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Once upon a time there was a machine designer named Mark Rogers who loved the outdoors.
He had built his first canoe when he was 14. When he found sea kayaking he was hooked.
He loved the sport but felt every kayak he tried needed just a little of this and a little of that.
Back in 1989, he told me he wanted to quit his job and design and sell kayaks. Okay I said. And so began a chain of events that has brought us to today.
Perhaps it would have been better to have actually built a kayak before quitting his job. But, with only a sketch on paper, quit Mark did. This was before the day of the CAD systems, so he began with a cardboard template to visualize the final product. He built the kayaks in the basement of our quad in a suburb of Chicago. It was a tight fit out of the basement casement window but finally a kayak was born.
It would take one full year of trial and error and many, many hours of labor to arrive at a sellable product. Mark found a mentor in Svend Ulstrup, a master kayak builder from Denmark who had come to the states to teach a form of kayak building. This skin on frame construction gave Mark the boost he needed to try various design changes easily. With Svend's blessings, Mark started teaching others how to build in skin on frame and held his first workshop in Door County.
So three years into building and researching we decided to make the move someplace where Mark could build kayaks and offer workshops. We found Whitelaw Wisconsin with an old stone building next to a two car garage. Oh, there was a house too. The old stone building was ideal for workshops but cold most of the year. The garage became Mark's wood boat shop. Soon kayak building workshops were offered and the stone building began filling with kayaks. A computerized carving machine was financed to help production of paddles and the stone building was renovated to become a year round shop.
Mark's designs were getting noticed and began mass production in fiberglass and Kevlar by a renowed kayak manufacturer, Wilderness Systems. The largest kit manufacturer, Chesapeake Light Craft, decided to offer Mark's designs in kit form. Mark wrote an extensive kayak building manual, something he wishes he had had to read some thirteen years prior.
He most enjoys implementing new ideas and Superior Kayaks now has seven models of kayaks to offer. His wood kayaks are in demand and usually scheduled to build three years out. His designs are also offered as kits custom cut by Mark and in a painted kayak version besides our varnished mahogany classic.
Most importantly, he hasn't forgotten what it is all about - kayaking. He uses his equipment often and is always coming up with new ideas.
There have been over 400 skin on frame kayaks built through his workshops. More I believe than any other builder in the states. He was researching and building traditonal kayaks long before they were in vogue. Each kayak in the workshop is designed for the paddler. Mark has also built over 120 wood kayaks.
His greenland paddles both in wood and carbon fiber are known worldwide. He was the first to manufacture an all carbon fiber Greenland style paddle and also first to offer it in a two piece version..
Once a year we held a traditional kayak rendezvous. It was a great sight when our customers gathered. They were all there because one man couldn't stay in his office and out of the water.
Celeste Rogers