2019 Paddling Magazine Industry Awards: Winners Announced

Gear

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August 28, 2019

Industry Awards at Paddlesports Retailer 2019. | Photo: Alex Traynor

Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, August 28, 2019 // Paddlesports Retailer’s official media partner Rapid Media presented the second annual Paddling Magazine Industry Awards tonight at the Paddlesports Retailer Show and Paddlesports Industry Dinner.

The Paddling Magazine Industry Awards recognizes outstanding achievements in the development of new products introduced to the paddlesports market at the 2019 Paddlesports Retailer Show, which was attended by more than 120 exhibitors showing 200 brands, and 357 buyers.

“The Paddling Magazine Industry Awards embodies the paddlesports industry’s innovative and entrepreneurial spirit,” said emcee and Rapid Media founder and publisher Scott MacGregor, presenting the awards on stage at Oklahoma City’s 100,000 square-foot Cox Convention Center.

The winners were voted on from the 92 products featured in the New Product Showcase by Paddling Magazine. This show feature provides Paddlesports Retailer exhibitors with an outstanding opportunity to introduce new products to onsite and offsite retail buyers and editorial media. More than 22,262 votes were cast onsite and online at www.paddlingawards.com by retail buyers, consumers and media.

The award winners are as follows:

Paddling Magazine Product & Industry Awards

1. Best Touring/Recreational Kayak — Virgo by P&H Sea Kayaks

P&H Kayaks Virgo — P&H Sea Kayaks’ Virgo

[ Also read: First look at the Virgo by P&H Kayaks ]

2. Best Whitewater Boat—Rewind by Dagger

3. Best Fishing Boat and Board— Mirage Pro Angler 14 with 360 Drive Technology by Hobie

Hobie Pro Angler 14 with 360 Mirage Drive — Hobie Pro Angler 14 with 360 Drive Technology

4. Best SUP—Okeanos Air-Glide 12’6″ x 31″ Inflatable by SIC Maui

5. Best Canoe—Explorer Carbon by Mad River

Mad River Canoe Explorer Carbon — Explorer Carbon by Mad River Canoe

6. Best Paddle—Surge by Werner Paddles

7. Best Safety & Rescue—Hustle R by Kokatat

8. Best Clothing/Apparel—Torrent Pro by Chaco

[ Also read: Best Drysuits And Paddling Apparel For 2020 ]

9. Best Rigging & Outfitting—5 Circuit Digital Switcher by Yak Power

10. Best Transport/Storage/Launching—Deck Bag by Gearlab

11. Best Paddling Accessory—Gator Patch by Gator Guards

[ Also read: First Look At The Gator Patch By Gator Guards ]

Best In Show Award

All category award winners were eligible for the Best of Show Award which got announced at the end of the Paddlesports Retailer Show.

This year, the Best In Show award went to Hobie with the Mirage Pro Angler 14 with 360 Drive Technology.

Best In Show – Hobie Mirage Pro Angler 14 with 360 Drive Technology

Congratulations to all the award winners.

About Paddlesports Retailer

Paddlesports Retailer is a trade show, endorsed by the Paddlesports Trade Coalition, providing the premier commercial and cultural experience for exhibitors, retailers, media and industry advocates alike. Paddlesports Retailer runs August 26-29, 2019 beginning with demo day at Riversports Rapids Adventure Park followed by three days of exhibiting at Oklahoma City’s Cox Convention Center. For more information, visit www.paddlesportsretailer.com or contact: info@paddlesportsretailer.com

About Rapid Media

Rapid Media is the world’s leading paddlesports media company. Rapid Media publishes Kayak Angler, Paddling Magazine and Paddling Business, including the Paddling Buyer’s Guide and Paddling Trip Guide annuals. Rapid Media also produces the Paddling Film Festival and Rapid Media TV.

