Why Apex Watercraft?
Carbon Whitewater boats for the fun and performance of them.
This is a question that few may be able to answer automatically without some prompting and some out of the box thinking. However, once you understand the why, my newest brand, Apex Watercraft, makes a lot of sense.
First to understand what motivates me with kayaking. In kayaking, I enjoy creating new things that make the sport more fun, more comfortable, safer, and improves your performance on the water. These things include techniques, skills, moves, outfitting, boat designs, boat materials, instructional materials such as DVDs, Books, or online instruction. I also enjoy face to face instruction and really being able to improve paddlers skills, mental approach, physical capabilities, and more. Innovation, and anything that improves the fun factor for whitewater kayakers or kayak fishermen is important to me.
Whitewater and fishing kayaks have become very similar in designs and outfitting over the years, which includes materials. Rotomolded HDPE plastic boats. There are 37 brands (at my last count) making rotomolded fishing kayaks. That is a lot of companies bringing similar designs to the market with similar benefits and features. They also have similar challenges and issues, of which a major one is the weight.
I remember watching an older fellow at a kayak shop looking at a fishing kayak. It was the right boat for him from that brand, as he was larger and not very nimble anymore. He walked over and lifted the bow off the ground, barely, and looked around and walked away deflated. He suddenly realized that even if he wanted to own this kayak, it would be too difficult to get it on his vehicle, off his vehicle, to and from the water and back home. Such is how it is for many people. Those who are strong and fit, and can deal with the weight, still don’t want to have to. The fun factor of kayak fishing increases dramatically when the weight of the boat decreases.
For Whitewater kayaks it is a similar story. Carrying boats to the put-in, from the take-out, loading, unloading, portaging, etc. are way more challenging the heavier the boats are. At some point there are people who just can’t do it anymore, or the challenge overcomes the benefits of going to the river.
This is where Apex Watercraft comes in. We are bringing advanced composite/carbon fiber construction to whitewater and fishing kayaks and cutting the weight in 1/2 or sometimes much more. It is amazing to me that this market is so wide open. The biking industry had it composites/carbon fiber revolution about 10-15 years ago and it is going stronger than ever today. The kayaking world has not had access to modern designs in any real quantity or quality that brings the boats to your average customer.
The experience of meeting your first carbon fiber kayak is hard to describe, but easy to witness. “Wow that is light.” “This would make my life easier.” “I’ll bet this really performs on the water!” “Wait until So and so see this.”
The boats are beautifully constructed and designed and make an impression. When you pick them up it is mind boggling. Once you get used to the weight, it really bothers you to have to paddle a plastic boat again. You simply get spoiled, and quickly. For me, that is something of value that I can bring to you, through Apex Watercraft.
Working with epoxy for repairs, and foam for outfitting. This is lost art being put back on the front burner, taught to paddlers again, before it become extinct. It can be fun and rewarding to work with the boats that intimately. Carbon kayaks can last a very long time. It takes a bit of maintenance from time to time if you break it, but it can be repaired to original strength, or stronger, very easily in 99% of the cases.
Learning to paddle differently- You will want to spend less time banging into the rocks and more time finding the deeper water, and learning to read water. It was not that long ago that I was running class 5 rivers/creek in my slalom boats around the world and they were only 19 pounds. You learn how to lift a cheek to take pressure off of that side of the boat when you are impacting a rock, for example. You learn to find the deep water and avoid the rocks in the first place, and you learn what kind of rocks you can glance off of, smooth over, etc. without doing any damage to your carbon boat. This is part of the learning process and it is a skill worth learning and provides another way to have fun on the water.
Simple and effective:
The philosophy I bring to the design process is “simple elegance”. The goal is to do more on the water with less parts, less weight. The fishing kayak’s rod holding system is simple and effective and keeps the rods out of the way compared to storing them vertically in a kayak for example. The swivel bucket seat is pretty simple, but extremely comfortable and effective.
The whitewater kayaks’s outfitting is mini-cell foam that is CNC machined to a great shape. The shapes are way more “shapely” than any plastic outfitting or mass produced hip pads. This provides better support, more control and comfort, and less weight.
So, why Apex Watercraft? It is through Apex that I can deliver a greatly enhanced paddling experience. Here, I can be out of the mosh pit and focused on doing the best things, versus the cheapest things.
Getting your new Apex- email me at eric@apexwatercraft.com, or Joe.ball@apexwatercraft.com. If we have a dealer near you, they will take good care of you. If not, we’ll work with you directly and get you set up!
See you on the water!
🙂
EJ