Visits Round the Industry: Brian Henry - Current Designs

April-May 1999

This is an article from WaveLength Magazine, available in print in North America and globally on the web.

by Sue Handel

In 1981 when Brian Henry opened up a kayak shop in Victoria's Market Square, sea kayaking was far from mainstream. 18 years later, Current Designs is a major North American kayak manufacturer.

As we toured his Sidney BC-based factory, Brian pointed out one of his employees putting the finishing touches on the deck fittings of a Solstice GT and in his soft spoken way said "I would rather achieve quality over quantity". But one clearly leads to the other which is why Current Designs boats can be found worldwide, throughout North America as well as in Japan, Greenland, New Zealand and Australia.

Brian demonstrates a high brace in his Gulfstream

Brian began paddling when he was five years old. He owned a 9 1/2 ' clinkerbuilt row boat when he was nine and canoed all through his childhood. When he was in his early 20's, he added whitewater paddling to the repertoire and became a fanatic. At that time Brian was, as he put it, "one of the odd ones" who was also into sea kayaking. His first sea kayak was a whitewater boat that he outfitted with a skeg. Voila... a touring boat.

Brian's boats are more refined now. The Current Designs fleet consists of ten different composite boats, three rotomoulded (plastic) models and the new kevlar Speedster, which is an entity unto itself. It is a sleek, fast and light racing surf ski designed by American double-gold medalist Greg Barton. The Speedster is just beginning to build a market here in Canada, where the concept of sea kayak racing is pretty well nonexistent. But Brian sees potential in the concept, as sea kayaking spreads. The Speedster is also a great way to get exercise.

One of our stops on the factory tour was "R & D". That's research and development in case you didn't know. (I didn't). A hotbed of activity, this department is headed by Brian's right hand-man, Mathew Smith. R & D is where it all begins and sometimes, never ends. On a given day, the "plug" or model of a new design will have someone like Mathew leaning into it with calipers in hand, deciding to shave off a millimeter here, or add a touch there. Older models also make guest appearances in R & D.

"I have gone back to the drawing board to modify some of our designs up to five times before I felt they were just right", said Brian. "The fit in the kayak is important. It's a real trick to get the coaming shape and thigh braces right the first time around. So we often work on those details once we get a pre-production boat out of a new mold."

Getting it right can take a lot of trial and error, and lots of test paddles. When he built the first Equinox (his second kayak design after the Pachena), he duct taped himself into the boat and took it out to Race Rocks in about 9 knot currents. The man is devoted if not a little... well, that's another article.

I asked Brian what he most enjoyed about his work, a business that completely revolves around the promotion of recreation but is, after all, still work.

"It's a toss up," he said. "It depends on what day you hit me. I really like dealing with customers, helping them find the right boat and I also love to teach. I love building things too. Sometimes designing and developing boats can be really relaxing. But what I really love is being part of this team."

Thanks for the tour, Brian!