A paddle sports company that is as passionate about your gear as you are. Nautique Paddle Sports NZ was developed as the vessel for three keen paddlers who wanted to achieve two things:
- Give us all some reasons to get a new kayak
- Establish a new, excellent, local brand of paddles that were better than any other in the world
We compared the abundance of annual innovations and new features of the bicycle market to that of the current kayak market and wondered how long it had been since anyone had a good reason to update their kayak? There were new features that we wanted in a kayak to suit how we are now training, racing and touring, which nobody else seemed to be creating. We would have to innovate them ourselves. With that in mind, we needed a solid platform from which to light some sparks, so we began working with Grahame Sisson to acquire the molds for his range of time-tested hulls. We also needed to know, for ourselves as much as for anyone, that we would be capable of making the highest quality kayaks on the market. Grahame agreed to spend weeks with us, to teach us the art.
Then we had a close look at Chad Meek's paddle blades, hand-laid by him in his lake-side workshop in the Victorian Highlands and we realised we were already looking at the best blades in the world. Works of art. A partnership formed when Chad got excited about the idea of seeing his blades used in one of his favourite events, the Coast to Coast, and agreed to make our blades for us.
Company values
Nautique Paddle Sports NZ is strong on values. The swirling icon in our logo, which we call the Nautique Swirl, is a simple but important part of our business. The icon itself is inspired by a combination of the Celtic symbol for earth, sea and sky and the Mangopare, Maori symbol of two hammerhead sharks symbolising many of our company values - strength, agility, tenacity, determination and courage. At another level, the Nautique Swirl also symbolises another important part of our values - "what goes around, comes around", speaking of integrity and honesty. That, to us, is Nautique Paddle Sports NZ.
Meet The Nautique Family
Nautique Paddle Sports NZ is owned and operated by Rikki Griffin, Paul Gow and David Galbraith. The Nautique Family is also incredibly proud to include our athletes, Dougal Allan, Oliver Thompson, Fiona Dowling and Rebecca Kingsford, all extremely talented paddlers and great humans.
Dougal is very well known among the Multisport and Triathlon communities. An exceptional endurance athlete and coach with a penchant for laying down record cycle times, Dougal has many notable results in his career so far, including wins at Challenge Wanaka, Motatapu Xterra, Rebull Defiance, Crazyman, Augusta Adventure Fest, Goldrush and Coast to Coast.
Oliver is a younger, though also very talented multisporter who comes from a K1 racing background. Already Oli has completed some tough adventure racing and multisport events with admirable results, such as Godzone, Redbull Defiance and a win in the 2-day Coast to Coast. It's a real pleasure to watch Oli in a kayak.
Fiona, aside from being an absolute rocket on the race course with plenty of notable podiums in some of the biggest races such as the Kathmandu Coast to Coast Longest Day, is one of the nicest people you'll find in a sport full of nice people! But don't be fooled by the facade; Fi is famous for her competitive spirit, grit and determination when the going gets tough and will often put down the fastest times at the back-end of a long race.
Rebecca recently came to Multisport racing from triathlon and bike racing and has quickly shown that she is also a powerhouse in the kayak, racing her new N2 to some very notable podium finishes in various races in her first year of paddling. Of particular note, Rebecca recently won the Peak to Peak Winter Multisport Race and the Twizel Hard Labour weekend, showing that she is a new force to be reckoned with on the Multisport scene. We also love the fun and positive vibes that RK brings to the party.
Rikki
Griffin
Managing Director
Paul
Gow
Director
David
Galbraith
Director
Fiona
Dowling
Athlete, Christchurch Representative and Great Human
Dougal
Allan
Athlete and Great Human
Oliver
Thompson
Athlete and Great Human
