; followed on March 13 by a 60 percent tariff on Vietnamese electronics and textiles because, according to Trump (and pretty much everyone else) Vietnam was and still is acting as a proxy for Chinese companies; then on March 26 Trump announced a 25 percent tariff on Mexican and Canadian automobiles and auto parts (in apparent breach of the United StatesMexico-Canada trade agreement, which Trump himself negotiated in his first term and hailed as “the best agreement we’ve ever made!” so he later backed off of those tariffs); all of which was prelude to April 2 (“Liberation Day”) when Trump announced a 10 percent baseline tariff on imports from almost every country in the world,including uninhabited islands but not Russia, plus higher “reciprocal” tariffs on dozens of countries that, briefly, pushed tariffs on Vietnamese imports to 45 percent and China tariffs to 145 percent, causing the global stock markets to plunge and Trump to suspend the reciprocal tariffs for 90 days to give countries time to make deals with the White House, which none did, so then Trump extended the deadlineto August 1; but in the meantime, he doubled steel and aluminum tariffs to 50 percent and the administration later announced that the United States had collected $27.2 billion in tariff revenues in the month of June, which is a lot of money but probably not enough for Congress to replace portions of federal income tax with tariff revenue as the president has suggested and experts warn would drive inflation, provoke retaliatory tariffs, upend supply chains and destabilize global markets, but who really is listening to the experts, surely not Congress which declined to take back tariff authority from the president with a simple majority vote because the Constitution gives them responsibility for all taxes, which, it bears repeating, tariffs are; and then, on July 27, the president announced “the biggest of all the deals,” setting a 15 percent tariff on most U.S. trade with the European Union, and no tariff on U.S. goods going the other way, which brings us to August 21, when Paddling Business went to press, and if you don’t like the tariffs now just wait, because U.S. tariff policy is like the weather in Maine, it changes every five minutes.

38 PADDLING BUSINESSthey imported before Canada’s retaliatory tariffs took effect.The Trump tariffs, and the president’s aggressive language about making Canada “the 51st state,” have provoked a powerful backlash, with 78 percent of Canadians telling the Angus Reid Institute they are buying fewer American products in response. “All the major supermarkets here are highlighting what’s Canadian and what’s not,” says Simon Coward, owner of AQ Outdoors in Calgary. The saving grace for American paddlesports companies selling into Canada is the relative dearth of made-inCanada alternatives. “We wouldn’t have any product if we didn’t have U.S. product. We’d be selling Level Six and Salus and I don’t know what else,” Coward says.AQ Outdoors’ drysuit rack is a microcosm of the tariff effect on paddlesports. The Calgary specialty retailer sells Level Six from Canada, Asian-made suits from NRS, and Kokatat from the United States. Level Six ships tariff-free within Canada, and NRS avoids duties on products it ships directly to Canada from Asian factories. Kokatat must pay Canada’s 25 percent retaliatory tariff on U.S. goods. As a result, Coward says, the Kokatat price has shot up relative to the Canadian and Asian competition. “Level Six and NRS drysuits range from $1,300 to $1,800 CAD ($950 to $1,300 USD), and now Kokatat drysuits are $2,500 CAD ($1,800 USD),” Coward says. “These tariffs have really impacted our exports,” says Steve Jordan, who handles international and domestic sales at BIG Adventures. The North Carolina-based manufacturer of Liquidlogic, Native Watercraft and Bonafide kayaks worked hard to keep its foothold in Europe products, this adds up to real money: China exported $18.2 billion worth of plastic to the United States in 2024. If the trade volume remains the same this year, American importers will pay an additional $3.6 billion in tariffs just to take delivery. Though paddlesports accounts for a tiny sliver of those U.S. plastics imports, plastic feedstock is the biggest single material expense for every kayak manufacturer. In April, Trump imposed a 25 percent levy on all steel and aluminum imports to the United States, and then doubled the tax to 50 percent in June. The impact is impossible to avoid, even for manufacturers that source materials domestically. “Our fastener suppliers make our stainlesssteel bolts here, but guess where they buy their metal? It’s not the United States,” says Jackson Kayak Director of Sales Colin Kemp. “Even now, depending on the vendor, we’re already getting hit with 15 percent cost increases because of tariffs.”Meanwhile, retaliatory tariffs from the EU and Canada are decimating export markets for U.S. paddlesports firms. Six years ago, a 25 percent EU tariff on U.S. kayaks and canoes made it nearly impossible for American companies to remain price-competitive, and the cost of U.S.-made paddlecraft remains high throughout Europe. “Today a Waka Billy Goat is €1,399 ($1,622 USD) at my local shop. A Jackson Gnarvana is €2,499 ($2,898 USD),” an Irish paddler reported on Reddit in June. “Sales of U.S.-made stuff is going to shrink massively.” Jackson kayaks are made in Tennessee; Waka kayaks in Italy.Jackson and other U.S.-made kayaks are also more expensive in Canada. Western Canoe Kayak in British Columbia stocks the Gnarvana for $2,475 CAD ($1,803 USD)—about $200 more than the typical stateside price. Those prices could well increase later this season or next year, after retailers sell through inventory “Business owners can handle pretty much anything except for unpredictability… We’re living in a roulette wheel.” —Darren Bush, RutabagaP R I C E S C O U L D I N C R E A S E N E X T Y E A R A F T E R R E TA I L E R S S E L L T H R O U G H I N V E N T O R Y T H E Y IMPOR TED BEFORE TARIFFS TOOK EFFEC T.PH OT O: B R E N N A K E LLY

