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EESTI ELU reedel, 30. oktoobril 2020 — Friday, October 30, 2020
Nr. 43
On the Market: Tahe Outdoors’ determination in the world of sports Vincent Teetsov At the beginning of 2019, Strategeast reported that Estonian watersports equip ment company Tahe Outdoors had acquired Bic Sport for six to nine million Euros. Bic Sport, based in France, had gotten into board, sail, and paddle sports in 1979 as part of a licensing deal between Hoyle Schweitzer of Wind surfing International and the companies Tabur Marine and Dufour Wing. Their windsurf products were popular during some of the biggest races and championships of the 80s, when, as Bic Sport suggests, “the windsurf market was 10 times the size it is now!” The company was also a sponsor in the cycling world. Though Bic consistently vouched for their passion for sports as a company, this recent move has shifted their attention to the consumer products more commonly associated with their brand: shaving implements, pens, and lighters.
A year on from the acquisi tion, it’s a major shift for Tahe Outdoors, for which Tahe means “volition”, or as Tahe Outdoors states, “willpower” or “the power of the mind”. Indeed, Tahe Outdoors has the power of mind and will to bring European manufactured and designed sporting goods to the whole world. The purchase of Bic Sport is not the first of its kind for Tahe Outdoors, which was founded in 1989. Under its umbrella is an im pressive roster of companies: CORE Kiteboarding, SIC Maui, Carved Customs, Zegul, Ox bow, Égalis (acquired in 2013), Artistic, Robson, Tahe Marine, and Bic Sport. Back in 2015, The Paddler e-zine reported on one of Tahe Outdoors’ acquisi tions. One of the company’s owners, Janek Pohla said “The acquisition of strong German brands like Robson & Bondi beach kayaks, as well as Robson and Lightning paddles, is a significant milestone in our strategy to become the number one watersports company in
Photo: taheoutdoors.eu
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Europe and building a truly global solution in one stop shopping for all watersports products.” Janek and his brother Marek joined Tahe Outdoors, formerly known as Tahe Kayaks, in 2007. It was at this time that the company experienced a re structuring. Now, it is a heavy weight contender among profes sional and recreational sports that have taken off with super sonic intensity, far beyond what could have been imagined by early originators of board, paddle, and sail sports, or those who invented these mechanisms early on as a means of transpor tation. Through its associated brands, Tahe Outdoors has two manufacturing facilities in Estonia, two in France, the Carved Customs production fa cility in Germany, and several logistic facilities across Europe, North America, and Australia. According to Tahe Outdoors, its products are “present in more than 90 countries.” It’s impres sive to see this level of manu facturing in Europe. But is it wise for these for mally independent companies to merge into one big collective? Will the human quality and handmade character that de fined these brands in their youth be tampered with? For example, the founder of Carved Customs, Bernie Hiss, started shaping boards in his parent’s basement on the German island of Fehmarn. He carved and rode with the zeal that only a teen ager could possess. Could these merges be giving into the very idea that racing on the water rides so defiantly against, of independence? On the other hand, you can look beyond the manufacturing and sale of boards to water sports enthusiasts, to see how these brands are working to gether to help cultivate a global sport and lifestyle community. It’s like a big party where test ing out the latest high tech gear, chilling out on the shore, and engaging in some friendly com petition are the main attractions. These sports are healthy, ex pending physical energy and taking people away from their busy days and any sources of stress and anxiety. These activi ties are often social, providing support and a sense of commu nity. For a sport like stand-up paddling (SUP), there are bene fits in terms of balance and up per-body strength or relaxation and flexibility if you consider SUP yoga. As a result of Tahe Outdoors having brought these wide-ranging watersports com panies together, there is the possibility that one sport will lead to another, giving people an even wider range of benefits. Having such large influence in the sports market is signifi cant for the Estonian economy, too, especially considering the official inclusion of kite foil
DJ Erik Laar participating live in Estonian Music Week, which has become a tradition, highlighting Estonian artists at home and abroad in a virtual venue, for the time being. Photo: Paul Kiilaspea
Kolga, who is also a senior fellow at the MacdonaldLaurier Institute, an Ottawa(Continued from page 11) based think-tank, said it’s hard what’s known as “information to contain disinformation once laundering”. it’s posted on such websites and On Tuesday, for example, then shared by users on social Global Research posted a piece media – especially on less regu underscoring Joe Biden’s un lated message boards such as proven “cognitive decline.” The 4Chan and in groups of QAnon same article also warned of “the believers. imminent danger of a Kamala What’s more, Kolga said, is Harris presidency,” suggesting that when the main voice of a that as a prosecutor, she dispro disinformation website is tied to portionately jailed Black men a respected university, “it makes because of a vendetta against it believable. That is the prob her Jamaican-American father. lem here.” The website has also pub Chossudovsky’s CV says he lished articles sympathetic to joined the University of the Russian-backed regime of Ottawa’s economics department Syrian President Bashar al- in 1968 and was promoted to Assad and other pieces critical the rank of full professor in of NATO, the Western alliance that has sought to contain 1979. In 2001, the faculty of social sciences granted him its Moscow’s aggression. The Globe and Mail reported Excellence in Teaching Award in 2017 that Global Research for “outstanding performance.” had become the target of an in The university’s website still vestigation by NATO’s informa lists him as professor emeritus. Two other U of O professors, tion warfare specialists, who Marcel Mérette and Yazid suspected the site was playing a Dissou, who appear alongside role in amplifying RussianChossudovsky in a 2014 picture aligned narratives with little on his website, said they basis in fact. weren’t aware the photo was This year, a U.S. State being used in that way until a Department report identified CBC reporter brought it to their Global Research as being part of a network of proxy sites that, attention. Both sought to dis while having no visible ties to tance themselves from Chossu Moscow, “serve no other pur dovsky. Mérette, currently the pose but to push pro-Kremlin university’s deputy provost, said content.” “It provides plausible he does “not endorse or support deniability for Kremlin officials the views and opinions ex when proxy sites peddle blatant pressed by the former professor and dangerous disinformation, Chossudovsky on the website or allowing them to deflect criti in any other medium.” Dissou, an economics profes cism while still introducing pernicious information,” reads sor, similarly said he doesn’t the report, published by the want to be associated with State Department’s anti-foreign Chossudovsky’s “activities or propaganda arm, the Global ideas,” calling him a “former colleague who retired from the Engagement Center. Based on analysis of web department more than six years traffic on seven such sites from ago.” February to April of this year, Chossudovsky’s website also the report pointed to the features photos of him in dis Canadian-based platform as the cussion with the late Cuban Kremlin-aligned disinformation communist leader Fidel Castro. site with the biggest potential Chossudovsky’s CV notes he audience. “At more than holds Canadian, British and 350,000 potential readers per Irish citizenships and that he’s article, no other outlet had half been interviewed on such main as much reach as Global stream news outlets as CBC, Research,” it said. CTV and BBC.
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racing as of the 2024 Paris Olympics. From the company’s head quarters in Viimsi, roughly a quarter hour northeast of central Tallinn, several of the world’s watersports innovators are able to bring out new designs of
boards, foils, kayaks, sails, and more that will find their way into future competitions and just-for-fun outings. And as ever, we’ll be able to point at one of these neat products and say, “did you know that they’re an Estonian company?”
