Bob Montgomery thinks he has the next big extreme sports thrill.
And though his Powerski International Corp. doesn’t have any sales yet, the Brea-based manufacturer of personal watercraft has attracted the interest of Compaq Computer Corp., France’s Zodiac SA and Kevin Costner.
Powerski makes a surfboard-shaped personal watercraft called the Igniter 2000, which can be ridden like a surfboard without the need of an ocean wave and can reach speeds of 45 mph. Montgomery calls his product a jet board.
Conscious of the popularity of surfing, water skiing and personal watercraft, Compaq has become a sponsor of Powerski and has given the company computer workstations and servers. It will have its logo on all of Powerski’s marketing campaigns. Parametric Technology Corp. has partnered with Powerski and given it $1.3 million worth of design and engineering software.
Size Issue is Power
Powerski’s major challenge, said Montgomery, the company’s founder and chief executive, was to make an engine powerful enough yet small enough to power the jet board.
The two-stroke, 250-cc engine can put out 30 to 50 horsepower and is about the size of two large dictionaries. It has a vaporless fuel system. The board is 8 feet 4 inches long and the whole Powerski weighs 100 pounds.
The engine design already has won the Popular Mechanics Design and Engineering award, and Montgomery said Zodiac, the largest maker of inflatable dinghies, wants to use it in all its boats,a potential 50,000-unit-a-year deal.
The jet board had its marketing debut in 1995, when Montgomery and a few professional surfers including Laird Hamilton, rode them in Kevin Costner’s movie, “Waterworld.”
Powerski has not distributed any of the jet boards, but has deals with distribution companies in seven countries, including surfing hotspots Australia, New Zealand and South Africa, for 1,000 units per company. The company also has gathered 30,000 inquiries from trade show appearances and from the firm’s Web site.
Powerski signed a $50 million contract with CTI Technology Inc. in Springfield, Mass., to manufacture the product, but the company has not started mass production of the jet board yet, pending final testing and a few improvements.
“We have to get all the bugs out,” Montgomery said.
Growth Ambitions
The company plans to begin mass distribution in May. Montgomery expects to sell 5,000 units by the end of next year, 15,000 in its second year, and 70,000 by it sixth year, The jet board will carry a sticker price of $6,000, though Montgomery said that should come down as production ramps up.
Montgomery also expects to generate revenue from sales of Powerski’s engines for other uses. In addition to Zodiac, the Powerski engine is being sought by companies that make motorcycles, generators and military products. Powerski also is working with an Italian company that makes engines for Ferrari and Ducati to develop a four-stroke version, which would provide more power and reduce emissions. The company already has several patents on the engine design and more are pending.
“It was a huge challenge and something the big companies couldn’t do,” Montgomery said. Other marine engine makers have been trying to make smaller engines and, according to Montgomery, they even tried to steal his idea.
Montgomery is no newcomer to the watercraft industry. He is a former pro surfer and when he was younger, he was a member of Duke Kahanamoku’s surf team. He also worked for a company in Minnesota that was trying to build something similar to the jet board for duck hunters. Later, he worked for Kawasaki Motors Corp. and started a watercraft-only retail store in Newport Beach in the 1980s. Before that, Kawasaki sold its personal watercraft only through its motorcycle and ATV shops, and was on the verge of closing down the watercraft operations.
“I like speed, but stayed away from motorcycles so I wouldn’t kill myself,” Montgomery said.
Montgomery was behind most of the early races, demonstration promotions and marketing campaigns for the personal watercraft industry.
“I spent all the pioneer days with Kawasaki,” Montgomery said.
Longstanding Dream
But ever since he was a young grommet surfing the breaks at Huntington Beach and San Clemente, he always had the dream of a motorized surfboard.
Starting from Montgomery’s San Clemente garage in the late ’80s, the product has been in development for 10 years. Montgomery has more than $5 million of private money invested in the company.
“I had the dream just like everyone else, but I kept it. When I rode the Jet Ski, the dream grew,” Montgomery said. He built his first jet board in 1987.
As part of the Carnegie Museum of Art Aluminum in Contemporary Architecture Exhibition, the Igniter 2000 is shown next to an aluminum jet board made in the 1960s by the owner of the Bloomindale’s retail store, Montgomery said. The Bloomingdale’s jet board was clumsy and only went 3 knots, so it was not very marketable, Montgomery said.
And at 52 years young, Montgomery is the test rider for the jet board and takes it out on the water any chance he can get.
“I understand the extreme sports markets. I saw the jet board bringing all those together. The freedom surfing gives. That’s my goal” Montgomery said. He is not trying replace surfing though.
“They are not going to stop what they are doing. If the waves go flat, go jet-boarding,” Montgomery said.
Powerski has a design and research team of about 10 people at its Brea operation, which also includes a warehouse and distribution facility. But Montgomery said there are several more engineers and outside contractors that are working with Powerski on the project. n