39 PADDLING BUSINESSdime,” says NRS Chief Marketing Officer Mark Deming. “Our philosophy is to stay the course for now and monitor it really closely. When we need to make a move, we’ll make a move, but we’re not going to make knee-jerk decisions we might have to reverse.” Coward initially spent a lot of time trying to plan for tariffs, before deciding just to watch his brokerage invoices and adjust prices as needed. “It’s a bit reactive, which we don’t love being, but being too proactive in such tumultuous times can be a bit of a time suck,” he says. “When it comes to tariffs, I’m pretty much in a Jesus-take-the-wheel mindset.”While the full impact on pricing won’t become clear until brands release their 2026 price lists, some companies already have announced midseason increases, citing the cost of tariffs. “We’ve gotten letters saying tariff prices are in force as of today, from accessory brands as well as boat manufacturers, so the tariff effect from Donald Trump is already here,” OKC Kayak’s Lindo told Paddling Business in June. The Yale Budget Lab estimates Trump’s tariffs could cost the average American family an extra $2,400 this year. That leaves precious little for discretionary purchases like boats and paddling gear.“The problem is people are resisting buying at the old prices,” Lindo says. “They’re not going to buy it at this new price at all.”Consumer confidence in the United States has declined sharply since January, and the mood looking forward is glum. The Conference Board’s Expectations Index—a monthly assessment of consumers’ short-term outlook for income, business and labor market conditions—dipped to 69 in June before rebounding to 74.4 in July—still well below the threshold of 80 that typically signals a recession ahead. The retreat in confidence was shared by all age groups and political affiliations, and almost all income groups. Notably, tariffs remained on top of consumers’ minds and were frequently associated with concerns about inflation, high prices and the negative impact of tariffs on the economy.The Conference Board and similar surveys are focused on the entire U.S. economy or industry segments far larger than paddlesports. To assess the impact on paddling specialty retail, livery operations and manufacturing we must rely on anecdotal reports. Those are not good.In a business environment characterized by slow sales and uncertain demand, the last thing paddlesports needs is increased taxes—let’s not forget that tariffs are a type of tax—and more uncertainty. That’s what the industry is facing now, Hoge says. “We have to place orders from Vietnam and in theory that could snap back to 46 percent. That would be ruinous,” he says.And if it does? “We’re just hoping it doesn’t,” he says. “In these times, the old saying that hope is not a strategy doesn’t apply. Hope is the only strategy.”during the first Trump administration, when the European Union answered U.S. tariffs with a 25 percent import tax on canoes and kayaks. “A lot of brands pulled out of the European market because of those tariffs, but we stayed committed. We got very creative with our distributor in Germany to find ways to minimize the impact, and we were able to survive it.” To Jordan, the second Trump administration feels like déjà vu with a twist. “Now we’re faced with another tariff and a big part of it is just the uncertainty. One minute it’s 25 percent, one minute it’s going to be 50 percent,” he says. “It’s hard to manage your strategy when the tariffs are just all over the map.”NO SUDDEN MOVESThe tariffs have left everyone in the paddlesports industry mulling the sticky question of how much of the tariff costs they should—or can afford not to—pass along. For many, the question is a matter of forecasting. They still have warehouses full of imported goods, and the tariff environment remains, to put it very simply, fluid.“If there’s anything we’ve learned throughout this tariff situation is that it can change on a “In these times, the old saying that hope is not a strategy doesn’t apply. Hope is the only strategy.” —John Hoge, Sea EagleF R O M B O AT M A N U FA C T U R E R S T O PA D D L E M A K E R S , TA R I F F U N C E R TA I N T Y M A K E S F O R A C H A L L E N G I N G B U S I N E S S C L I M AT E . PHOTO: PATRYCJA HYRSZ

