I had a very productive trip to Nelo in Portugal where we spent a lot of time on the Apex Tyr fishing kayak seat, hull, outfitting, etc. There were 7 Tyr fishing kayaks molded, with 1 completed for my review. They still had some questions and wanted to get the boats right before closing them up. Jone is the technical guy and his skills and knowledge are amazing. Working with him is not only rewarding because he can get the job done, but fun, because he can do it in ways I never thought of.
Gomez, a whitewater kayaker for the past 20 years is in charge of the sewing shop and is also a joy to work with. He invited me to kayak with him the next time I am there. He raced in the 5/10 cup surf-ski race on Saturday and beat me by 5 seconds! That is the kind of guy I like working on my projects! He made a boat cover for the Tyr and the Ringer. I will have 10 covers coming on the container that ships next week as well as at least the first 6 Tyr fishing kayaks. Gomez leads his team there with a smile, and while the ladies are joking all day, they never slow down. I am getting to know the team there and haven’t met a slacker or bad egg yet.
Henry was another gem at the factory with incredible experience with whitewater kayaks and knows what is required to put the thing together. The boat was together when I arrived, but needed the seat and footbraces installed. He used a creative way to install the seat that made it strong, 100% secure and stable, but easily adjustable without tools. It isn’t likely to be how we do it for production, but it was ideal for testing seat position in the prototype. Two rails with thumb screws that are tightened on the front and back of the seat on each side, and a drop down tab that he added to the boat for the seat vertical sides that have simple drill holes with a thumb screw holding it in place.
The big boss is Nelo himself. Nelo was a national champion flatwater sprint racer in Portugal. He started his kayak making company 40 years ago, making sprint kayaks. Today he has an 80% market-share in sprint kayaks. His customer base is made up mostly of National teams, Olympians, racing clubs, etc. These customers expect the best as they are fully committed to the sport and are at the top of their game. Anyone who can achieve an 80% market-share after 40 years is doing something right with the manufacturing of their products. Watching them in action I can see how they got to where they are at. I was fortunate to be able to hang out with Nelo, including a ride in his Ferrari through the ocean side streets, a bit like being in a Fast and Furious movie. Nelo has a lot of similarities to JK when I was there. Athlete turned Owner operator, 150 employees, lots of kayakers working for him, and dominating the competitive market. Freestyle or creek racing for JK, and Sprint for Nelo. I am quite at home with him. One difference- I drove an RV or Mini, or pick up truck, and he drives a Ferrari or Mercedes. 🙂
Andre is the general manager of the entire Nelo factory. This is a guy who brings so much value to this business. He works directly with his customers, manages all of the production, R+D, and integrates with sales and customer service. He even helps with the 5/10 cup on Saturdays, a Nelo created surf-ski race series similar to the World Kayak Hometown Throwdowns we did for many years. The production starts and stops with him. Every aspect of the business seems to be his area of expertise. I don’t know where Nelo found him, but he is amazing! Here he is with Nelo, Jone’, Oscar, and Nuno.
Oscar Chulupski- this guy is my South African Brother from another mother. 57 years old, like me, dominated his sport of Surf-ski winning major events for decades, like me, still competing, like me, founded a company years ago that became #1 and is no longer part of it (Epic, with Greg Barton), like me, and is now making boats with Nelo, like me; crazy parallels. Oscar has cancer, unlike me, and deals with chemo every few weeks and has for years. Oscar is helping me with Apex and I can help him with Nelo Surfski. Very excited to have a reason to be in constant contact with this legend of kayaking. Oscar is almost finished with his book- Never Give up, Never Surrender or something like that. I can’t wait to read it! Stay tuned- I’ll point you to it when it is published. Oscar won a 4 day downwind ocean race right after chemo this fall against a stacked field 1/2 his age. He is the man! Fired up to introduce his wife, Clare, to mine, Kristine. We have both been married over 30 years.
OK- so what can you expect from Apex next? First off- production of the Tyr is for real! Andre’ held up production until I got there to have me sign off on what he was doing before making too many, and the seat needed to be adjusted. Since my trip they have been molding non-stop. First container of 6 boats loading on a container on February 24th. Should arrive to Bob Blair’s warehouse in Boston by March 21. Meanwhile, the next container should be scheduled for March- arriving in April with ALL of the remaining Pre-Sold boats on it, plus having some available for purchase! This will be the first time in the history of Apex Watercraft to finally have inventory to sell! Officially, we’ll be in BUSINESS! As you can imagine, that will be a huge relief for me as a business with no revenue isn’t a good business. We kick off soon! I’ll be opening up dealers then, taking orders for the Tyr and for the carbon fiber Ringer (23 pounds!) that will ship this summer!
For information on your Apex Tyr or Ringer, email me directly. For dealer inquiries, or international distribution that will include a full line of whitewater and fishing kayaks in the next 12 months, let’s get started! eric@apexwatercraft.com.
See you on the water!
🙂
EJ