Rapid Media Contact: Cristin Plaice cristin@rapidmedia.com

Bending Branches Glowtek Paddle

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Paddling Magazine Staff

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August 28, 2019

Bending Branches Angler Pro GlowTek Kayak Fishing Paddle

When Bending Branches wanted a new design for their popular Angler Pro paddle blade, they reached out to pro staff to send in ideas. The result was an influx of photos, images, designs and sketches for the BB folks to choose from.

The winner was West Coast pro staffer J R Rowlands’ Glowtek pattern.

A cross between alligator and python patterns with colors ranging from bright green to dark brown, the blade will get plenty of attention on the water. Bending Branches applied the pattern to their wildly popular and versatile Angler Pro fiberglass blade. The Angler Pro is the result of years of research and development to design a blade with enough torque to push a heavy fishing kayak combined with efficiency to go for miles in an open-water boat. Best news is, Bending Branches received so many great designs, they are already planning future paddles.

Best Canoe Paddles For 2025

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Paddling Magazine Staff

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August 27, 2019

Discover seven of the best canoe paddles from Bending Branches, Grey Owl Paddles and Sawyer Paddles. Everything from bent shafts, to voyageur paddles, to guide paddles and more, there are lots of options to choose from.

Whether you’re looking for a canoe paddle for cruising, tripping or whitewater adventures, Paddling Magazine has rounded up seven of the best picks. Take a look at the list of canoe paddles below.

Bending Branches

Catalyst Straight/Bent

$139.95 | bendingbranches.com

Meet the new Catalyst canoe paddle from Bending Branches, made entirely of recycled wood scraps that would otherwise be discarded. A catalyst of change for the betterment of the planet and paddlers. Made with the most desired features, including full Rockgard coverage, two-ounce fiberglass coating and a palm grip. Five dollars from every paddle sold will be donated to American Rivers.

LEARN MORE SEE MORE FROM BENDING BRANCHES

Grey Owl Paddles

Voyageur

$76 | greyowlpaddles.com

Grey Owl’s most popular laminated paddle, combining durability, design and value. An excellent all-around paddle for wilderness tripping. Offers the benefits of a full carbon unit but at a fraction of the price.

LEARN MORE

Grey Owl Paddles

Northern Light

$165 | greyowlpaddles.com

The lightest traditional paddle available from Grey Owl. Perfect for easy cruising and experienced style paddlers. Suitable for solo and tandem deep-water paddling (minimum two to two-and-a-half feet).

LEARN MORE SEE MORE FROM GREY OWL PADDLES

Sawyer Paddles

Bent Shaft Ranger X

$165 | paddlesandoars.com

The Ranger X is a heavy-duty expedition and whitewater canoe paddle featuring a modern teardrop blade profile and an 11-degree blade offset intended for long trips and heavy use. This tough paddle has a dual tapered Douglas fir wood shaft reinforced with carbon fiber and fiberglass X-Weave durability. Delivers real power to the carbon fiber and fiberglass reinforced Ponderosa pine blade.

SEE MORE FROM SAWYER PADDLES

Grey Owl Paddles

Pathfinder

$90 | greyowlpaddles.com

An upscale version of Grey Owl’s Voyageur paddle with a new blade shape and fabulous grip design. An excellent all-around paddle for wilderness tripping.

LEARN MORE

Grey Owl Paddles

Touring

$100 | greyowlpaddles.com

A tough, durable paddle for those who like to cruise the wilderness. Also available in a six-degree bent shaft for those who want to combine the efficiency of an offset blade with the style of a straight shaft.

LEARN MORE

Grey Owl Paddles

Guide

$76 | greyowlpaddles.com

The Guide is a rugged and inexpensive tripping paddle for bow, stern or solo use.

SEE MORE FROM GREY OWL PADDLES

Kokatat Huck 50 Throw Bag with Belt

By

Ric Burnley

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August 27, 2019

In a rescue emergency, every second counts. Kokatat’s new Huck 50 Throw Bag with Belt is designed to deploy quickly and reliably. The 50-foot, quarter-inch, floating polyethylene core rope has a maximum strength of 1,465 pounds.