40 PADDLING BUSINESSPHOTO: CHRIS CHRISTIE

41 PADDLING BUSINESS2026 Product Guide42 KAYAK TOURING4 6 RECREATIONAL KAYAKING5 0 CANOEING58 WHITEWATER6 4 PADDLEBOARDING66 GENERAL PADDLESPORTS

2026 PRODUCT LISTINGS KAYAK TOURING42 PADDLING BUSINESSEXPEDITION KAYAKBOREALDESIGNBELUGA[A] The Beluga tandem combines stability, speed and easy handling. A moderate rocker and large rudder ensure smooth turns, while spacious, well-spaced cockpits prevent paddle clashes and offer comfort for long trips. Ideal for mixed-ability pairs, families or extended expeditions, with ample storage and reflective safety lines for low-light visibility.$4,499.99 USD • $4,499.99 CAD | BOREALDESIGN.CAEXPEDITION KAYAKBOREALDESIGNEPSILON P200[B] The Epsilon stands out as top-selling series for tour operators and rental fleets. With its smooth and stable design, the Epsilon features easily adjustable foot sliders and offers a delightful paddling experience, even in rougher waters, ensuring a dry ride. Available in three sizes and crafted from rotomolded plastic, this versatile series ensures accessibility for paddlers of any size. Reflective deck lines are a standard safety feature on all BorealDesign kayaks, visible in low light conditions.$1,749.99 USD • $2,239.99 CAD | BOREALDESIGN.CAEXPEDITION KAYAKBOREALDESIGNSTORM 17 ULTRALIGHT[C] The Storm 17 is a lightweight (61.5 pounds), versatile kayak for midsized to larger paddlers. Its multi-chine hull delivers stability, seaworthiness and easy packability, ideal for long trips or short excursions. Built with durable thermoformed ABS/Ultralight materials and equipped with reflective safety lines, it’s designed for years of adventure.$2,299.99 USD • $2,679.99 CAD | BOREALDESIGN.CAEXPEDITION KAYAKDELTA KAYAKSDELTA 15S[D] The Delta 15s is perfect for small to medium paddlers seeking speed, tracking and easy handling. Quick and responsive, it suits experienced paddlers or those leveling up. Its sleek design features a snug cockpit with elbow-friendly combings and a low seat for great stability. With ample storage and optional rudder or skeg, the 15s is ideal for extended tours and diverse water conditions.$2,495 USD | DELTAKAYAKS.COMABCD

