This was a print from a t-shirt we made in 2001- the peak of the whitewater kayaking explosion. If the shirt seems a little non-sensical, also understand that this was the same year that kayaking was growing about 150%, and we were offering a $15,000 cash prize purse for the IR Triple Crown. At the time, we were imagining the upward curve of paddlesports sales to track a path similar to surfing or snowboarding- not the gentle arrow-ark it decided pursue instead. But that summer the marketing lessons of our soon-to-be sister sports seemed clear: spend big and act like you don’t care.
