Soul Waterman Acquires Seven 2 Paddles

Seven2 Paddles Relaunched! Soul Waterman’s Founder, Corran Addison just announced the acquisition of Seven2 Padldes, a paddle brand out of business for a few years. Here is the announcement…

The ink isn’t even dry on the formation of the latest kayak company Soul Waterman, and already the new and exciting brand is expanding. The Canadian based brand announced today that it has just acquired the cutting edge paddle company Seven 2.

Seven2, the brainchild of Aaron Heap, was formed in 1999, with one of the most truly innovative paddles kayaking has ever seen. Everything about the paddles’ design was a rethink from the ground up, and by the early 2000’s the brand had established itself as an industry leader.

seven2 founder Aaron Heap testing out the prototypes back in 1999. ©kayaksession.com

“In 1999 as kayaking got more acrobatic, I solved some of the problems athletes were complaining about by offering grip control, shaft dynamics and blade buoyancy”, said Aaron. “It was about making the paddle feel more organic, while using the most advanced technology available”.

However Aaron had a parallel company manufacturing innovative accessories for golf, and even though 2007 saw Seven 2’s largest ever pre-season orders, the competition for time and recourses of the paddle company against the far more lucrative golf accessories company lead Aaron to shut the doors so he could focus on his other enterprise. It was a great loss for the kayak industry.

“I’ve been involved in its design from the very concept shown me when Aaron flew to Montreal back in about 1998, and talked to me about his idea”, said Soul founder Corran Addison. “I became the paddles biggest fan, and I’ve been hoarding paddles ever since they closed down. I was down to my last one by the end of this year. I’ve honestly tried to use several other paddles, and the simple fact is nothing even comes close to the feel and control I have with Seven 2. I knew I had to do something”.

Soul Waterman founder, Corran Addison testing out new prototypes on the habitat 67 wave in Montreal, Canada ©kayaksession.com

That “something” was to contact Aaron and ask what it would take to put Seven 2 back into production. The answer was simple: buy the company.

“Aaron and I have really been hashing out what the real strengths and weaknesses were with the original paddle,” Corran continued. “Aaron had already come up with some really innovative ideas to take the paddles to the next level, and we’ve combined this with ideas I’ve had to take this already amazing paddle, and just make it that much better; that much more reliable.”

Aaron will continue to own minority shares in the new Soul owned version of the iconic brand, staying on as a technical advisor.

“No one knows the paddle better than Aaron. No one is better suited to help take this to the next level when it comes to sheer knowledge on how to build this, so it was really important to keep Aaron involved.”

“Over the years a number of people have tried to coax me to bring the Seven2 technology back to market, but it never felt like it would get done right” Aaron continued. “When Corran approached me I knew this was the time and the way to drive the future of seven2.”

Just like the kayaks, the Soul version of the Seven2 paddle is strictly whitewater. Given the brands focus, this makes sense, and it’s where the real benefits of the paddle are most noticeable.

The paddle will be on the market in its new form by early spring 2016. For more information about Soul Waterman kayaks or Seven 2 paddles, visit www.soulwaterman.com

Seven2 Paddles page: http://www.soulwaterman.com/collections/paddles/products/soul-seven2-kayak-paddle