2026 PRODUCT LISTINGS KAYAK TOURING43 PADDLING BUSINESSEXPEDITION KAYAKDELTA KAYAKSDELTA 17[A] The Delta 17 is a fast, versatile touring kayak perfect for extended trips and comfortable cruising. It handles ocean swells and rough conditions with ease. Its V-shaped hull, pronounced chine and moderate rocker provide excellent tracking and smooth edging. With ample storage, a front day hatch, Press-Lock hatches, adjustable Contour II Seat, and optional rudder or skeg, the Delta 17 is built for performance and comfort on long journeys.$2,795 USD | DELTAKAYAKS.COMTOURING KAYAKBOREALDESIGNBAFFIN P2[B] The Baffin series is built for rough seas. Its unique hull delivers a lively yet stable ride, setting it apart from other Greenland-style kayaks. Three rotomolded models suit a wide range of paddlers, offering immediate control and predictability. Outfitted with full deck rigging, a comfortable cockpit, and reflective deck lines for safety in low light, the Baffin is ready for adventure.$1,749.99 USD • $2,239.99 CAD | BOREALDESIGN.CATOURING KAYAKBOREALDESIGNESPERANTO [C] The Esperanto is one of the fastest plastic tandems available. Its stable, comfortable design pairs speed with easy paddling. A moderate rocker and large rudder ensure efficient turns, while a center compartment adds storage or fits an optional child seat. Well-spaced cockpits prevent paddle clashes, making it ideal for mixed-ability pairs, families or long expeditions needing ample space.$2,649.99 USD • $3,499.99 CAD | BOREALDESIGN.CATOURING KAYAKDELTA KAYAKSDELTA 14[D] Built for any conditions, the Delta 14 is a versatile touring kayak perfect for day trips or multiday adventures. Its sleek design offers great speed and stability, giving new and experienced paddlers confidence on the water. Lightweight and easy to handle, it features a comfortable adjustable seat, a dependable rudder and plenty of storage with three easy-access hatches.$2,395 USD | DELTAKAYAKS.COMABCD

2026 PRODUCT LISTINGS KAYAK TOURING44 PADDLING BUSINESSTOURING KAYAKDELTA KAYAKSTRAVERSE 17.5 T[A] The Delta Traverse 17.5T is a light, fast tandem kayak perfect for new and experienced paddlers. One of the lightest fullfeatured doubles, it’s stable, maneuverable and fits easily in a standard garage. With comfortable cockpits spaced to avoid paddle clashes, sealed bow and stern hatches, and a roomy middle storage pod, it offers great load capacity. Outfitted for safety and comfort, it’s ideal for your next adventure.$3,250 USD | DELTAKAYAKS.COMDAY TOURINGBOREALDESIGNCOMPASS 140 ULTRALIGHT[B] The Compass 140 delivers speed, stability and versatility. Not a full touring kayak, yet perfect for overnight trips with ample storage and easy portability. It handles rough waters, turns sharply, and features a day hatch, optional rudder, secure hatches, deck rigging and reflective safety lines for low-light visibility.$1,749.99 USD • $1,989.99 CAD | BOREALDESIGN.CADAY TOURINGDELTA KAYAKSDELTA 12.10[C] The Delta 12.10 is a versatile light-touring kayak offering impressive stability, comfort and performance. Ideal for day trips or weekends, it features a spacious cockpit, sealed bow and stern storage, and a handy day hatch. Its extended waterline delivers solid speed and tracking in a compact, nimble design—perfect for paddlers seeking all-around capability.$1,649 USD | DELTAKAYAKS.COMDAY TOURINGRIOT KAYAKSNOMAD 16.8 T[D] Experience the thrill of tandem kayaking with the Riot Nomad 16.8 T. Built for sharing unforgettable moments on the water, this spacious and stable kayak is perfect for partners, friends or families. Its durable rotomolded construction and generous storage make it ideal for day trips or weekend getaways. With comfortable seating and easy handling, the Nomad 16.8 T ensures everyone enjoys the ride.$1,749.99 USD • $2,099.99 CAD | RIOTKAYAKS.COMABCD

