Soul Waterman offers industry first Custom Kayaks and Canoes
Soul Waterman, the Canadian based company founded by Olympic kayaker Corran Addison, is announcing the first ever custom kayak design program the industry has ever seen.
“We’re not talking about adding or cutting the seam a little to adjust volume,” stated Corran. “This is a real bone fide custom designed kayak to each individuals needs.”
Until recently, well in excess of 70% of all boards sold in surfing were custom shaped for the surfer. The boards were shaped for the surfers size, weight, surfing style, and where they surfed. This is unheard of in kayaking, because each kayak design requires a mold.
“This is a game changer,” continued Corran. “Over the last decades I’ve shaped a thousand custom surf and sup shapes. While many of these are size and volume variations of stock designs I had, quite a few were truly unique boards that were very specific requests from the user. I wanted to bring this level of design to kayaking.”
Soul has developed a one-off method of making a mold, which is CNC cut from the digital design they create for the customer. The Carbon Kevlar boat is then made from that mold, and the mold is effectively destroyed when the boat is completed. While the original digital file is kept, the mold cannot be reused to make a second boat, making each one truly unique.
“I wouldn’t be able to do this if I didn’t have so much experience as both a surfboard shaper and kayak designer,” Corran was adamant in pointing out. “You go straight from concept to finished product, so you need to really know what you’re doing to get it right every time.”
The boats themselves are made in two composite construction choices; light or strong. Soul claims that the strong version will take enough abuse to be used as a big volume creeker and river runner, while the light version is of course focused on minimum weight and maximum performance, while still maintaining an acceptable level of impact resistance.
For more information about the program, visit the Soul Waterman website at http://www.soulwaterman.com/products/custom-kayaks