The stuff bag has stiff sides for easy packing. The mesh top allows the rope to dry and the bag floats. The fully adjustable belt can be worn on the waist or lap.

Quick-release buckles detach the bag in an instant for a fast response in any conditions. For a heavy-duty option, the Huck 70 Throw Bag includes a 70-foot Spectra rope with a maximum breaking strength of 2500 pounds in a tough Cordura bag.

It’s a Bloody Roller Coaster

By

Jack Haworth

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August 22, 2019

Simon Coward, owner of Aquabatics, poses in his store

There’s no perfect road map to becoming a successful business owner, but some routes are less traveled than others.

Simon Coward was introduced to whitewater on a trip to New Zealand when he was 18, and then spent his formative years raft guiding and chasing whitewater around the globe. By his own estimate, the Australian-born paddler has dipped blades in at least 25 different countries.

In 2005, Coward’s rambling river life led him to Canada, where he took a job as the kayaking director at Aquabatics, a Calgary-based whitewater retailer. Four years later, Coward purchased the 10-year-old business, plunging headlong into the murky waters of paddlesports retailing.

[ Paddling Trip Guide: See all Aquabatics trips ]

“I didn’t have a university degree and didn’t know what I was going to do,” said Coward. “So, I figured it was probably as good a bet as any.”

Under Coward’s leadership, Aquabatics became a dirtbagger’s utopia. The staff spent days creeking together, locals came in to talk shop, and community outreach efforts included grassroots events and instructional paddling programs helping grow Calgary’s local paddling community.

“If Aquabatics disappeared tomorrow, I think it would be a big void in the local paddling community,” said Coward. “Not just from a product standpoint, but connectivity.”

Coward’s investment in strong community ties and developing a dedicated staff—including six full-time, year-round positions—has produced a healthy return. In the past decade, the company’s revenue numbers have tripled, and this past spring, Coward opened a second store in Edmonton.

While the dirtbag vibe remains, the revenue spike is the result of long hours devoted to the analytics-driven process of business management. While correctly forecasting next season’s trends is always a daunting task, Coward’s crystal ball is a little less hazy when he gazes south.

“We just need to watch the U.S. very closely and see what’s going on there,” Coward says. “I feel like the Canadian market is a good three to four years behind the U.S.”

While whitewater had always been the shop’s bread and butter, Coward has seen steady growth in the recreational and touring markets. Last year, Aquabatics saw “unpredictable” growth in kayak fishing sales.

This year brought a softening in the fishing market and a rise in inflatable kayak sales. “It’s a bloody roller coaster,” said Coward. “It’s up and then it’s down.”

But Coward isn’t one to cry about it. While offering car racks and snowboards has helped bolster sales in the off-season, he’s currently busy trying to crack the latest puzzle stumping the paddling industry: How to not only survive, but capitalize on the rise of cheap boat sales at big box stores.

“I’m a firm believer that retailers are really whiny as a group,” said Coward. “I think we all talk a lot about the big box bit, but we don’t actually look at the opportunity that more people are being exposed to paddling than ever.”

The river teaches you to accept the challenge and always look for an opportunity. It seems this lesson was not lost on this paddling dirtbag.

Feauture photo: Pierre-Luc Cormier

Bottom Fishing

By

Jeff Moag

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August 22, 2019

man casts from a blue Vibe Sea Ghost fishing kayak — COMPANIES ARE FINDING PLENTY OF OPPORTUNITY IN THE SPACE BE TWEEN BOX STORE KAYAKS AND PREMIUM MODELS. PHOTO CHRIS KIMLING

Remember the rent guy? He ran a viral campaign for governor of New York in 2010 based solely on the platform, “Rent is too damn high.”

