h
ennessy
colt.bc.ca

250.286.3122


































!
P
hoto Jackie
TiTan
(
iC
)

oPTimism
Paddling is my atlas.
Water makes up its pages, opening the world
AMID A SINKING ECONOMY, to me. It leads me to my next exciting quest.
aNthONY YaP LAUNCHES
A NEW KAYAK LABEL
IT SEEMS no one told Anthony Yap that starting a
Paddling is my connection.
kayak company in the midst of a global recession
is a bad idea. Or perhaps the Australian whitewa-
ter superstar has been too busy globetrotting in
-Jud
search of monster play features and first descents
to take note of the world’s flushing economy. In
any case, this spring Yap parted company with his
long-time sponsor Bliss-Stick to start his own Titan
Kayaks label, which is expected to start turning
out boats from a Malaysian factory early 2010.
For Titan Kayaks, Yap is borrowing the “athlete
driven” business model that has worked well for
U.S. manufacturer Jackson Kayak. Yap says team
paddlers will control all of Titan’s business deci-
sions—everything from “which boats we’re going to
put into the line to how they’re designed…and where
the money in the company is going to be spent.”
“Because paddlers have the controlling interest
in this company,” he says, “we can make sure that
it always moves forward in the best interests of our
fellow paddlers.”
Yap says his break-up with Bliss-Stick was bit-
tersweet, amicable and necessary for him to follow
his dreams of designing his own line of kayaks.
So far, he’s been happily doing a lot of “hands-on
dirty work” in getting four designs from concept
to prototype.
Two Titan prototypes were christened on Yap’s
three-week expedition in March in Australia’s Kim-
berley mountain range, and two other composite
testers were brought to Canada this summer for
once-overs on the Ottawa River. If all goes ac-
cording to plans, the first production boats will be
Jud Keiser, NRS Team paddler, CEO of his future & promoter
available in time for next year’s North American
of river play. Skookumchuck Narrows, BC.
©John Fullbright
paddling season.
As for questions regarding the success of a start-
up kayak company in today’s economy, Yap says
that Titan will persevere because it’s a small com-
pany based on “pure passion for kayaks, design
and the urge to keep pushing the sport forwards.”
And if experience counts, Yap stands a good
What does paddling mean to you?
chance of surviving. Hand-to-mouth, subsistence
living, after all, is nothing new for a pro paddler.
“I’m sure you’ll all still see me out there [on the Ot-
Share your thoughts at nrsweb.com/share
tawa River] this summer with a fishing rod in hand
800-635-5202
trying to catch my lunch,” he says. —Conor Mihell
www.rapidmag.com 1
NRS_Rapid_Summer.indd 1 5/20/09 10:25:33 AM
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