Lenny, Naish and Lopez

In these days of new sponsors, riders jumping ship and the endless pursuit of endorsements and better deals, it’s refreshing to see Kai Lenny getting so stoked about re-signing with his long term sponsors Naish.

In a post on facebook this week he reported:

“I am so excited and happy to share that I have just re-signed with Naish International. I have been a Naish Team Rider for 12 years, since I was 9 years old and I am so stoked to continue working with Robby Naish and Michi Schweiger, 2 of my greatest mentors and friends. I am also excited to announce that Gerry Lopez is now on the Naish team and I will get the privilege to work and ride with him as well. Thank you Robby, Michi and all of the amazing people at Naish for all of the support and mentorship you have given me, I am so excited to be on the Team."
 
The 12 year partnership with Kai and Naish have seen the wonder kid progress through the ranks of windsurfers, kiteboarders and most recently stand up paddlers, to become one of the most respected faces of the watersports industry. With big name sponsors like Red Bull now behind him, many an athlete would have a whole list of previous sponsors over a 12 year period, but not Kai. Sticking it out with Naish has not only earned him a ton of respect, but probably cemented his position at the company for the rest of his paddling, sailing and kiting days.

So good on Kai for sticking it out! Lets hope this is another great year with Naish.

In other Naish news, long time paddler Gerry Lopez has just joined the party!

..update directly from Naish...

Legend Gerry Lopez Joins Forces With Naish

Naish International is extremely excited to announce that surfing and shaping legend Gerry Lopez has joined their design team.  The Hawaiian born shaper, now residing in Bend Oregon, will work alongside Robby Naish, Michi Schweiger, Randy Naish, and the rest of the Maui Hawaii based development team in continuing to advance their board designs into the future.

Already an industry leader, Naish is extremely excited about this new partnership.  “Gerry is a perfect fit with our brand,” says Naish President Robby Naish.  “He has a style both personally and professionally that’s a perfect fit to ours, is very methodical in his approach to board design, and brings with him unquestionable knowledge and know-how.  We are very much on the same page in terms of how a board should look, feel, and perform. ”

"It is both a privilege and an honor to have this opportunity to join Robby and the Naish team.” Gerry Lopez adds.  “Shaping has always been my foundation and in my mind, is what allowed me to have the success I enjoyed while surfing [the] Pipeline as well as at other places throughout Hawaii and Indonesia. While I've had a lot of publicity for the surfing part, my shaping is little known outside of Hawaii. Because we go back a long ways, Robby does know how seriously I take board building and design. We became friends when I was finding new horizons in wavesailing and Robby was skyrocketing to supreme mastery of that exciting sport. We shared the same ground level intro into tow-in surfing and SUP. So it is with tremendous excitement and some small trepidation [knowing the host of talent I will be shaping for] that I find myself added to the mix in this great company and with this fine team. As in all things, I will endeavor to 'keep paddling.' "

Gerry will begin the partnership by working closely with multiple SUP wave and racing world champion Kai Lenny this winter, starting with his big wave surfboards.  As a Jaws paddle-in regular and an alternate in this year’s Eddie Aikau Invitational at Waimea Bay, Kai is excited to work with Gerry.  “I already have the best SUP boards in the world” says Kai, who just signed a new five-year sponsorship agreement with Naish.  “And this pretty much guarantees that we will take my boards to the next level!! I couldn’t think of a better fit with the Naish brand.  I’m super stoked to be able to be working with Gerry Lopez… he’s an absolute legend!”

With an international team of professional athletes in SUP, kitesurfing, and windsurfing, there is a constant development and testing process at Naish.  Gerry will add value to all of these sports, both in the shaping room and on the water… sharing his stoke for boardriding with both Naish’s team riders and customers around the globe.