A Beach Boys-inspired Business
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A pastime of the famous Waikiki Beach Boys has been revived for the 21st century. Back in the 1960s when the Beach Boys wanted to take pictures of tourists, they created a smarter way to accomplish their goal. They stood up on the surfboard and used a paddle to help them navigate. A renaissance in the sport started when some of today’s surfers began using the paddles in surfing to intensify their training.
A trio of ocean sports competitors - Brian Keaulana, Todd Bradley and Mike Fox - formed the company C4Waterman this past January to create special products for stand-up paddling as they watched the popularity of the sport increase.
“Every time we turned someone on to the sport, they were addicted,” says Bradley.
C4Waterman cross-over paddles, stand-up boards and water craft are available at most surf stores across the Islands as well as on the Mainland and in many other countries.
Keaulana, Bradley and Fox decide on company matters as a team. Keaulana, who works as a professional stuntman and water safety expert consultant to Hollywood, is the public face of the company as he helps with promoting the products and serves as ambassador for the firm. He is the son of Buffalo Keaulana, founder of the Buffalo Big Board Surfing Classic Contest. Bradley handles the day-to-day operations of the business, as he is an avid canoe paddler and surfer who worked in sales and marketing. Fox uses his business smarts with his canoe paddling and surfing to guide the company as he recently sold his Hawaii Modular Space business.
One person the founders credit for his support is Dave Parmenter, who stand-up paddles and shapes the company’s high performance boards.
“We can work and play and do what we love,” says Bradley.
And that love for ocean sports is what you’ll see as they demonstrate how to do stand-up paddling in their newly released instructional DVD.
The C4 stands for the four core disciplines of a waterman: balance, endurance, strength and tradition.
They say using those principles apply to both the water and in life.
One of the challenges of the business is keeping up with the demand as the growth of the industry has been great. Bradley says future goals for the company include continuing to drive the sport and push it along in a respectful way, which may include racing events.
“If the tide rises, all boats float,” says Bradley.
For more information, log onto www.c4waterman.com
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