February 6, 2017

Meet Curt Siverts of Sailpaddle in Redondo Beach

Local Stories

Today we’d like to introduce you to Curt Siverts.

Curt, can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today.
We have a family owned diving inspection business, where we build and dive our own deep diving submersibles. I have lived on a boat in beautiful King’s Harbor, Redondo Beach, California since the early 1980’s and currently live at the end of the same dock with my wife, Monica and 6 children.

This is where we observed firsthand the growing popularity of the sport of Stand Up Paddling. Building our own submarines and being a thinker, tinkerer and a builder with boating skills, I naturally thought that SUP Paddles should have a sail in them and soon began some R&D.

Passed down from my father, Don Siverts, we tend to build a lot of things in our shop in Torrance, CA where we always have a project under way. Putting a sail and rigging inside a SUP Paddle became one of those projects. The first prototype had a sail that resembles a fan, which was soon transformed into the more traditional looking sail that it is today.

Everyone that saw it had the reaction, “Oh, it goes in the paddle!” and then the comment, “Do you have that thing patented?” And that’s where our patent attorney and now business partner, Rick Cates, came into the picture. Then we formed our company, Sailpaddle Company LLC.

Now in the paddle business, we’ve come up with other ideas for the paddling industry. Not only have we put a sail in the paddle, but now we have a new product, the Yawfin™, which aids in paddling efficiency by decreasing fatigue and increasing stroke technique.

Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
Well, as with most businesses there are struggles. Our biggest struggles have been funding and building the brand.

Alright – so let’s talk business. Tell us about Sailpaddle – what should we know?
We are a small family business. We manufacture and sell our Stand Up Paddles. Our SUP Paddles are quality made, unique designs that meet the needs of both the novice and expert SUP Paddlers.

We have the DaSail™ SUP Paddle that has a fully functional sail stowed inside the shaft of the paddle. The sail can be easily set or stowed in about 3 seconds. The DaSail™ SUP Paddle allows the SUP’er to have fun in the wind, so when the wind comes up…play and enjoy it. Our motto is “Paddle Out. Sail Home.” As long as the wind is at your back and there is enough obstacle free water available (watch out for boats, rocks, etc.) sailing is a wonderful freeing option to paddling your SUP board.

We also have the Yawfin™ SUP Paddle which has a small fin that is attached to the paddle blade. The Yawfin™ aids in stroke efficiency and paddle technique. It decreases fatigue. It allows the user to have a more straight stroke and catch more power.

A quote from one of our early R&D’ers “Everything the Yawfin™ does translates into moving the vessel forward!!! So that said the Yawfin™ controls paddle yaw and increases purchase thrust and reduces vortex drag.”

And a quote from one of our happy customers, “We have been using the Yawfin™ Paddle for a couple of months now, in all conditions and love it. The paddle feels very solid in the water with absolutely no flutter. Paddle stroke is powerful and efficient for the blade size. The Yawfin™ Paddle allows for more strokes per side- great for keeping inflatable tracking straight.”

Is there a characteristic or quality that you feel is essential to success?
Customer service and quality products.

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