Kayak Bass Fishing’s Chad Hoover channelled the Rent Guy in a recent YouTube video, asking “Have fishing kayaks gotten too danggone expensive?”

With top-of-the-line pedal kayaks retailing well north of $3,000, it’s a fair question. An engineering and design arms race has given rise to ever more capable fishing kayaks, with prices to match. But those top-tier boats are just the tip of the iceberg. The bulk of the market is in entry- and mid-level kayaks, and retail prices in those segments have actually come down.

Hoover says he paid a little more than $750 for his first retail kayak in 1997. Today, an angler can buy a comparably equipped kayak for . . . $750. In fact, anglers can pick from dozens of fishing kayaks in this price range. “There are more kayaks under $750 now than there were when I got into the sport 22 years ago,” Hoover says.

At the top of the market, kayak anglers have more quality options to choose from than ever before. Now many of those features have trickled down to the entry-level offerings from prestige brands, with competition generally holding retail prices below $1,000.

“When competition kicks in, we as a consumer always win,” Hoover says. “Always.”

That’s great news for kayak anglers. But can manufacturers and dealers also win at this price point?

[ Paddling Buyer’s Guide: See all fishing kayaks ]

Vibe Kayaks co-founder and CEO Josh Thomas thinks so. He got involved in kayak fishing about a decade ago, and recalls watching the price of brand-name fishing kayaks increase significantly as the sport rode a prolonged boom into the 2010s.

“I understand inflation and I understand economics, but three years earlier these boats were $750 and suddenly they’re $1,100? That’s not real inflation,” he says. “That’s artificial inflation based on demand.”

ADJUSTABLE SEATS AND OTHER PREMIUM FEATURES ARE TRICKLING DOWN TO MID-MARKET KAYAKS. PHOTO COURTESY WILDERNESS SYSTEMS

Sensing an opening in the market, in 2013 Thomas co-founded Vibe to fill it. The company quickly carved out market share with full-featured fishing kayaks at the sub–$1,000 price point. This so-called middle market filled a widening gap between premium fishing kayaks and the legions of thin-plastic imitators crowding big box store aisles. Established kayak brands seized the same opportunity, with Wilderness Systems, Old Town, Jackson Kayak, Native Watercraft and others offering capable ready-to-fish models for less than $1,000.

“The sweet spot in fishing kayaks is an innovative fishing platform in the $800 to $1,000 range,” says Paddleyax owner Steve Marshall. “When I started in 2016 no one was really there. Now Vibe is there—they came up in price to get there—and everybody else has come down,” says Marshall, who sells Vibe, Bonafide, NuCanoe and Crescent Kayaks out of his flagship store in southern Virginia. He moves additional Vibe inventory through affiliate retailers in three states.

It’s a volume game, he says, but retail margins are still strong.

The same holds true for manufacturers, at least anecdotally. It may be that Thomas was right about artificial inflation a few years back, but another factor is design and manufacturing improvements allowing companies to produce better kayaks without breaking the bank.

“We didn’t take a hit on margin,” Bonafide CEO Luther Cifers says of his company’s sub–$1,000 fishing kayak, the RS117. “We knew our budget, so the question became how to squeeze the most functionality and features out of that budget. If you mold in geometry, it’s free,” he says.

Though Bonafide is positioned as a premium brand, with flagship paddle models retailing for $1,300 and $1,600, Cifers says the lower price gateway model has been a boon for the whole line.

“You’re bringing more consumers to pay attention to the brand,” he says, noting that kayak buyers come in two broad categories— those who can’t afford a premium kayak, and those who just don’t want to spend the money. A capable $1,000 kayak helps the “can’ts” get to “cans,” and helps the “don’t wants” think a little bigger.

“Once they want it, they have to talk themselves out of it,” Luther says. “But you have to give them the opportunity to want it.”

