Back on TRAK in 2025

February 28, 2025 1 Comment

TRAK: The folding kayak company that nearly folded - ​but didn’t.

 

When the TRAK team launched our crowdfunding campaign for our flagship folding performance sea kayak back in 2017, nobody was surprised at the level of enthusiasm that a kayak with real-time adjustable rocker could generate. The first of its kind, the TRAK 2.0 raised over $1M in just a few months, and by early 2018 our team was fast on our way to producing and shipping TRAK kayaks to eager paddlers around the world. 

But anyone who’s followed TRAK until recently knows that our company has been no stranger to struggle. Almost immediately after raising enough funds to develop the TRAK 2.0 for global markets in 2018, TRAK was repeatedly plagued by global shortages of raw materials, pandemic-related factory closures, clogged production lines, and internal challenges that set our valued customers’ delivery timelines back, again and again. 

 

"We've had some very tough years," admits Nolin Veillard, founder of TRAK. “There were so many factors outside our control that we took ultimate responsibility for. And while a lot of paddlers were very supportive of TRAK during those times, I know the situation resulted in a lot of disappointment and frustration, too.”

Instead of receiving kayaks in a matter of weeks or months, some of our customers had to wait multiple years. And while product reviews about the TRAK 2.0 kayak were almost always resoundingly positive, some of our early backers were not afraid to acknowledge our team’s struggle to deliver when promised. The result: widespread confusion and disappointment amongst the same early adopters that TRAK was initially counting on to grow our paddler community into the future.

Most outdoor gear companies faced with this track record would have already declared bankruptcy and disappeared. Yet, TRAK is still here in 2025 and - according to Nolin - “not going anywhere.” So, how did an innovative kayak company launched with so much promise nearly reach the brink of collapse, only to survive the toughest years of pandemic, overcome a multi-year order backlog, and emerge into 2025 stronger than ever?

An innovative product at the perfectly wrong time.

In a market seemingly flooded with low-cost options for folding and inflatable kayaks, the TRAK 2.0 offers the same sense of elegance and performance that paddlers expect from hardshell composite kayaks - and at a similar price point. Our “no compromise” approach to key design elements related to safety, tracking, and expedition capability is guided by consistent feedback that we receive from TRAK paddlers with a range of intended use cases. Developing a folding kayak system that is both sophisticated and costly to produce is necessary in order to remain true to what our paddlers have asked for, and what the modern paddling market demands. 

Below: TRAK factory team members are responsible for hot welding each piece of the TRAK 2.0’s puncture-resistant polyurethane skin - one of the most challenging yet rewarding parts of the multi-stage production process. 

Designing and building a foldable skin-on-frame kayak that can perform just like a composite hardshell requires ongoing R&D and incredibly high levels of craftsmanship. For this reason, TRAK shares a specialized manufacturing facility in the Philippines with respected outdoor brands like Mountain Hardwear, Mustang, Black Diamond, and Arc’teryx; but our company still needs to source raw materials from around the globe. Aircraft-grade 7000 series aluminum from Korea is used for the TRAK 2.0’s internal frame. Nylon woven polyurethane is produced in west Asia exclusively for TRAK’s puncture-resistant hull material. Coaming materials are sourced from the USA, while TRAK's carbon fiber ribs are produced in the same factory as CCM composite hockey sticks. TRAK’s proprietary hydraulic jacks - which power the 2.0’s adjustable rocker - are produced in a specialized factory in Shenzhen China. Bringing all of these materials together to TRAK’s Philippine-based manufacturing team on time and on budget is an operational marvel that our team has spent the last decade refining - but not without challenges. 

Above: TRAK Founder Nolin Veillard works with factory team members Jhay and Benjie at TRAK’s specialized manufacturing facility across Manila Bay in Bataan, Philippines.

 

Just as TRAK prepared to produce our first round of pre-orders in early 2018, our company was faced with aluminum shortages that took until 2019 to rectify. Several months later, after nearly catching up on backorders in early 2020, the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic wreaked havoc across the world, and multiple suppliers of TRAK’s raw materials either closed shop or increased their prices substantially. With many factories in east Asia closed for multiple months, it soon became impossible to produce TRAK 2.0s within our customers’ initial expected delivery window. 

“It was just one letdown after another," shares Nolin. “We almost didn’t make it. Yet we never considered failure as an option.” 

Keeping the TRAK vision alive during these difficult years took a tremendous amount of commitment and sacrifices amongst key partners. Recognizing that TRAK would struggle to grow without consistent production and positive inventory, Nolin and his team rolled up their sleeves, doubled down, and put nearly everything into TRAK’s supply chain and production schedule to meet the expectations of today’s customers. 

Above: Factory team leader Jhayr (center) oversees the manufacturing of TRAK 2.0s in close collaboration with TRAK Founder, Nolin Veillard (right).

Perseverance finally pays off.

Fast forward to 2025, and TRAK is now in a very different position. With former supply chain challenges in the past and TRAK 2.0 kayaks in consistent production, our company is finally boat positive, ready to ship anywhere in the world. Sales are starting to ramp up again, but our team knows that rebuilding TRAK’s reputation is going to take some time. 

Above: The TRAK HQ team, Nolin, Caleb, and Gion (from right to left) received a large shipment of new TRAK 2.0s from our factory team in late January 2025, enabling us to clear our entire order backlog. We’ve since started fulfilling orders within days of purchase.

 

“We're in a new era as a company, and that’s exciting. Fulfilling orders within days or weeks is fantastic. But we still need to take care of our paddlers and assure potential customers that our production challenges are behind us,” says Caleb McIntyre, TRAK’s Chief Paddling Officer, “That’s my priority moving forward.”

As modern adventurers look to the waters as a source of escape and fulfillment, folding kayaks like the TRAK 2.0 are ready to provide elegant and reliable solutions. While other folding kayak manufacturers like Oru, Pakayak, and Tuktec have entered the market since TRAK’s first kayak was launched, paddlers with experience understand that these lower cost options come with plenty of compromises. With TRAK 2.0s now being shipped around the world within days of purchase, it is clear that serious paddlers who desire the ideal balance of portability, performance, and safety are willing to pay a premium for the last kayak they might ever need. 

In the years ahead, our team remains committed to serving our paddling community while elevating TRAK’s reputation in the world of paddlecraft, commanding a top position as “the world's ultimate folding kayak.”

 

Below: The various components of each TRAK kayak are touched by over 100 hands before finally reaching their intended customer - a journey the TRAK team is proud to facilitate thanks to relationships around the world. In the Philippines, this is the spirit of Bayanihan.

Got questions about TRAK's story?

"Being real" is one of our company values. So if you have questions or comments about anything reported this update, please contact us at info@trakkayaks.com. 

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