Today 99 percent of sport and recreational kayaks are made of polyethylene, as are many sea kayaks. We sell a lot of aluminum canoes to summer camps. The kids can beat on 'em, bang on 'em, abuse 'em, and they'll last forever, but adults prefer other materials. Wood is a very small part of the market now. Now kayaks outsell canoes, and you have many choices for either type of boat.
Families are the number one purchasers of both canoes and kayaks, excluding whitewater kayaks.
Women purchase almost 50 percent of our kayaks, and more than 50 percent of our canoe sales are initiated by women. We sell maybe 15 or 20 whitewater kayaks a year. With canoes, it's just the opposite. Canoes tend to be a tandem market. People like to paddle a canoe with a partner.