Feature photo: Chris Kimling

Voyageur Canoe Tour Season Continues At The Peterborough Lift Lock

Paddling Business

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Canadian Canoe Museum Press Release

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August 22, 2019

Voyageur Canoe Tour season continues at Peterborough lift locks

Peterborough, ON, Wednesday, August 14, 2019 – The Canadian Canoe Museum’s one-of-a-kind Voyageur Canoe Tour experiences at the Peterborough Lift Lock continue this month. Registration is open for tours on August 23, 25, 31 and September 1. Meanwhile, custom tours for groups can also be booked anytime until Thanksgiving.

The Voyageur Canoe Tour experience is a draw for people of all ages and abilities from near and far, and sees up to 16 participants paddle a 36-foot voyageur canoe up and over the lift lock. This 90-minute guided tour, offered in partnership with Parks Canada, explores the National Historic Site, along with the role of the voyageur in early trade networks.

“The tours are fun – and a feast for the senses. As we paddle together, we salute and we sing, and we experience the incredible sensation of going up and down the lift lock, and the sweeping views along the way,” says Karen Taylor, Director of Programs, adding that more than 400 people will take part in this unique experience this season.

Members of the public can visit canoemuseum.ca/voyageur-canoe-tours/ to register or call Kate Kennington, (705) 748 9153 ext. 220, to find out more.

Gearlab Launches the Malik: A First-of-Its-Kind Polypropylene Greenland Paddle

Paddling Business

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Press Release: GEARLAB

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August 22, 2019

Gearlab launches Malik polypropylene Greenland paddle

TAIPEI,Taiwan and Denver, Colorado, August 13, 2019 – In an effort to expand the sport of open water ocean kayaking with Greenland-style paddles to new users, award-winning design development group Gearlab Outdoors presents a new entry-level polypropylene paddle called the Malik (named for the Inuit word for “smooth wave”).

Gearlab’s core users are very passionate and knowledgeable about the sport and its history, but what about people new to Greenland style paddling? The designers at Gearlab have developed the perfect paddle to allow curious kayakers to experience the benefits of a leaner, longer paddle in open water at an introductory price. The Malik will be available August 2019.

Gearlab is known for technologically advanced performance carbon-fiber Greenland style paddles. Gearlab believes everyone, including veteran paddlers on Euro blades, should have the opportunity to try out and enjoy the benefits of a Greenland paddle.

The new Malik inherits many of the premium features of a Gearlab carbon-fiber paddle, such as the ProTek tips and D-Clip quick-release carbon fiber ferrule. The high impact polypropylene blade makes the paddle durable, ensuring a smooth and reliable paddling experience for new users.

The Malik will come with three sticker colors available: yellow, orange, and teal – pick your vibe depending on your personality: yellow represents happiness; orange represents courage, passion, and strength; teal represents adventure and freedom. Every set of paddles has special DIY stickers, a great way to express a paddler’s uniqueness. The Malik is an ideal solution for kayak clubs, touring services, kayakers fresh to Greenland-style paddling, or simply for use as a spare paddle.

Length: 210/220/230 cm

Weight: 990g ±30 g (For the 220 cm paddle)

Materials: polypropylene blade and carbon-fiber loom

The Malik and the new accessories will be launched at the Paddlesports Retailer this month in Oklahoma City OK, August 25th-29th, Booth 6X.

About Gearlab Outdoors

For the past eight years, Gearlab has designed and manufactured Greenland-style carbon-fiber paddles for ocean kayakers around the world. Created by a team of award-winning industrial designers and outdoor enthusiasts, the paddles are adapted from indigenous Inuit designs. Greenland paddles allow kayakers to travel farther with greater efficiency and precision, while reducing injury and fatigue. Made from 100 percent continuous carbon-fiber material, Gearlab paddles perfect thousand-year-old ergonomics with advanced material strength and durability. Gearlab paddles will open up a new realm of adventure for both recreational and advanced kayakers. Discover the benefits of Gearlab paddles at GearlabOutdoors.com.

