About the Designer
Randy Phillips, aka R-Dog
Occupation: President of Conception Tile & Granite
Kayaking experience: 14 years
Sponsors: Mother Nature by way of wonderful white water and incredible surf
Address: Lompoc, Ca USA
Competition records:
- ’96 won K-1 in Santa Cruz.
- ’99 Campus Point Festival won over 12′ "Big Ugly" where we got a dry barrel in a tandem sit on top.
- ’99 won US Championships Men’s International Masters.
- ’99 World Championships member of the USA West National Team where we won the World’s in Brazil.
- ’02 Santa Cruz 2nd in HP.
- ’02 West Coast Waveski Championships 2nd Masters H.P.
- ’02 & ’03 Best in the West 1st for waveski vs surf kayaks.
Surf kayaks designed: - ’96 design input for the Necky Groovy, I showed Spike Gladwin (boat designer) where to put a tri-fin set up on his design, which became the first production surf kayak with fins.
- ’97 the original U.F.O. (Unidentified Floating Object) for the ’97 World’s in Thurso Scotland where Rusty Sage won the H.P. division in my U.F.O. (could have been me if not for 5 broken ribs the day before the contest started).
- ’97 – ’00 with the help of Leo Lekas we made several refinements on the original U.F.O. using an epoxy, carbon/Kevlar and Airex (foam) sandwich technology for a light weight and indestructible composite kayak. I introduced this layup to Malcolm Pearcy of Mega Kayaks back in 2000 for my first Indonesian specific designed kayak (Predator); he hated working with this new technology. Malcolm said he could make 10 standard layup boats in the time it took him to lay up my 1 composite boat. Today Malcolm has taken this layup to a new level and calls it X-Tech and it is bomber!
- ’00 I started a 4 year collaboration with Malcolm (Mega Kayaks). I would design and he would build and market the surf kayaks. This relationship produced 5 U.F.O. inspired surf kayaks and many more Malcolm variations; Venom, Predator, Marauder, Prowler and Intruder (co-designed with Vince Shay).
