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(by Rob Mousley)
For some while rumours have been flying about Epic Kayaks, specifically that they were stopping the manufacture of the V10 Surf Ski in South Africa. Speculation has been rife on the reasons for this and future of V10 surf ski. The V10 has made a huge impact in the short time that it has been in production.  | | Oscar Chalupsky paddling the V10 in Hawaii |
I was fortunate enough to meet up with Oscar Chalupsky, Epic's Sales Vice President (and paddling legend) in Cape Town recently and here's what he had to say...
It is true that manufacture of V10s has ceased in South Africa and that the factory has been closed down. The two main reasons for this are that the South African operation was unable to build the ski accurately enough and that the production capacity could not be scaled up to the quantities required. "You have to understand," said Oscar, "there are 1,200 kayak shops in the US, selling 100,000 craft per month. The US is our primary market and it's exceptionally demanding. You have to have top quality and product has to be available NOW." Manufacture has been moved to an undisclosed location overseas that offers both enhanced quality and radically increased capacity. A further announcement is imminent. Epic has outstanding export orders to fulfil and delivery to South African customers is likely to resume in May this year. (Plans for the future development of the ski and the new models due to be released will be covered in articles that will appear in the near future on www.surfski.info.)
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