Jackson Kayak Announces Big Plans For Whitewater! by JK Team | Dec 13, 2019 | Featured Post, jacksonkayak.com, JAdventures Main Banner, News, Press Releases, Whitewater, Whitewater Feature | 20 comments Jackson Kayak always looks towards the future, so while we are rocked by the resignation of our founder and designer – the irreplaceable ‘EJ’ Jackson – we have a wealth of the world’s most experienced paddlers eager to take on greater roles. Clay Wright and Stephen Wright will be taking the lead for whitewater R & D (working with David Knight, who’s designed all Jackson Kayaks to date), while continuing to manage our Regional Team. Emily Jackson will be directing all whitewater marketing. Nick Troutman will be taking over Jackson Media House for Whitewater, and will be taking our video production to new heights. Dane Jackson will be helping with R & D, marketing, video, and serving as JK’s Master of Stoke. If you want to know who to talk to about anything Jackson whitewater-related please reach out to any of us at any time. JK has many exciting whitewater products already in the works. Plus, outfitting upgrades, kayak financing, direct-sales, plans to remake popular older models, and our exciting new 5-year warranty plan. If you haven’t seen our just-launched , brand-spanking-new website please check it out! 142.4.10.236/~jacksqj1/. We’ll be working on improvements with the site so that we can “portal” whitewater paddlers into a more specialized place for us soon. Please be patient as our website is still a work in progress, and we know that there are still things to be improved and fixed. No, Jackson Kayak hasn’t “sold-out”. No, we haven’t merged or been bought out. No, we haven’t gone all corporate, but we are now more organized. We have the same team. We have the same awesome kayaker-investor that’s been here since the beginning and he has reinvested even more. Adding new leadership to improve our production, financial management, and our company-wide processes. Something that we’ve long needed with all our growth. We’re still 100% committed to whitewater. We’re still by kayakers, for kayakers and we can’t wait to show you everything we’re working on! See you on the river! The JK Whitewater team Visit our Whitewater channel 20 Comments Patrik Poduška,, on December 13, 2019 at 11:06 am ???????????????? Reply Paul Barrett on December 13, 2019 at 12:05 pm That all sounds good but why are you only selling four ww boats this year? Reply Will Richardson on December 14, 2019 at 11:19 am Hi Paul. Stay tuned. Lots of announcements coming, and much of that revolving around some of our limited runs and older models. Reply Clay Wright on December 15, 2019 at 7:21 pm Hey Paul! Times are tough for dealers and kayak companies and our product line was HUGE.. You say ”4 ww boats” but in reality it’s 3 Rockstar, 3 Zen’s, 2 Nirvanas and 3 Antix’s… so that’s 11 boats just in the Whitewater lineup. While we LOVE making a Fun-1 here and a Mon-star there, we discovered we were losing WAY more time than expected in the transitions. The figure I heard is ‘you can make 3 popular boats in the time it takes to make one old one’. I’ve also heard every time you swap molds, you’ll likely make a few scraps or blems”. What’s on the website is our ‘core product line’ for the season. We hope to start adding the more popular or necessary boats NOT on this list in the near future. What boats would you or your family buy that are not on this list? At some point I’m sure we’ll be asking everyone! Clay Reply David abra on December 17, 2019 at 6:14 am Though the story goes that EJ decided to start JK on order to be able to make a propper child’s small boat for Dane. would seem a sad irony if that only lasted during his reign. I understand that economics have to have a sway but that a company in such a niece sport is more than just the bottom line. We aLL as a community love getting new people into the sport (espicaly little ones) from a “standard size paddler” please don’t forget the outliers. From a concerned but hopefull paddler (P.s. The 5 year guarantee sounds interesting) Reply Clay Wright on December 19, 2019 at 2:01 pm Hey David! The story does go like that, and now Emily has kids paddling as well! Rest assured we’re all dedicated to producing kids kayaks we’re just finding the best way to run them in a more sustainable way. With SO MANY boats in the line we were making 1, 2, or 5 at a time and losing a lot of $ and plastic every time we swapped to a new mold. Apparently we usually blem a boat or 2 if a mold hasn’t been run in awhile, so the waste was higher than expected. YES we will do kids boats! Look for our announcement sometime after we get this new website behind us and the Christmas stuff finished off. Thanks so much for your message – it’s always nice to have a reminder of why we’re here. Clay Reply Michael on December 29, 2019 at 7:55 pm How about boats for fat dads of kids? If I recall you had one that I no longer see listed, though I don’t remember what it was called. max I see now is 270 lbs. I’d love to get back in a kayak to start showing my kids the lifestyle, but I’m too fat to fly at 290 with this current line, I think. Jeff Monroe on May 18, 2020 at 8:29 pm I’ll be watching , hopefully the fun 1.5 will return. Robert Sheppard on December 13, 2019 at 12:05 pm Look forward to keeping up with all the latest news at Jackson Kayak. ????????