STILL RIPPING AT 61

John Carter sits down with the King, Robby Naish, to find out what keeps him motivated both on and off the water. In a candid interview, Robby discusses selling Naish, trusting his gut instinct, equipment choices, travel & cars plus much more.

- Robby Naish

NAISH

I sold the operating companies with Naish. I still own the Naish trademarks worldwide and I am the licensor. The guys that bought it - Kubus Sports - are the licensee and they were my biggest European distributer. It made a lot of sense to do it that way. They had an investment company that basically bought them shortly afterwards. It is a bit complicated trying to get everybody up to speed, but I have been trying to work with my team here to get to grips with working with the guys in Europe and getting them to understand the nature of the business. The atmosphere for our industry and the outdoor sports industry is probably in the worst situation it has ever been, so it is difficult times. The post COVID market has been pretty messed up. It was booming because everybody was sitting at home with free time and free money. The government was handing out cash to everybody and telling them not to travel. So, people were buying toys. It was kind of a boom. However, of course that boom is now over and a lot of brands are sitting on inventory. Sadly, it is a great time not to be in the business. For me, it is awesome because I am still involved with the development, so I ride with Michi [Schweiger] and test with the kite guys. I am really involved with the wing testing also. I am having fun because I don't carry the stress of the business side of it anymore. I am at the beach pretty much every day.

FUN FACTOR