I’m Jeff Lawrence, one of the owners of Resolute (and of Sykes) who, along with my partners Mark Nothnagel & Ed Gehres took a leap of faith and acquired Resolute in June 2019.
I’ve just returned from spending the last month in the US and I was often asked variants of the above question, so I wanted to take this opportunity to let you know some facts, dispel the rumors, and importantly outline some of our plans.
If you want to know no more than Resolute is here to stay, then you don’t need to read any further as Resolute is most definitely here to stay, but if you’re excited to learn about what’s to come please keep reading.
Where are we at now?
There is no doubt that the business we acquired in 2019 was struggling, but we took on the challenge knowing this. For a good while the business had been relying mainly on the incredible reputation created in the late 1990’s and early 2000’s. The consequence of that was that Resolute had fallen behind the leading European boat builders. (Arguably all the other US based boat builders have too!) But today marks 3 years to the day since we acquired Resolute and we are quietly celebrating with a confident future ahead
Emerging from Covid
COVID hit us hard and until recently prevented Mark & myself from spending any further time in the USA. We were simply not able to travel to the USA and give the business the leadership and direction it needs. This has been very frustrating for us, and compounding matters were a few failed attempts to build a strong customer facing team which we have now at last thankfully put behind us.
We also acknowledge too that we made some mistakes along this journey, and we have relied heavily on a few hard working and loyal people to keep the business afloat through the past 2 ½ years. These people have given everything they have under exceptionally difficult circumstances. We are eternally grateful for their efforts, resilience and loyalty during the past few years and are even more determined to “make Resolute great again”.
Our Resolute strategy
The Resolute acquisition presented us with 3 primary opportunities:
- Brand, Products and Technology – Resolute is an Iconic American boat brand with an offering of premium products using exceptional materials, know-how and technology.
- Globalisation - Ownership of an established USA based manufacturing facility with a core group of excellent people from which to build the USA arm of our global company, and
- An established entity which will become regional manufacturing and service centre providing all after sales support and spare parts for Resolute and Sykes and all other related entities.
Who are Sykes?
We come from 'the land down under' and are proudly Australian but realize the importance of having a proper manufacturing and after sales support center in the USA rowing market if we want to grow in that market. We love the Resolute brand but recognize that in recent times the range of Resolute boats had been regarded as overpriced, and in some respects, outdated. Sykes is a boat builder of 56 years standing with a proud reputation – we have won 4 Olympic Gold medals and numerous World Championship medals. We believe that by providing our leadership and knowledge to the Resolute business we can make a difference to the brand and build the company back to its former position as the premium USA boat builder in rowing.
Traditional Resolute Hulls are still in demand
While some of the Resolute hull shapes may seem outdated, in many ways though they remain without peer in the rowing world. The design process and advanced materials that Resolute use combine for structural integrity, stiffness and longevity of hulls that have been unsurpassed by any competitor to this day.
Website & Branding
We are about to launch new Resolute branding and a new website. Stay tuned for this launch before this month is out.
But branding and websites alone don’t make a great company. Great people and great products do. We are hiring and will shortly announce an expanded customer facing team including area representatives and logistics support staff.
Open for Business – New & Old. Repairs & Refurbishments
Our production and repair teams are in full swing. If you are looking to buy a boat, either new or used, or have repairs or refurbishments to be undertaken, then we are here and ready to serve you
New Boats with Van Dusen hull shape
On the product front, one of our next steps will be to launch a new range of Resolute boats which we intend to call the “Challenger” series.
To do this we need to combine and utilize the strengths of Resolute and Sykes. We are proud to announce that we have teamed up with one of the world’s most qualified and respected designers of rowing shells, Ted van Dusen, to work with us to create the new range of Resolute “Challenger” hulls. We are excited to have Ted on our team, who we believe is the best there is and his reputation is unrivalled globally.
The roll-out of the Resolute “Challenger” hulls will happen gradually starting in late 2022 and will take a few years before the whole range is available. We look forward to the opportunity to showcase our new products to the US Rowing market
Give us a call
In closing, I invite you to contact me or Mark directly if you ever wish to do so - whether with a question about our future, a suggestion, even a criticism or praise. You will be heard, and your valued input will help us together make Resolute great again.
Mark Nothnagel markn@resoluterowing.com Cell +61 439 966 044
Jeff Lawrence jeff@resoluterowing.com Cell + 61 407 446 246