♂️ Reply Harley Baker on December 13, 2019 at 12:50 pm Thanks to everyone at Jackson , for keeping the community in the loop. I am always excited to see your new products and cant wait to see what the team has in store. Keep up the great work. Reply Clay Wright on December 15, 2019 at 6:52 pm Thanks Harley! We will keep everyone informed as often as we can – hope you are liking the new website! Clay Reply Kyle Kiser on December 14, 2019 at 8:20 am Thank you all Jackson family for the joy you allow me on the daily by getting into your badass boats! Keep up the good work and keep kayaking what it’s supposed to be. Look forward to seeing yall on the water! -KK- Reply Clay Wright on December 15, 2019 at 6:48 pm Thanks Kyle! EJ’s made quite the impact by making boats for the whole family and I haven’t forgotten the joy of being a kid in a kayak myself. My whole family kayaks too – not like the Jacksons but they’ve done quite a bit. I hope we can continue to encourage anyone and everyone to give us a try. We’ve got a kayak for just about anyone. Clay Reply Steve Graley aka Fantumboater on December 14, 2019 at 7:16 pm It looks like you are rebuilding from the inside. I agree, some of the “Older” models are still some of the best designs yet. Looking forward to seeing how you will make Jackson Kayak even better ! I’m a watching ….. Reply Clay Wright on December 15, 2019 at 6:44 pm Hey Steve – yeah it’s a challenge for sure, we got kinda ”big” now we’re trying to act small again at least for each separate brand anyway. I’m not sure others will notice that much .. I guess it depends on how this next boat comes out! Zen sure is fun – it’s the boat people don’t even know they want yet. Not sure it’s gonna be ”cool” but it’s just such a friendly boat. Thanks for your comment! Clay Reply daryl crisp on December 26, 2019 at 10:16 pm I remember the prototype Dane was paddling when JK was just getting started. EJ came to the Nolichucky and put on the “Strokes and Concepts” class for the APE’s club. I was the trip coordinator then for the APE’s and arranged the class. Dane was really small then, so was the FUN prototype he was paddling-lol I am amazed at the growth and offerings that JK has constantly maintained for the whitewater paddlers, just think for a moment if JK had never formed and come about. Where would we all be currently in our option for boat of choice. I consider us all to be very blessed with the JK family and company. I look forward to the future to see what is going to be made to enhance our decided sport/hobby. daryl crisp Reply Fishon6730 on January 30, 2020 at 12:15 am Interesting change thank you for sharing. The first kayak I purchased was a coosahd and love it. Would like a big tuna but wondering if it will ever be redesigned and when? Reply Rick Steeves on June 11, 2020 at 2:45 pm Every time I hear about the Jackson Fun, it’s described as “one of the most popular boats ever”. Why have you stopped making it? Reply Bob K on March 11, 2021 at 6:22 pm I own 2 Journey 14’s. I wish you would bring them back along with a 16. I live in St. Louis. We have lots a big rivers here. We have 1 white water river in the whole state. IT’S NOT ALL ABOUT GOING OVER 100 FT WATER FALLS! Bring back some decent touring boats – PLEASE!! Reply Barnett Williams on July 20, 2021 at 5:13 am Keep up the strong company super-structure. It has served a broad marketplace as well as a focused market. It surely must not have been easy but there are many happy customers out there today Reply Submit a Comment Cancel replyYour email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *Comment * Name * Email * Website Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment. Δ
Paul Barrett on December 13, 2019 at 12:05 pm That all sounds good but why are you only selling four ww boats this year? Reply
Will Richardson on December 14, 2019 at 11:19 am Hi Paul. Stay tuned. Lots of announcements coming, and much of that revolving around some of our limited runs and older models. Reply
Clay Wright on December 15, 2019 at 7:21 pm Hey Paul! Times are tough for dealers and kayak companies and our product line was HUGE.. You say ”4 ww boats” but in reality it’s 3 Rockstar, 3 Zen’s, 2 Nirvanas and 3 Antix’s… so that’s 11 boats just in the Whitewater lineup. While we LOVE making a Fun-1 here and a Mon-star there, we discovered we were losing WAY more time than expected in the transitions. The figure I heard is ‘you can make 3 popular boats in the time it takes to make one old one’. I’ve also heard every time you swap molds, you’ll likely make a few scraps or blems”. What’s on the website is our ‘core product line’ for the season. We hope to start adding the more popular or necessary boats NOT on this list in the near future. What boats would you or your family buy that are not on this list? At some point I’m sure we’ll be asking everyone! Clay Reply
David abra on December 17, 2019 at 6:14 am Though the story goes that EJ decided to start JK on order to be able to make a propper child’s small boat for Dane. would seem a sad irony if that only lasted during his reign. I understand that economics have to have a sway but that a company in such a niece sport is more than just the bottom line. We aLL as a community love getting new people into the sport (espicaly little ones) from a “standard size paddler” please don’t forget the outliers. From a concerned but hopefull paddler (P.s. The 5 year guarantee sounds interesting) Reply
Clay Wright on December 19, 2019 at 2:01 pm Hey David! The story does go like that, and now Emily has kids paddling as well! Rest assured we’re all dedicated to producing kids kayaks we’re just finding the best way to run them in a more sustainable way. With SO MANY boats in the line we were making 1, 2, or 5 at a time and losing a lot of $ and plastic every time we swapped to a new mold. Apparently we usually blem a boat or 2 if a mold hasn’t been run in awhile, so the waste was higher than expected. YES we will do kids boats! Look for our announcement sometime after we get this new website behind us and the Christmas stuff finished off. Thanks so much for your message – it’s always nice to have a reminder of why we’re here. Clay Reply
Michael on December 29, 2019 at 7:55 pm How about boats for fat dads of kids? If I recall you had one that I no longer see listed, though I don’t remember what it was called. max I see now is 270 lbs. I’d love to get back in a kayak to start showing my kids the lifestyle, but I’m too fat to fly at 290 with this current line, I think.
