Open boaters take note, Quebec-based Esquif will be looking to Liquidlogic to provide the hulls for the L’Edge Lite canoe from here on out.
Esquif International founder and owner Jacques Chassé says he hopes that by teaming with the manufacturers at Liquidlogic, who specialize in whitewater kayaks, customers can now expect a higher more consistent quality in the L’Edge Lite. Esquif had previously gotten their hulls from a generic manufacturing company in Quebec.
“We share whitewater in our DNA so it’s a logical match,” says Chassé.
This is the first time Esquif has worked with Liquidlogic and Chassé says he hopes this could be the beginning of a new long-term partnership between both companies.
The original L’Edge design was in the concept and development phase for eight years by designer Craig Smerda. Even with the Liquidlogic hulls, the actual design of the L’Edge Lite will change very little, with the exception of the handle placement and graphics.
“It was really cool to have Jacques call me up and ask about having us mold his boats,” says Shane Benedict, cofounder of Liquidlogic and their head designer. “I’ve actually been watching that boat ever since they came out with it.”
Liquidlogic has developed a reputation for rotomolding, a process in manufacturing that involves slowly spinning a heated hollow mold with the plastic materials to produce an even coating.
“We were looking for the best rotomolder in America,” says Chassé. “Liquidlogic proved they were the best.”
Benedict says the quality of plastic is only part of making a strong and beautiful boat.
“The way you cook or cure the plastic is far more important,” he says. “We specialize in programming the recipes to bring the best cure—and therefore performance—possible out of the plastic, and therefore the boat.”
Liquidlogic boasts their RotoLab (rotational molding laboratory) as their top secret. In the lab they analyze their raw materials under florescent lights and test kayaks in some “creative ways,” as it says on their website. Chassé says Liquidlogic has access to the best resins as well.
When asked if the cost of the L’Edge Lite boats will increase as a result of the partnership with Liquidlogic, Chassé said they will not. They are in the process of finding a new partner in the U.S.—not Liquidlogic—to assemble the boats in order to reduce shipping costs from North Carolina, where Liquidlogic is based.
“We will provide the parts and make sure boats assembled in the U.S. or Canada are made the same,” says Chassé.
The L’Edge Lites will be available to boaters mid-May with the arrival of the first shipment of hulls from the Liquidlogic plant in Asheville.
See Rapid’s review of Esquif’s L’Edge Lite here.
