Thinks answer to the Epic V7, the "Nitro"

Epic can rightly be proud of "injecting" more life into the Ski market with its rotomoulded version of the V8... the V7.

What made this ski stand out from the plastic ski crowd was the stiffness it achieved using a plastic foam injection technique.

Think seem to have followed suit by taking their already popular Think Eze and releasing it as the rotomoulded Think Nitro.

All we have to go on is this Facebook announcement but if they have gone with the same technology the V7 now has some "stiff" competition.

I have enjoyed skis from all the big brands, and I think that a competitive market is good for the sport. But some of the marketing kind of rubs me wrong. The "doing things right" line seems to be jab at the v7 for somehow doing something wrong. Or at least that is how it reads to me. It reminds me of the fenn blue fin marketing language that touts it as "not just a sea kayak with a surfski top plate", an obvious jab at the v8. Or the Swordfish marketing that touts its paddle cut outs as "not too far forward just for looks" which was again a dig at epic who had introduced radical cutouts with the v12. I own a fenn and an epic and would gladly buy a think, but that sort of sales pitch really leaves me with a bitter taste. They are taking jabs at epic when epic in all cases invented the category of boat they are copying as fast as they possibly can. And, because epic does not disparage other makes in its marketing, it only solidifies the impression that epic is the leader and all the other guys are bitter in defeat or jealous or something. Again, i am not saying that fenn and think are losers, as they are obviously not and their boats are great and their success on the internation stage is obvious. But this kind of marketing makes them sound like snarky sore losers to my ear.

Thoughts?

I think you are way overthinking it.

Zach, that is quite a stretch, and your thoughts are way off the mark in regards to jealously and pot shots from Think HQ at Epic. The Think family does not operate that way and will not operate that way. Anyone who's ever dealt with Daryl, Stew, Chet, Sean R, myself, or any of the rest of the Think family knows this to be the case, and I for one take significant offense at the accusation. Healthy competition is just that, and ideas within the industry will naturally be followed up on by others. There are plenty of Think ideas that show up in other designs as well, and that is just fine; if something is a good idea and deserves being followed up on by others, then that can only be good for consumers as a whole. We at Think are trying to promote not only a brand, but the sport of surfski paddling as a whole, and jabs at other manufacturers are not part of that formula, as that kind of behavior does nothing but weaken the sport and the industry as a whole. You are entitled to your opinion, but you have completely mis-interpreted the intent of those 3 words in Daryl's press release, and this kind of rush to judgement does no one in the surfski world any good.
Thanks
Mark McKenzie
Eliteoceansports/Think USA

Mark no offence intended. I am just giving feedback on how the press release sounds to my ear. You can take it or leave it. I tried hard to make clear that i was not accusing think of being jealous, but rather saying that the particular marketing language chosen gave that impression. I am criticizing the marketing, not the company. I have no affiliation with epic whatsoever. If the press release was not a was not a dig at epic that is great. It just sounded that way to me. Obviously when Think launches a 17x21 rotomolded ski with a stern hatch just months after Epic did,, you can't read about the nitro without having the v7 in mind.

Nordic Kayaks have a ski called the Nitro already (the others being Squall, Breeze, Storm)

Rod Thomas wrote: Nordic Kayaks have a ski called the Nitro already (the others being Squall, Breeze, Storm)

Yeah, when I saw the Think Facebook post I googled "Nitro ski" to see the Nordic one in the results. You would have thought they could come up with something different to avoid confusion.

I got a message from Daryl Remmler at think today. Basically he said that the "doing things right" line has nothing to do with epic and the the two companies work well together. I like Daryl and believe him. So I must have just read the press release the wrong way. I apologize for any excess commotion I created. Thanks for all the replies on the subject; that's what I was looking for.

Zach

I took the "doing it right" to mean that they partnered with Pyrhana Kayaks, who already have the expertise with regards to manufacturing rotomolded kayaks. I took it to mean that because that's exactly what was written in the Facebook announcement. In any event, I look forward to trying one out soon.