1971
Jim Henry wins the National Whitewater Open Canoe Championships in
a home built canoe he calls the Malecite. Mad River Canoe is born. |
Mad River Canoe is Born
1st Kevlar Canoe
Verlen & Steve
Our First Factory
International Arctic Project
Carbonlite™ 2000 Slipper
|
 1973
Mad River builds its first Royalex canoe, the Endurall. |
1974
Mad River builds the canoe industry's first Kevlar®
Canoe. |
1975
Mad River introduces the Explorer, destined to become its most popular
model. |
1977
First Kevlar® Explorer spends a winter outdoors
in the Arctic after completing the Back River expedition. It remains in
active use today. |
1979
Mad River sweeps national open Canoe Slalom Championships in a prototype
of its first whitewaterplayboat, the ME. |
1980
One hundred Mad River owners participate in the first Mad River Rally,
forerunner of "You CanPaddle! Days." |
1983
Verlen Kruger and Steve Landick, paddling a Mad River Monarch, complete
the Ultimate Canoe Challenge, a 3½ year, 28,000 mile odyssey on
North American Waterways. |
1984
Verlen Kruger and Valerie Fons enter the Guinness Book of Records with
a record-breaking trip down the Mississippi in a specially built Mad River
Canoe.
First place award from the Society of Plastics for innovative
use of Kelvar® laminate in the Explorer. |
1985
"You Can Canoe! Days", which offers the chance a to test paddle a Mad
River Canoe, becomes a nationwide event. |
1988
Mad River Canoe receives Canoes Magazine's first ever, Manufacturer
of the Year Award. Mad River will repeat in 1991 and 1994. |
1989
Paddling a Mad River Typhoon, Kay Henry and Rob Center take first place
in the 350 mile Arctic Canoe Race in Tornio, Finland. |
1992
To highlight the plight of America's river systems, Tom Warren and
John Hilton, padding 17' Royalex canoes, retrace Lewis and Clark's 1804
journey from St. Louis, Missouri to Astoria, Oregon.
1998
Mad River introduces its first canoe made of Carbonlite™
2000, the Slipper. |
1995
Explorer Will Steger and an international team complete the first single
season crossing of the Arctic Ocean by dogsled and canoe. Mad River Canoe
designed and built the special canoe sleds which were paddled across open
water and dragged over ice floes.
1999
Mad River Canoe, Wilderness Systems, Windrider and Voyageur all merge
to form Confluence Watersports Companies. Together these companies
offer the most complete line of paddlesports equipment ever assembled. |