Oru Kayak Revolutionizes Origami Boat Design Again With “The Inlet”

Paddling Business

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Oru Kayak

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August 22, 2019

man poses with Oru Kayak Inlet on grassy bank beside water and buildings

San Francisco, CA (August 13, 2019) – All the excuses for not owning a kayak have just been erased. Oru Kayak, the makers of the original origami-inspired kayak, directly tackled weight, carry, and set-up with the company’s newest and most innovative kayak design to date, the Inlet. The Inlet most notably features an all-new origami folding pattern that allows the kayak to be intuitively folded from box-to-boat in under 3-minutes. The Inlet also boasts the lightest-weight and thinnest-fold profile of any Oru Kayak — at just 10 inches wide, the inlet is small enough to be stashed under a living room sofa or stacked 3x in the trunk of a standard compact car.

To achieve the Inlet’s unheard-of specifications, Oru worked out an entirely new origami folding pattern, the first completely-new folding pattern since the company was formed in 2012. Developed by Oru Founder and Chief Design Officer Anton Willis, the new folding pattern produces a significantly streamlined box-to-boat assembly that eliminates many of the loose parts found in other Oru Kayaks. Notably, the Inlet features Oru’s first fully-integrated floorboard, enabling a more intuitive and speedy assembly. In a handful of simple steps, Inlet owners can now be on the water in less than three minutes; 75% faster than past Oru kayak models.

Oru’s new folding pattern achieves more than just speed, it also maximizes spatial efficiency and reduces overall weight. When fully assembled, the roomy Inlet is 10ft long, 31-inches wide, and weighs just 20lbs. When not paddling, the Inlet neatly folds into a compact box, similar in size to a guitar case (40”x18”x10”).

For Anton Willis, the Inlet represents a dream come to fruition: “This boat represents what I always wanted for Oru: kayaks with intuitive and quick assembly, great stability, an affordable price, and unbelievable portability. I strongly feel that the Inlet is as close as we’ve ever come to building a product that breaks all the common barriers to boat ownership.”

In an on-going effort to make on-water recreation accessible to more people, Oru paid special attention to the Inlet’s price tag. At MSRP of $850 (or $699 for a limited time on Kickstarter), the Inlet is Oru’s first kayak ever to be listed under $1000, and is notably $450 less than Oru’s currently least expensive model.

The Inlet will be available starting Tuesday, August 13 at 7am PST For more information, please visit: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1975288517/the-oru-kayak-inlet-most-portable-origami-kayak-ever

INLET PRODUCT SPECS:

PRODUCT DIMENSIONS:

Box Dimensions: 42 in x 18 in x 10 in (34% smaller box volume than the Bay ST)
Full Boat Size: 10 ft x 31 in (same total carrying volume as the Bay ST)
Weight: 20lbs (29% lighter weight than the Bay ST)

COST:

Retail: $850
Kickstarter: $699

FEATURES:

Integrated floorboard
Open cockpit for easy entry and exit
10ft length for smooth on-water tracking and maneuverability
Adjustable footrest
Adjustable backrest
Front and rear bulkheads
Padded carrying handles and shoulder-strap

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About Oru Kayak

Founded in 2012, Oru Kayak is a leading innovator in the kayaking industry and the first to bring a foldable kayak to market utilizing the principles of origami. Beyond the functionality of its engineering, the Oru Kayak stands apart from the competition for its superb on the water performance, durability, easy assembly, and stylish design. Based in San Francisco and manufactured in the USA, Oru Kayak is sold in dozens of countries across five continents including Europe, Australia, Asia and the Americas. For more information visit orukayak.com

Hobie MirageDrive 360 Technology Delivers Full-Circle Power

Paddling Business

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Press Release: Hobie

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August 22, 2019

two anglers hold up fish caught on kayaks equipped with the Hobie MirageDrive 360

Oceanside, CA (July 9, 2019) – Two decades ago, Hobie revolutionized kayak fishing with the invention of the original MirageDrive. The radical engineering feat was met with worldwide acclaim and leg-propulsion became the new standard for kayak fishing locomotion.