2026 PRODUCT LISTINGS KAYAK TOURING45 PADDLING BUSINESSINFLATABLE KAYAKNRSKAHOLO 125[A] Set course for open-water freedom. Explore the distant shoreline, weave through island chains or claim that elusive paddle-in campsite with the Kaholo 125. Ample storage space and a customizable cockpit give paddlers versatility, whether loading up for an overnight epic or simply cruising the lake. Wherever the current takes you, the Kaholo is an efficient, comfortable inflatable touring kayak that’s as durable as it is lightweight. Available in three sizes: 110, 125 and the tandem 145.$995 USD • $1,375 CAD | NRS.COMINFLATABLE KAYAKSEA EAGLERAZORLITE 393RL[B] Built for speed, the RazorLite 393rl was the first ever inflatable kayak fully constructed with drop-stitch material. The narrow sides and floor give it a rigid kayak feel and performance. Paddle up to six miles per hour with the help of adjustable foot rests. Newly updated with new graphics, daisy chain tie-downs in the bow and stern to secure your gear and a center carry handle for solo carrying. Removable skeg can be replaced with a skeg-mounted electric motor. Weighs just 35 pounds.$999 USD • $1,370 CAD | SEAEAGLE.COMINFLATABLE KAYAKSEA EAGLERAZORLITE 473RL[C] The larger, tandem version of the RazorLite 393rl. At 15’6” long, the 473rl has plenty of leg room for two paddlers. It weighs just 45 pounds and is easy to store, port, inflate and paddle. Paddle up to six miles per hour. Perfect for touring lakes, bays, calm rivers—any calm waterway. Updated with new graphics, two sets of adjustable foot rests, daisy chain tie-downs and a center carry handle. Best for intermediate and above paddlers due to is narrow 30-inch width.$1,499 USD • $2,056 CAD | SEAEAGLE.COMPFDSMUSTANG SURVIVALWOMEN’S REBEL FOAM VEST[D] This high-performance front-entry women’s foam vest features an Adjust-A-Bust system for support and Z-Strap cinch to create a comfortable, secure fit for serious paddlers. The short frame design, contoured foam panels, and racerback deliver maximum mobility. The fleece-lined pockets keep your hands toasty warm. The PVC-free Rebel PFD is approved for Harmonized Level 70 in the U.S.A. and Canada.$169.99 USD • $219.99 CAD | MUSTANGSURVIVAL.COMABCD

2026 PRODUCT LISTINGS RECREATIONAL KAYAKING46 PADDLING BUSINESSSIT-INSIDEDELTA KAYAKSDELTA 12 AR[A] The Delta 12 AR pairs an ultra-stable Fusion Hull with an easy-entry cockpit and all-day comfort. Its catamaran-inspired design delivers a smooth glide, precise handling and rocksolid stability. Sealed bow and stern hatches offer secure gear storage, making it a great choice for anglers and recreational paddlers alike, especially those wanting extra cockpit space or room for a four-legged companion.$1,595 USD | DELTAKAYAKS.COMSIT-INSIDERIOT KAYAKSBAYSIDE 10[B] The Riot Bayside 10 delivers a perfect combination of paddleability and fishability in a 10-foot sit-inside design. Whether you’re a newcomer seeking an all-in-one recreational kayak or a seasoned paddler looking for a more compact, maneuverable ride, the Bayside 10 has you covered. With its oversized cockpit and Flex 4 seat, you’ll enjoy all-day comfort and freedom to explore or cast a line. Wherever the water takes you, the Bayside 10 is ready.$599.99 USD • $699.99 CAD | RIOTKAYAKS.COMSIT-INSIDERIOT KAYAKSQUEST 10[C] Discover the joy of paddling with the Quest 10. Featuring the renowned Greenland bow and arched multi-chine hull, this kayak ensures effortless and exciting water adventures. Its wide outline and fine waterline deliver stability with a lively feel, allowing for safe leans, high-style paddling and low-brace turns. Enjoy the freedom to stretch and soak up the sun in the roomy cockpit when you’re in the mood for a more relaxed ride.$549.99 USD • $649.99 CAD | RIOTKAYAKS.COMSIT-INSIDEVIBE KAYAKSSHAKA 100[D] The all-new Vibe Shaka 100 offers a unique blend of fishability and paddleability in a small 10-foot sit-inside package. Whether you are just starting out and want a do-it-all recfishing kayak or are a seasoned pro who wants a smaller more maneuverable option, the Shaka 100 has your back. With an oversized cockpit and frame seat, you get all-day comfort and plenty of space to cast out a line. The Vibe Shaka 100 is adventure ready, are you?$799.99 USD • $979.99 CAD | VIBEKAYAKS.COMABCD

