Rickter-RRP faced a crisis introduced before the worldwide pandemic. However, its owner, Rick Roy, managed to stay strong and solve the issues to enhance the Rickter-RRP products, which are stronger than ever. Many things had happened, and much of it was a mystery. For the first time, the entire story of Rickter-RRP is revealed, including its recent troubles with its old partners.
Words: Vasilis Moraitis
The story of Rickter-RRP starts with Rick Roy, the Canadian ace of Freestyle, ex-fireman and multi-time world champion of Freestyle. Apart from being a world-class athlete, he has used his talent to develop parts that changed the set-up of Stand-Up skis in the nineties. When he reached the top of his career, he decided to use his innovative ideas and start his own company. As a result, Rick Roy Products (RRP) was launched early in 2000 and the product that made it so famous was no other than the RRP adjustable handle pole.
Legendary Handle Pole
The first product made was the adjustable handle pole back in 2005; with its adjustable length via the twin-tube design, that pole enhanced the handling of the stand-up ski according to riders' height and weight to improve the riding position on the deck. The pole with its dual tube design enhanced the airflow to the engine compartment and thus the overall performance. Its look also impacted significantly the stand-up jet ski aesthetics. This handle pole proved to be "the must-have" accessory on every close-course competition and freestyle ski. The RRP handle pole was imitated and copied by many companies worldwide. RRP has continued to design many original products over the years.
The Canadian company also made many accessories for stand-up skis, such as AST advanced steering systems, chin pads, scupper valve systems, exhaust systems, and much more. All of them had one characteristic: unique design, superb quality, and state-of-the-art durability. Then, it was time for RRP to move forward with the scope of designing a complete ski for freestyle and freeride use.
Birth of Rickter
In 2010, RRP decided to design a hull for Freestyle (FS1) and one for free ride FR1 that will change those two disciplines forever. This new product line production was called Rickter, and RRP started producing those hulls with a company called Cobra in Thailand. After a few successful years, Rick Roy was looking for options to have more control over the company's production side. He teamed up with the ex-Cobra line manager to create a company called Rickter Composites Co. Ltd in Thailand and start his production. With the addition of hulls, RRP now became Rickter-RRP.
Big castles fall from the inside
Rickter-RRP was the sole client of Rickter Composites Co Ltd. Things worked well for many years until the situation degenerated, communication became extremely difficult approximately in 2016, and financial issues progressively started rising. There is a saying, "Big castles fall from the inside," which exactly happened to Rickter Composites Co. Ltd. The situation reached a point where Rickter Composites Co. Ltd entered a big financial crisis in April 2020. It all started in 2016 when the partner created a company called VK Composites Co Ltd, and started producing products under the same roof, making it impossible to track what goes where. Rickter-RRP's idea was to sell its share to its partner (the ex-Cobra line manager) and remain a customer. That way, the partner could manage the company however he wanted without reporting to Rickter-RRP.
Initially, VK Composites Co Ltd expressed its interest in the Rickter-RRP proposal by mentioning that this could work out for both parties. However, after they agreed on the sale of the shares, the Thai partner failed to keep its promises to pay the shares. Meanwhile, their relationship continued to degrade because financial and production-related problems were getting out of hand. Problems peaked around the 2020 Global Pandemic. Supply chain and financial problems exacerbated the problem further down the road. At this point, Rickter-RRP had to stop giving orders to Rickter Composites Co. Ltd. as it could only continue once they cleared the shareholder situation. Rickter-RRP was still working on a new agreement to make things work between the two parties (Rickter-RRP and Rickter Composites Co Ltd, i.e. VK Composites) until the last moment.
More Troubles in Paradise
What Rickter-RRP was not aware of was that in the meantime, the Thai partner (the ex-Cobra line manager) was already working a new deal with a Rickter-RRP Distributor in Europe to start a new hull production named Rise made at the same factory by the same employees as the Rickter hulls. The European partner and VK Composites Co Ltd made a sample of RRP molds and added some minor modifications. The new molds for Rise were set along with the new graphics kit using the Rickter-RRP quality and product finish. The photos of the two products show the exact similarities between the Rickter-RRP and Rise hull. They feature the same adjustable Bindings (Rickter-RRP signature design), the same lower hood cover design (Rickter-RRP signature design), the same adjustable engine mount (Rickter-RRP signature design) and the same pole bracket dual breathing air tube (Rickter-RRP signature design). It is the same length and width, plus many other features being copied. Similarities are so apparent that you can even switch the hood from one to the other without issues. The pictures speak for themselves.
Hostile Takeover
To make matters worse, Rickter-RRP was forced to press the "hold on" button on its worldwide distribution network since the parties had already had enough issues with it. In other words, Rickter-RRP was left with no production line. Rickter Composited returned their molds as damaged, and the tooling and all parts used for building Rickter hulls were kept.
Rise went to rescue the Rickter-RRP distributor's network, which no longer had Rickter-RRP hulls available after announcing their partnership. Rickter-RRP distributors had no other option than to start selling Rise products to keep their doors open, as Rickter-RRP could not propose anything at that moment. Rickter-RRP was left dry out with no other plan.
We are Here to Stay
Despite the difficulties, Rickter-RRP has decided to restart its production under a new roof, designing and producing hulls with its luxury quality specifications. Recently the company announced officially that it is back on its feet again, making its famous hulls/skis right from where it left off but with a stronger conviction and passion. The idea is to restart and support the Rickter-RRP image with an even better product with new innovative material ideas and designs. Hiroyuki Ogino (Ninja) has remained faithful and is already working with Rickter-RRP on many new projects. Rick Roy publicly mentioned that this is a big challenge for Rickter-RRP because they have to recreate what they have been working on for years. When Rickter-RRP announced that they were coming back, the response was extremely positive among the fans, riders, distributors and dealers. Their press release said, "Rickter has been a trusted name for years, and we are here to stay."
What's new?
Rickter-RRP is working on expanding its distributor network in the USA and around the world. The company revamped its price list. Its goal is to reduce shipping costs and delivery times with better and direct availability. It is worth mentioning that Hot Products USA(the largest PWC Parts distributor worldwide) will now start selling Rickter hulls to its vast dealer distribution network in addition to many loyal Rickter Distributors. Further details regarding the new Rickter-RRP line-up and new distributor network will be announced to the public via the company's official web page, www.rickter-rrp.net
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