Horton Meets the Owners of Razor & SansRival

[Horton]

During my recent trip to Europe, I met separately with Volker Engelhardt  the owner of Razor and Alex Munninger the owner of Sans Rival. These two men have different personalities, but they do share a few key attributes.  Each man is clearly convinced that their ski design and manufacturing is superior to any other ski on earth.  More than anything, these two men share a profound enthusiasm for water skiing and building water skis.

 

http://www.razorskis.com/images/logo.jpgI was able to spend quite a bit of time with Volker and need to sincerely thank him for his hospitality.  Over a number of meals and a road trip to the Fischer manufacturing factory, Volker and I talked at length about how Razor came into being, the original Fischer project and his web based ski shop, Hotwater.cc. http://www.hotwater.cc/
Razor skis are built in the same factory and to a very similar spec as the Fischer ski was a few years ago. The short story is that Fischer had the first RTM ski on the market and one of the most highly desired skis of 2006. Unfortunately, market forces and business constraints prevented the ski from being produced in sufficient numbers and the original project was scraped after only a few years on the market.  As market forces changed and the management at the Fischer shifted, Volker seized the opportunity to update and re-launch the Fischer ski under his own brand and Razor was born. With help from Matteo Ianni, Volker revised the flex to make the ski more stable and forgiving than the original Fischer.

 

What has not changed, since the ski was known as Fischer, is the manufacturing process. The skis are built in the Fischer manufacturing complex along with Fischer snow skis, but technically they are built by another company that is housed inside Fischer known as Benteler-sgl.  I was lucky enough to have a tour of the Benteler-sgl facility and Fischer, and I was astounded by the level of sophistication and precision of the RTM the manufacturing process. (Fun Fact: Fischer made over 800,000 pairs of snow skis last year)

 

During my visit to the factory, they were not making skis, but I did watch them make the carbon part called the Side Blade that you can see behind the doors of an Audi R8. It was impressive to watch a dry part go into the tool and then, moments later, it emerges as an almost finished part that will eventually be installed on a $125,000 German sports car.  When the technician making the Audi parts handed me one fresh from the mold, it reminded me of a loaf of bread fresh from the oven - toasty warm and beautiful.

Volker stressed to me repeatedly that besides the winning design of the original Fischer ski, his biggest selling point is quality. Razor is no longer the only RTM ski in the industry, but it is the only RTM ski that is built in a factory that has been refining the process for over a decade. It utilizes what is known as double RTM for even more precise resin distribution. For a skier, RTM means a ski that will potentially have a useful life many times longer than a conventionally built ski, and there will be greater consistency from ski to ski.

 

Besides the pallets of parts from BMW, Bentley, Audi & VW and impeccable cleanliness, the other thing that caught my attention at the factory is a process call pre-forming. Perhaps some one with more composite experience would not be so impressed, but I had never heard of it before. With pre-forming, the carbon cloth is put unto a pre-form mold to force it into the shape it will take when the resin is injected into it later in the RTM mold. This two mold process allows for greater control of the carbon laminates.

http://www.razorskis.com/

 

http://www.ballofspray.com/images/stories/SansRival.pngUnfortunately, I was only able to spend a short amount of time with Alex. Over beers at my hotel in Vienna, Alex told me the story of SansRival. Alex strikes me as a perfectionist businessman who started a water ski company as an excuse to throw a party. Approaching the water ski business from a different perspective than most others in the sport, Alex claims to care more about image and branding than ski sales volume. I have not seen the ski, but I have the t-shirt, and I am telling you it is the coolest water ski t-shirt that I have ever seen.  Alex is here to be successful, but unlike anyone I know, he is selling water skiing as a lifestyle. I think our sport needs a lot more guys like Alex.

 

Part of image and branding is building a ski to the highest standards possible; the SR1 is built in a German factory that primarily builds race car parts.  The skis are built with prepreg carbon fiber as opposed to the wet layup carbon process utilized by most US ski companies. This process is extremely slow and expensive but some would argue that it is superior. Building a ski from prepreg carbon means using the optimum amount of resin and no more. By keeping resin contents as low as possible, the carbon fiber does all the work and the resin simply holds the fibers in place. 

 

Sans Rival€ is French for without rival or unrivaled. Looking Alex in the eye, I saw a man crazy enough to become a real player in the high end water ski market.

http://www.sansrival.eu/

 I plan to review both skis in the spring.

