Alywn Duke started building his own kayaks long before doing it as a business. As a member of the Australia Wildwater team, he competed interstate and overseas and designed lightweight competition kayaks for himself and many former Australian champions.

 "I used to build racing kayaks in kevlar carbon epoxy, when I competed internationally," says Alwyn, "but that was too environmentally unfriendly and expensive. Then I started importing plastic ones from the States and UK, and I thought, why don't I build them? In Australia there were lots of fiberglass designs available, lots of them very good, but plastic is seamless and durable," explains Alwyn, "and you never have to worry about itchy fiberglass rash!"

Eventually, Alwyn took the plunge and started his own plastic kayak business, Finn Kayaks. Importing the requisite moulding oven from the US was financially out of the question, so he had one made to his specifications in Perth. The natural gas rotational moulding oven fires at 300 degrees Celsius and takes an hour for the plastics powder (polyethelene) to miraculously turn into a kayak.

Alwyn's philosophy is that kayaking should be accessible to everyone. "There is a wonderful, calming joy to be gained from the paddling on the water, whether it's the river or the ocean," says Alwyn. "And the Finn is a versatile, easy kayak to paddle, giving even beginners immediate success."

Alwyn has a personal policy of continual improvement that he applies to his boats. If there is a better grade of plastic or a better way of doing it he will. He admits the favourite part of his business is designing and making the protype for each craft, then paddling and testing it to the point of satisfaction, when the mould is then made. There are 16 moulds for the range of Finn kayaks, which start at around $490 (retail) for a very stable craft that is safe for children right up to $1200 for a kayak designed to go very fast and therefore ideal for competition such as the Avon Descent (of which Finns have won many). "I built this one more as a toy for myself," confesses Alwyn, a veteran of 16 Avon Descents himself.

The Avon Descent is the major whitewater race in the WA paddling calendar.

Quality WA made performance one & two person Kayaks (Sit Inside & Sit On Top), Canoes, Surf Skis, Single Surf Skis, Double Surf Skis, Racing Surf Skis, Wave Skis, Fishing Kayaks, Fishing Canoes, Fishing Dinghies, Racing Kayaks, Touring Kayaks, Ocean Kayaks, River Kayaks, Surf Kayaks, Sea Kayaks, Flat & Wild Water Kayaks, Kayaks for Hire, Demo Kayaks, Fun Kayaks, Pro Kayaks, Competition Kayaks, Dinghies, Paddles, Paddling and Paddle Sport accessories & advice for experts & novices Australia wide - All your Kayak, Canoe, Surf Ski, Paddle and Dinghy needs available in Perth Western Australia WA, Melbourne Victoria VIC, Sydney New South Wales NSW, Darwin Northern Territory NT, Adelaide South Australia SA, Brisbane Queensland QLD and Hobart Tasmania TAS. 

Visit us near Fremantle – the gateway for paddling, boating, kayaking & canoeing down under!

UNIT 1 / 4 JONES STREET

O’CONNOR

PERTH 

FINN Afinnity, Endorfinn, Dolfinn, Gizmo, Gizmo Vision, Gizmo Fisher, Grifinn, Multisport,‘Cuda,

Beachcomber, Widgit, Finnatic, Finn Kayak, Shockwave, Reflection and Spindrift

Designed & Manufactured by Alwyn Duke

-- FINN Kayaks are a proud sponsor of the Anaconda Rapid Ascent Adventure Race --