2026 PRODUCT LISTINGS RECREATIONAL KAYAKING47 PADDLING BUSINESSSIT-ON-TOPRIOT KAYAKSESCAPE 10[A] The Escape 10 is a sit-on-top kayak designed for recreational, angler or diving kayakers. Loaded with features for almost any day outing, it combines stability and performance with an excellent load capacity to keep you well-provisioned and properly organized. Your ultimate companion for a range of water adventures.$649.99 USD • $829.99 CAD | RIOTKAYAKS.COMINFLATABLEAIRESTRIKE I [B] The Tributary Strike is a high-performance inflatable kayak designed for paddlers of all skill levels. Whether you’re cruising calm lakes, paddling class I and II rivers, or taking on class III whitewater, the Strike delivers exceptional stability, maneuverability and tracking. Its specialized hull design ensures responsive control in rapids while maintaining straight tracking on flatwater, making it an excellent choice for both recreational and adventure paddlers.$1,140 USD | AIRE.COMINFLATABLEAIRESUPER LYNX[C] The AIRE Super Lynx is a 14-foot inflatable crossover kayak built for ultimate versatility. Whether you’re paddling solo or tandem, the Super Lynx transitions seamlessly between whitewater rivers, flatwater lakes and ocean touring. Its sleek, low-profile design tracks like a dream and has the capacity to carry gear for multiday expeditions.$2,680 USD | AIRE.COMINFLATABLEBLACKWATERTRIBUTE 110[D] Lightweight, strong and fun, the Tribute 110 is the compact, responsive inflatable built for solo paddlers. With up to 300 pounds capacity, it’s the most maneuverable in the Tribute series, making it easy to handle deeper exploration into tight waterways while still offering ample storage for trips. The solid tracking and versatile hull design make it great on flatwater or rivers, and its stable design gives paddlers the confidence to adventure with ease. Comfortable, stable and capable.$1,195 CAD | WESTERNCANOEKAYAK.COMABCD

2026 PRODUCT LISTINGS RECREATIONAL KAYAKING48 PADDLING BUSINESSINFLATABLEBLACKWATERTRIBUTE 135[A] The Tribute 135 is perfect for sharing solo and tandem paddling. At 13’6”, it’s lighter and easier to maneuver than its longer sibling, making it ideal for touring while still offering space for a partner or gear. Stable for relaxed cruising but responsive on the water, the 135 tracks well and handles a variety of conditions, striking a balance between agility and capacity for longer trips. It’s beautiful and visible on the water with the coastlines of Canada detailed on the outer hull.$1,495 CAD | WESTERNCANOEKAYAK.COMINFLATABLESEA EAGLEEZLITE10[B] Lightweight, solo kayak that sold out four times in its first year, the EZLite10 is the touring kayak for paddlers that need a light, easy to use, easy to transport yak. Three high-pressure air chambers made completely with drop-stitch technology for rigidity and durability. Weighs just 25 pounds and inflates in less than three minutes. V-shaped bottom for superior paddling performance, daisy chain tie-downs to secure gear, adjustable foot rest for power paddling and more. Great for day trips and touring calm waters.$999 USD • $1,370 CAD | SEAEAGLE.COMINFLATABLESEA EAGLEFASTTRACK 385FT[C] Updated with a V-shaped bottom for better tracking, greater rigidity and paddling performance. Also has new daisy chain tie-downs for gear, full length nonslip EVA foam floor pad and eye-catching colors. Removable skeg lets you put a small electric skeg-base motor. Four pounds lighter than the previous generation making it even more portable. Perfect for one or two paddlers. Superior tracking and fast paddling, the FastTrack 385 is the perfect touring kayak for many types of water.$1,199 USD • $1,644 CAD | SEAEAGLE.COMABC

