I'm very glad that my hasty comments on the developments of folding and rigid kayaks prompted Matt Broze and Ralph Diaz to take serious issue. Thanks, guys!! I do maintain, from a European perspective, that the increased popularity of cheap outboard motors in the sixties reduced the customer base for folding kayaks / boats, which did not recover and begin to thrive again until the advent of kayaks sold at entry level pricing. To wit Klepper's attempts to partake of the motorboat and sailing dhingy market to stem the flow. When I was a kid in Germany in the late sixties and early seventies, Kleppers were well known, of course (as was Pouch, incidentally), but considered "relatively" exotic compared to what the situation had been when my father lived with them 10, 15 and 20 years earlier. :-) Times have changed for the better!! Ralph C. Hoehn Ralph_at_PouchBoats.com www.PouchBoats.com *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - Any opinions or suggestions expressed here are solely those of the writer(s). You must assume the entire responsibility for reliance upon them. All postings copyright the author. Submissions: PaddleWise_at_PaddleWise.net Subscriptions: PaddleWise-request_at_PaddleWise.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************
----- Original Message ----- From: <FoldingBoats_at_aol.com> > I'm very glad that my hasty comments on the developments of folding and rigid kayaks prompted Matt Broze and Ralph Diaz to take serious issue. Thanks, guys!! > > I do maintain, from a European perspective, that the increased popularity of cheap outboard motors in the sixties reduced the customer base for folding kayaks / boats, which did not recover and begin to thrive again until the advent of kayaks sold at entry level pricing. To wit Klepper's attempts to partake of the motorboat and sailing dhingy market to stem the flow. When I was a kid in Germany in the late sixties and early seventies, Kleppers were well known, of course (as was Pouch, incidentally), but considered "relatively" exotic compared to what the situation had been when my father lived with them 10, 15 and 20 years. --------------- That's an entirely different issue. There is no question that the advent of cheap accessible motorized boats greatly affected paddlesports in general. Not just on the other side of the pond from North America but also on this side as well. A case in point is canoeing in the NYC area. At one point, in northern Manhattan along the banks of the Hudson, there were a number of canoe boathouses for recreational and racing paddled craft. On any weekend prior to WW II and immediately afterwards, my understanding is that there might be hundreds of canoes on the water paddling up toward Yonkers (another few boathouses up there) and across to the 10 mile stretch of the park along the Palisades where one could land, go for a swim, dance and lunch at one of the pavilions. Motors seemed a more modern way to go and killed off a lot of paddlesports. ralph diaz -- ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Ralph Diaz . . . Folding Kayaker newsletter PO Box 0754, New York, NY 10024 Tel: 212-724-5069; E-mail: rdiaz_at_ix.netcom.com "Where's your sea kayak?"----"It's in the bag." ----------------------------------------------------------------------- *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - Any opinions or suggestions expressed here are solely those of the writer(s). You must assume the entire responsibility for reliance upon them. All postings copyright the author. Submissions: PaddleWise_at_PaddleWise.net Subscriptions: PaddleWise-request_at_PaddleWise.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************
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