Hervé Gagelin is a passionate boater, who has always lived by the sea. After living 8 years in South America on the Caribbean Sea, this designer at heart moved to Bandol, on the French Riviera 20 years ago and launched the HKai brand.
Having followed the evolution of the paddle over the past ten years, he noticed "that the practitioners would not stay upright for long because of fatigue." He then designed a removable ergonomic seat that fits both paddles and inflatable kayaks. After a first prototype designed 6 years ago in fibreglass, the final model is rotomoulded.
Extend the duration of paddle practice
This seat with backrest therefore allows you to move comfortably into the paddle sitting position, "by turning the paddle into a kayak" to optimize support with "a two-in-one product."
This versatile seat is also suitable for the youngest, allowing them to sit down and enjoy the ride. Several can be installed, one behind the other. The seat is also suitable for fishermen with the addition of rod holders. Especially since for 2019, the designer has added a "foot" to enhance the seat, which acts as a hermetic storage (50 L) and is easily accessible by lifting the seat.
Fishermen will be able to use it to store their equipment, while practitioners will be able to store water bottles and snacks, for example, to plan a long day of paddle riding.
A variety of uses
The uses are varied, as Hervé Gagelin explains: "The hiking and fishing seat can also be adapted to fishing boats where the trunk will serve as a livewell, to be used on a sailboat, either to attach itself to the tender that serves as a tender and therefore provide more stability, or to the deck of the boat at the bow, for more comfort. Finally, since the seat is solid and weatherproof, I also have requests for motor boats at the helm station."
Facilitate the functional rehabilitation of the disabled
To meet a demand in the field of disability, the designer approached the association "Un fauteuil à la mer" of the Renée Sabran hospital in Hyères, which has a nautical base for functional rehabilitation. "They tried my seat last year on an inflatable kayak and were very satisfied."
Easy to attach
To fix the seat, simply use a strap - a kit sold separately - that passes under the paddle. "It has been specially designed to be very thin - 0.7 mm thick - and curved to lock under the paddle so as not to generate drag."
The seat adapts easily to all paddles, since the size of the straps can be adjusted, and to all sizes: from a child of 5/6 years old to an adult of 140 kg.
Present at boat shows
The Hkai seat will be presented with its "trunk" version at the La Ciotat boat show and a 25% discount for the launch. Alternatively, it can be purchased from a local Nexpa Surf Shop partner in Six-Fours-les-Plages.
Rates from:
Single seat: 130 ?
Seat + legs: 240 ?
Fixings: 39 ? for a single seat
