«Major shipment to Japan celebrated as firm paddles Business by Glenn Werkman The Review. Some of the best ocean-touring kayaks in the world are built in limited quantities by skilled crews at a McDonald Park Road manu- @ facturing firm. ah . Its marketing company, Current Designs, hasn’t tapped all of the North American market with a product recognized as first class by industry leaders. But already, Japanese buyers are into the action. Last week a shipment of 28 kayaks with accessories, built by the manufacturing arm of Black- line Reinforced Plastics, were packed into a container for Padou, a Japanese company with a chain of stores. Matthew Smith of Current Designs explains that his company wasn’t looking for Japanese buyers but responded to requests for information from two Japanese companies. “Tt tummed out we could only supply one company,’ Smith said. Before the Japanese became involved, Current Designs kayaks _were sold in Canada and the U.S. through about 45 dealers. About 60 per cent of the market for Current Designs kayaks was in limited areas of the United States — most in California and the Eastem Seaboard. __ We hadn’t saturated the market by any means,” Smith said. ; The idea for Current Designs ' kayaks was the brainchild of Brian ‘Henry, a keen kayaker who “@ designed a kayak and had it built + in Vancouver eight years ago. Campbell Black, of Blackline Reinforced Plastics, had done research and developed a tech- lis kayak ie) BUFFING THE FINISH on a Current Designs kayak at a McDonald Park Road is one of several highly skilled craftsmen who carefully shape, mold and finish the fiberglass high performance crafts. nique for vacuum bag fiberglass molding eight years ago. Black was looking for a product and teamed up with Henry in 1983. One year later, after recog- nizing there wasn’t much expertise in kayak building, a prototype was built, an American vacuum bag moulding expert was brought to the Peninsula, moulds were made and limited production began for Ocean River Sports. “Tt didn’t take long to take off and we had to set up a wholesale division,” Black said. “Now we're sitting on top of the market with the highest quality product and the highest priced product.” Vacuum bag molding results in a smooth, flawless interior wall that isn't aggravating to the skin, as other fiberglass products can be. The exterior of the boat is hand crafted — formed, sanded, painted and buffed by experts to a show- room shine before leaving the shop. “Our process is built on opera- tor skill and 70 per cent of the boat is reinforcing material struc- tural weight,’ Black said. “Black- lines’ philosophy is medium to low volume, high quality and skill intensive.” For the 1990 fiscal year, Black- line expects to produce 537 Cur- rent Designs kayaks, an increase of about 40 per cent over last year’s production, to reach annual sales over $1 million. Smith said dealers place orders months in advance to ensure deli- very. This year, for the first ume, the firm’s 17 employees worked right through what is normally a LAST WEEK FOR REGISTRATION -PENINSULAS MINOR LACROSSE © REGISTRATION — PANORAMA LEISURE CENTRE | SAT. AND SUN. MARCH 3 & 4 10 AM - 3 PM A SHORT FILM WILL BE SHOWN Fitness Action SKILL Teamwork. 20 0 Players 34 Players 30 Players” 42 Players — _ 39 Players - 26 Players a 26 Boye BRING YOUR BIRTH ~ CERTIFICATE AND A FRIEND Born 1972, 1973 — _ Born 1974, 1975 Born 1976, 1977 — Born 1978,1979 - . Born 1980, 1981 Born 1982,1983 Bem JIE A289) SS UNIVERSITY SCHOLARSHIPS AWARDED | CANADAS NATIONAL SPORT : TheReview Wednesday, February 28,1990 — Alo : success if slow period and produced an inventory of about 100 kayaks. “Now. we've got a foot into the eer Japanese and international mar- aturday and eve kets,” Smith said. Last Wednesday the company toasted the departure of its first shipment to Japan in an appropri- ate way — with saki and rice crackers. The next day the crew was hard at work again, looking to conquer a new challenge. The company is building kayaks lo be used by a joint US.-US.S:R.-Japan expedi- tion in June across the Bering Strait from Nome, Alaska. It’s not the first time Current Designs kayaks have been used in a challenging environment. A California kayaker took 63 days in a tandem touring kayak to travel from the Califomia coast to the Hawaiian Islands last year. 13.89% ” ANNUALIZED RETURN - RATE SUBJECT TO’ CHANGE A HIGH INTEREST, SAFE ALTERNATIVE TO SAVING ACCOUNTS AND TERM DEPOSITS [UNITED CANADIAN MONEY MARKET FUND] INVESTING ONLY IN T-BILLS AND SHORT TERM CANADIAN CHARTERED BANK DEPOSITS CHARGES NO ACQUISITION FEE AND IS CASHABLE ANY BUSINESS DAY FOR FURTHER DETAILS CONTACT GARY SHILLINGTON AT 656-8801 VICTORIA ASSET MANAGEMENT GROUP INC. 2442 BEACON AVENUE SIDNEY, B.C. V8L 1X6 raed Ducane Wy CANCER CAN BE BEATEN! The Canadian Cancer Society is a national community-based organi- zation of volunteers whose mis- sion is the eradication of cancer and the enhancement of the quality of life of people living with cancer. The Canadian Cancer Society achieves its mission through pro- grams of research, education, pa- tient services, fundraising and in- fluence on public policy. AMC) 8 SOCIULY 8 AMG RRSPs Time is getting short. Our hours are getting longer. The deadline for 1989 tax-deductible RRSP contributions is Thursday, March 1st, 1990. We will be open for your RRSP business: Wednesday, Feb. 28th 9:30 A.M. - 6:30 PM. Thursday, March 1st 9:30 A.M. - 6:30 RM. SIDNEY BRANCH TELEPHONE: 656-1170 Scotiabank THE BANK OF NOVA SCOTIA