Robert Sheppard on December 13, 2019 at 12:05 pm Look forward to keeping up with all the latest news at Jackson Kayak. ????????♂️ Reply
Harley Baker on December 13, 2019 at 12:50 pm Thanks to everyone at Jackson , for keeping the community in the loop. I am always excited to see your new products and cant wait to see what the team has in store. Keep up the great work. Reply
Clay Wright on December 15, 2019 at 6:52 pm Thanks Harley! We will keep everyone informed as often as we can – hope you are liking the new website! Clay Reply
Kyle Kiser on December 14, 2019 at 8:20 am Thank you all Jackson family for the joy you allow me on the daily by getting into your badass boats! Keep up the good work and keep kayaking what it’s supposed to be. Look forward to seeing yall on the water! -KK- Reply
Clay Wright on December 15, 2019 at 6:48 pm Thanks Kyle! EJ’s made quite the impact by making boats for the whole family and I haven’t forgotten the joy of being a kid in a kayak myself. My whole family kayaks too – not like the Jacksons but they’ve done quite a bit. I hope we can continue to encourage anyone and everyone to give us a try. We’ve got a kayak for just about anyone. Clay Reply
Steve Graley aka Fantumboater on December 14, 2019 at 7:16 pm It looks like you are rebuilding from the inside. I agree, some of the “Older” models are still some of the best designs yet. Looking forward to seeing how you will make Jackson Kayak even better ! I’m a watching ….. Reply
Clay Wright on December 15, 2019 at 6:44 pm Hey Steve – yeah it’s a challenge for sure, we got kinda ”big” now we’re trying to act small again at least for each separate brand anyway. I’m not sure others will notice that much .. I guess it depends on how this next boat comes out! Zen sure is fun – it’s the boat people don’t even know they want yet. Not sure it’s gonna be ”cool” but it’s just such a friendly boat. Thanks for your comment! Clay Reply
daryl crisp on December 26, 2019 at 10:16 pm I remember the prototype Dane was paddling when JK was just getting started. EJ came to the Nolichucky and put on the “Strokes and Concepts” class for the APE’s club. I was the trip coordinator then for the APE’s and arranged the class. Dane was really small then, so was the FUN prototype he was paddling-lol I am amazed at the growth and offerings that JK has constantly maintained for the whitewater paddlers, just think for a moment if JK had never formed and come about. Where would we all be currently in our option for boat of choice. I consider us all to be very blessed with the JK family and company. I look forward to the future to see what is going to be made to enhance our decided sport/hobby. daryl crisp Reply
Fishon6730 on January 30, 2020 at 12:15 am Interesting change thank you for sharing. The first kayak I purchased was a coosahd and love it. Would like a big tuna but wondering if it will ever be redesigned and when? Reply
Rick Steeves on June 11, 2020 at 2:45 pm Every time I hear about the Jackson Fun, it’s described as “one of the most popular boats ever”. Why have you stopped making it? Reply
Bob K on March 11, 2021 at 6:22 pm I own 2 Journey 14’s. I wish you would bring them back along with a 16. I live in St. Louis. We have lots a big rivers here. We have 1 white water river in the whole state. IT’S NOT ALL ABOUT GOING OVER 100 FT WATER FALLS! Bring back some decent touring boats – PLEASE!! Reply
Barnett Williams on July 20, 2021 at 5:13 am Keep up the strong company super-structure. It has served a broad marketplace as well as a focused market. It surely must not have been easy but there are many happy customers out there today Reply