[Horton]

a few photos

http://picasaweb.google.com/CarbonFins/RazorFischer?feat=directlink

The good ones are in my phone that I left on the bus :-(

[Razorskier1]

Bought a Razor A68 first week of September.  Volker was extremely helpful in the process.  I had been skiing a Fisher Orange previously.  The Razor feels faster and more stable than the Fisher.  Now, there are some differences in that I ran my bindings 30 inches from the tail on the Fisher, and am 29.5 on the Razor.  The Razor also has their "shortline settings" on the fin.  Thing is, I had to run my bindings forward on the Fisher to get it to turn.  The Razor turns better than the Fisher did without having to have the bindings forward.  Runs fast and holds cross course angle very well.  Quality is clearly an improvement from my Fisher as well.  For example, Fisher binding insets were poorly installed to start with -- some level with the top of the ski, some an eighth of an inch below level, etc.  Had problems throughout with them, and finally two of them ripped clean out of the ski. 

 The real question -- did it help my buoy count.  Well, yes and no.  On the Fisher I was very consistent at 35 off and ran 38 probably 25-30% of the time.  Still early on the Razor, but I run 35 consistently and have run 38 more frequently, but with fewer attempts it is difficult to have statistical reliability.  What I can say is that with the Razor the passes are lighter and easier than ever before, so I can practice longer with less energy expended.  I believe that my buoy count will continue to rise and that it will become more and more consistent at that higher level next season.  I love the way the ski feels.

[Horton]

MISTAKE! looks like I got it wrong. The Razor has the same bevels as the Fischer. There is a slight change to flex, rocker, flat spot.

[Razorskier1]

Volker commented that it had a bigger sweet spot.  It is visible when you look at the ski.  They also run the bindings a little further back than the Fisher.  Feels very solid when you put it on the edge.

[Than_Bogan]

Man, I hope these are great skis.  I am the sort who really likes to keep a ski for many years, but my buoy count is just better on a sadly-not-very-durable Goode.

I would LOVE to have a ski that skis great AND continues to ski exactly that same way for a decade.

I like hearing that the Razor feels fast.  Although I accept this is not a great measure of a ski's general capability, it happens to fit my personal skiing style, which I generously call "finesse," very well.

Some may know the "finesse" style by the more popular name "weak ass."

[Horton]

Well Than,

Volker is looking of people to try the ski. I know it is a bad time of year but if you can line it up I think it is a good idea.

It is hard to say that manufacturing effects how a ski feels on the water but I can say that I was really blown away with the tech and quality inside Fischer.

[Than_Bogan]

This morning it was 20 degrees here in Natick, MA.  (Yes, that's in Farenheit.)

More importantly, we pulled our course last Sunday.  (I skied great in October this year, but November ain't happenin'.)

I actually owned a Fischer for a while and the quality was awesome.  When I got it, it was already used, and when I sold it a year later, it was basically still in new condition.

Unfortunately, it was (in retrospect) the wrong size for me, even though Jodi Fisher insisted I should be on a 68".  If I try again, it will be with a 66".

[Razorskier1]

Than,

I ski on a Razor A68.  My previous ski was a Fisher Orange 68.  It was one of the first batch and it still skied like new.  Bought the Razor mostly because of the ongoing problem with the binding inserts.  I expect the Razor will last me many years.  As for style, the ski runs better and better the "lighter" you ski it.  I think you would like the way it skis.

 

[Volker Engelhardt]

Than, contact me before you roll out your slalom next season v@razorskis.com

and yes you are right, due to its unique production process, the RAZOR is able to offer unseen quality/perf

will focus on that more on the web site www.razorskis.com

feed back from many skiers being for 3-4 seasons on a Fischer: "if polished, they look like new"

[ForrestGump]

Volker,

Any thought on adding a true 67 to the line up? I'm 170lbs. I could usually get away on a 66 until our water gets in the 90s, but then I struggle. And a 68 generally fees like it's swinging a piece of lumber around under me when the water is below 85.  So a 67 generally is a good compromise.

[eleeski]

Wow! It looks just like where I build my skis. Except for the room and the machinery. And it is not a mess. I'm jealous.

Eric

[Steven]

Cleanliness says alot about a factory! It's no wonder I've always loved their snow skis! Now I really want to try one!

[MrJones]

I have to agree with Shane. I think they will miss out on a large segment of the population until they offer 65 and 67 inch skis. Years ago 2" increments in size was the norm. With the cost of today's skis, along with the precision in bindings, fins, etc. I believe you have to offer 1" increments to compete. I am in the same 170# range as Shane, and have tried to size up and down with very little success. 67" seems to be the size for me. I hope they eventually come out with one.

[Horton]

I am pretty sure Volker has heard that a dozen times. For the moment he has two skis that are have had full R&D. I would assume that as soon as the brand has some traction the 65 and 67 will happen.

[KM]

I too, would consider a Razor if they offered it in a 67" model.