by Tom Stewart
Check out the full JK Whitewater lineup on our website here
Breaking News!
It’s been a whirlwind of a month here at Aquabatics and we are finally able to spill the beans and officially break the news. Jackson Kayak whitewater boats are now available through Aquabatics Calgary!
It’s been a long while since I last was able to sit my bum in the comfort of a Jackson Kayak sweet cheeks seat, and I’ve secretly been waiting for that day to come for a long time! My first 4 playboats were Jackson allstar’s and a rockstar, so the comfort of slipping into the Zen at this year’s Jackson Kayak Dealer summit felt like home. Last weekend I got the invite to join the Jackson team for their dealer appreciation and information summit at Rock Island Tennessee. It was an amazing opportunity to go out and meet the folks who we will be working with to make getting a Jackson kayak easier than ever before.
I met up with a large crew of dealers from across the USA and some of the Jackson Whitewater team for a paddle on the Ocoee River on Sunday. This section is an iconic piece of class 3 whitewater with great roadside access and some super fun continuous rapids and play features. Dane Jackson and Nick Troutman were out in the Jackson Antix, a new boat fusing the creeking abilities of the Zen with the river play of a squash tail fun. I was pretty quick to ask Dane for a swap and was immediately impressed with this boats ability to squirt and play yet still feel like a good stable river runner.
The following day was an amazing mix of great information regarding boat design, outfitting, and some sharing of Jackson kayak’s goals and vision, mixed with some on water time. It’s been a few years since I was able to try out any Jackson Kayak so I spent the whole day hopping in and out of different models and testing them on the flatwater and some upstream attainments. EJ caught up with me playing around in the Rockstar and decided to show me his new trick “The Mad Hatter”.
Each night we hit the local run on the Caney Fork river section, a fun little playboating run with some beautiful waterfalls and warm water!
Our last day in Tennessee was spent at the Jackson Kayak factory where we got the walk-through and run down on their brand new facility. It was really impressive seeing boats go from plastic powder all the way through to a finished product with everything done in house. Even the plastic thermo-formed seats and tracks are built on site and every piece that goes into a Jackson boat is built either in house or sourced in the USA.
Overall we couldn’t be more excited to work with this great brand and know it’s going to be a great match. Boats start to arrive at our shop this December, so if you’ve been on the fence about a new boat for the 2017 season now is a great time to give us a call and chat about all these great new models! Give us a call a 1-877-440-9283 or email the shop at info@aquabaticscalgary.com