Imitators eventually arrived on the scene, but the original remains the industry benchmark…

Hobie knew improving on its revolutionary MirageDrive wouldn’t be easy, but they weren’t deterred. Six years in the making, for 2020, Hobie is proud to announce the greatest achievement to date in the form of an astonishing 360-degree rotating pedal drive—an all new paradigm in kayak fishing boat control, complete with a nearly 100-page patent registration.

Put simply, the remarkable new Hobie MirageDrive 360 propulsion system is a 360-degree rotating pedal drive that allows anglers to easily maneuver their 2020 Mirage Pro Angler 360 12 and 14 fishing kayak in every direction—backwards, forward, sideways, diagonally—or even effortlessly spin on its own access. Upping the ante with all-new Kick-Up Fins, which automatically retract upon impact, the new MirageDrive 360 delivers precision boat control and close-quarter maneuverability that’s unrivalled by any other human-powered watercraft. With the MirageDrive 360, anglers go where they want and fish how they want with total control and complete confidence.

The MirageDrive 360 is designed for versatility on the water and to help anglers catch more fish. Infinitely more maneuverable, anglers will immediately discover they spend less time positioning their boat, and more time catching fish. Boat control is brought to an entirely new level, affording anglers the ability to surgically position themselves to make the best cast and presentation to the fish, as well as staying right on top of fish once found, shallow or deep or anywhere in between.

The MirageDrive 360 allows access to tighter quarters and more fishing scenarios. Imagine being able to turn on a dime in every direction. It also allows you to follow shorelines or underwater structure in a way kayak anglers have never experienced.

“The MirageDrive 360 completely changes how you engage with your boat and the environment,” says Philip Dow, Lead Design Engineer for Hobie. “For example, if you’re fishing along a shoreline or highly contoured underwater structure, you can follow those nuances exactly with boat placement. Similarly, with the Kick-Up Fins, shallow and structure-filled waters become far more manageable. Hobie’s MirageDrive 360 completely redefines boat control.”

He continues: “In the same way a trolling motor can hold an exact point, you can do that with the MirageDrive 360. You can hold an exact location and direction against a wind or a current, too. Previously, when you drifted out of position, you had to pedal in a circle to point the hull in the right direction between casts. Now, when you’re sitting idle, if you turn the drive and start to pedal you’re immediately turning. It’s extremely effective for place-holding in an exact location. You feel like a sniper. If you want to swing the bow past a rock, you can do it exactly and make your next cast without any unnecessary boat movement.”

Designed to accept Hobie’s vast array of accessories, the Pro Angler 360 series fishing kayaks can be easily outfitted with additional angling equipment.

“In every environment there’s the need for better control in order to position yourself to present your bait to the fish in the most natural way possible,” says Morgan Promnitz, Hobie’s Sr. Fishing Brand Manager. “Whether you’re fishing offshore, inshore, or freshwater, the benefits are numerous. We’ve tested the boats in a multitude of fishing environments and our test team response has all been the same—the MirageDrive 360 gives anglers a huge advantage that results in more fish caught, period.”

“The Kick-Up Fins add peace of mind to anglers exploring waters with submerged objects such as rocks or tree stumps because the fins will automatically retract upon impacting an object. This greatly reduces any chance or damaging the propulsion system and allows anglers to explore with confidence—no more damaged props or bent fins.”

The new Hobie Pro Angler 360 Series can be purchased at your local authorized Hobie dealer. The Mirage Pro Angler 12 with 360 Technology is offered at an introductory MSRP of $4,649; the Hobie Pro Angler 14 360 has an introductory MSRP of $4,799 (excluding taxes and shipping). Available Fall 2019.