Any Fenn updates..??

Rob, or anyone else that is close to the area... Are there any positive updates to report on the Fenn tragedy. It was a terrible incident and as expected (and understood), not many updates on their Facebook page. I understand they lost molds and plugs. Not knowing the construction of these things, how hard is it to replicate new plugs and molds. Do they usually have some kind of CAD file to rebuild from ?  I certainly hope everything comes out ok and they are back up and running soon...

Holy Crap! How has no one posted this yet?

Here's the only news article i found. Any others that arent paywalled? Looks like no Fenn skis will be shipping in the next few months. What a bummer! I hope they are able to rebuild quickly and take the opportunity to upgrade their factory

www.dispatchlive.co.za/news/2019-06-19-s...a-wealth-of-history/

Oh no. 

Well, it's off to google I go.
  
Thanks Rob for the great site, but I ain't going to Facebook or any other social media for my ski info.

If I find anything interesting online I'll try to link it here - If I have time before heading out for the day.    

F'n Facebook.  Jeebus, I know ski is a fringe sport, but wow, crickets chirping on a site called "surfski info"?   

Here is the only link I found.  Terrible, terrible news.  

Aaaaand it was a shitty link, so I removed it.

So, again, we have nothing.  Well, I guess it's a good enough reason to phone Mike Owens here on Maui.  He was a Fenn rep for awhile.  Maybe he knows something.  

Jesus Christ on a bicycle!  Resorting to coconut wireless for a ski factory burning to the ground!  WTF!  

  

My bad for not posting this sooner.

Yep, the Fenn factory burnt to the ground following a fire after hours on Friday, ten days ago.  The fire took with it the moulds, most of the plugs, all the manufacturing equipment and 150 finished boats.  No-one was on the premises.

The fire dept were able to stop the fire spreading, but were unable to save the Fenn factory.

Fenn had moved some stock to their warehouse for shipment, and I believe a couple of the plugs were in the warehouse too.

They were fully insured, including business continuity insurance, so the 26 staff are covered for now.  Of course we all know that insurance companies will do anything not to pay up, so we're all holding our collective breaths.

Fenn have said that they're committed to continuing the business, and hope to be back in production in the next nine months.

I hope to see Keith Fenn here in Mauritius in the next couple of days, and will try to get an update direct from the horse's mouth, so to speak.

LaPerouseBay wrote: Oh no. 

Well, it's off to google I go.
  
Thanks Rob for the great site, but I ain't going to Facebook or any other social media for my ski info.
If I find anything interesting online I'll try to link it here - If I have time before heading out for the day.    
F'n Facebook.  Jeebus, I know ski is a fringe sport, but wow, crickets chirping on a site called "surfski info"?   
Jesus Christ on a bicycle!  Resorting to coconut wireless for a ski factory burning to the ground!  WTF!  

  

If you reject the platform, you forfeit the content.

Every single ski manufacturer, shoe/clothing company, and even this page uses Facebook for minor news, as the format is way more friendly for short posts and they keep their official websites only for MAJOR NEWS and product showcase/sale. Just like this page theres no need to log in to see any post.

www.facebook.com/pg/surfski.info/posts/

If there was enough info available RIGHT NOW from people connected to the situation to warrant  a main page post, which are all decently sized, there would be one. 

This is news, bad news, but there isn´t much too it at the moment:

Apparently an electrical failure started a fire while no one was there.
The fire consumed everything.
Neighboring businesses where unaffected.
Thankfully they where fully insured, and will try to get back up and running asap.

As I said, hopefully we can get updates and they are committed to stay in business. I usually have Facebook and Instagram pages for a number of surfski and bicycle manufacturers for pictures, news, etc...

This incident was not covered as I expected it would be on those pages and sites. On cycling forums, when Dario Pegoretti passed, it was all over any cycling related outlet you could think of. I understand privacy and respect for the family during trying times...and thought that was what everyone was doing.  Keep the updates as they come....

Fenn barely has a website to begin with. Their skis, which are wonderful, are released without any  advertising and sometimes without any description. That is just how they choose to do things, and it has been working pretty well for them so far as the product speaks for itself. My point is that I don’t find it surprising at all that there is virtually no content on the web about their factory burning down.  

Full info from the dispatch -

Twenty six employees at Fenn Kayaks, an East London-based leading manufacturer
of ocean racing skis, kayaks and paddles, which mostly sells to the international market, face an uncertain future, after their factory was totally razed by fire on Friday.

Fire broke out shortly after closure of business on Friday, causing damage estimated at millions of rands, according to business owner and popular East London paddler, Keith Fenn. He said hundreds of uniquely designed skis and paddles had been destroyed, along with the manufacturing equipment. The building housing the business which opened in 1988, was also gutted to the floor.

The company is a household name in the world of ocean ski racing in SA and abroad and produces over 1,500 skis annually as well as an extensive selection of paddles. Fenn on Tuesday confirmed that he had employed 26 people in the factory. He said he would continue paying them their salaries which were covered by the company’s interrupted business policy.

He said he had no firm idea what could have caused the raging fire, but he suspected an electric fault.
Fenn said the fire alarm had been raised at around 4.20pm, a few minutes after they had closed for the day, and the way it was spreading led him to fear it would spread to neighbouring businesses. However, he said fire fighters had contained the blaze.

Fenn said at this moment he had no idea of how much damage had been incurred, “but definitely it is estimated at millions of rands for both the products, equipment and the building itself”.

“Everything was burnt down, including our valued collection of designs which we built up over the years.
“I just can’t put value to those at the moment, but we are waiting for forensic investigators from our insurance company, who we are meeting on Wednesday, before we quantify our losses.” His company supplies its products to distributors across Europe, the US, New Zealand, China, Dubai, Canada, Australia and the Middle East,
among other international markets.

He was looking at being back in business in nine months time, after his factory had been rebuilt.
Fenn said it was a miracle that his neighbouring businesses had not been seriously affected by the fire.
Jessica Openshaw, co-owner of nearby Pro CV & Steering, on Tuesday said the fire had only affected their business slightly. One problem was that they had been out of power since Friday. “We had to move all the cars that were on our premises, but there was no major damage to our property. “We could not use our computers and diagnostic machines, but the work continues,” said Openshaw. Ryan Bennie, managing director at nearby Carspares said parts of their building were affected by the fire, while they also suffered damages to their rooftop. He said he was waiting for structural engineers before he too could quantify the damages. “Our roof is temporarily patched at this moment, but it needs some major work,” he said.

Rob or anyone, 
Any updates about if rebuilding has begun? or any updates about where Keith and crew are at with getting insurance payout, rebuilding, status of molds, when we might see new boats hit the market? Any whispering of updating production methods or equipment to make prepreg or monocoque hulls like Ozone or Nelo? 

I wish the best for Fenn. Hope everything is going as smooth as it can. 

Here are 3 pictures from their Facebook page. It was a quick post. They mainly focus on surfski events with lots of great pictures but happen to see it

My understanding from talking to Josh Fenn in Perth, is that they're hoping to be up and running in the newly rebuilt factory by the end of the year.

Josh said that the upside of the disaster was that they've been able to optimize the factory. 

He said that they've been building boats on a smaller scale (pushing out two per day) in their warehouse.  They've also been rebuilding plugs and moulds, so it sounds as though they'll be able to hit the ground running.

Only glass boats though. They come with a FENIX sticker in front of the normal name. Orka had a few in stock the other day. Fenn will rise from the ashes reborn ;P