49 PADDLING BUSINESSINFLATABLESPINERAKENAI [A] The Kenai is Spinera's most stable, comfortable and featurerich kayak. It comes with two Pro Hi-Lo Frame Seats for all-day comfort and can be paddled solo or tandem. Includes self-bailing scuppers, heavy-duty backpack, MOLLE strips, EVA floor traction, pop-in fin, detachable cup holder, water resistant gear cube-fanny pack and six universal mounts. Easily rigged for fishing. Constructed with Spintex commercial grade tubes with welded seams and drop-stitch floor for rigidity, performance and durability.$1,699 | SPINERA.COMINFLATABLESPINERATENAYA[B] The Tenaya family of kayaks are high-performance, lightweight inflatable kayaks designed for versatility, comfort and durability. Constructed with Spintex welded tubes and dropstitch floors, they offer lightweight rigid construction. Includes comfortable Pro High-Back seats with air cushions, HD Backpacks, click-in fins, MOLLE strips, universal mounts, cup holder and water-resistant gear cube. Available in three sizes: Tenaya 120 solo; Tenaya 140 solo or tandem; Tenaya 160 solo, tandem or triple.$1,199-$1,549 | SPINERA.COMPFDSMUSTANG SURVIVALTOPWATER FOAM VEST[C] Designed for anglers who want to keep gear close at hand, the Topwater Foam Vest stowage features include a large pocket for any gear or tackle storage, a mesh pocket to display your fishing license, and a drop-down bridge for any last-minute gear setup needs. It has adjustable shoulder and side buckles to accommodate a highly universal fit. The Topwater PFD is approved for Harmonized Level 70 in the U.S.A. and Canada. It meets the minimum life vest buoyancy of 15.7 pounds.$129.99 USD • $169.99 CAD | MUSTANGSURVIVAL.COMPFDSSALUSEDDY-FLEX[D] The Salus Eddy-Flex combines high-performance features with all-day comfort. Contoured back foam, tapered shoulders and Dry-Lex lining offer breathability and freedom of movement. A six-point adjustment system, front-zip entry and wraparound belt ensure a secure fit. Unisex styling, soft foam, rounded edges, 3M reflective trim, and pocket for storage make this vest a standout for paddlers seeking premium design and reliable performance.$149 CAD | SALUSMARINE.COMCADB

2026 PRODUCT LISTINGS CANOEING50 PADDLING BUSINESSEXPEDITIONCLIPPER CANOESMACKENZIE 20' [A] The 20-foot MacKenzie paddles like a wilderness tripping canoe, yet handles loads like a freighter canoe. Paddlers will love the Mac’s speed and responsive handling along with its incredible capacity and comfort, while three inches of rocker allows for responsive turns, no matter the conditions. Optional bench seats increase capacity as high as six paddlers—it is suited for three to four adults and camping gear, or two adults with a pack of kids and gear. Once you go Mac, you won’t go back.$3,400 CAD | CLIPPERCANOES.COMEXPEDITIONESQUIFPROSPECTEUR 17[B] Built with durable T-Formex, the Prospecteur 17 is designed for extended trips and group paddling. It offers extra capacity while maintaining great agility. Its traditional hull shape provides reliable performance in varied conditions, ensuring stability and smooth tracking. Spacious and tough, it easily carries gear and paddlers, making it an excellent choice for outfitters, camps and wilderness adventures.$2,449 USD | E S QUIF.C OM/E NTOURINGCLIPPER CANOESTRIPPER[C] Versatility is the Tripper’s most popular feature and it is at home on large lakes, open ocean or up to grade III whitewater. The Tripper will carry a family with kids, or enough gear for an extended tandem wilderness trip. It might have otherwise been named the Bowron for its capability around a lake chain such as that, and its fast speed makes it a first choice for many races in the Northwest. The Tripper is designed to sit with an adjustable foot brace for maximum comfort and efficiency.$2,770 CAD | CLIPPERCANOES.COMTOURINGCLIPPER CANOESYUKON [D] The appeal of the Yukon is based on its excellent value and performance. It is a paddler’s canoe that is built to last and has truly proven itself in rental use and adventure racing across Canada. Handcrafted in B.C., it shines on wilderness trips, handling rivers, lakes and coastal waters with ease. Its shallowarch hull tracks well yet remains stable when loaded, making it ideal for families, outfitters or expedition paddlers seeking quality performance in a durable, all-round tripping canoe.$1,995 CAD | CLIPPERCANOES.COMACB D