AlumaSki readying for national tour

BUTTE — After a successful test run on Wasilla Lake in July, the latest version of the new “high action personal watercraft” is roaring on to the big leagues as MacKinnon Marine takes the AlumaSki down south.

Hylite Fabrication LLC, out in the Butte, has taken on the project of manufacturing the next four AlumaSkis for the coming tour, playing a key part in the future of the craft and its parent company.

“We’re lucky to get to manufacture these,” Hylite owner Delbert Henry said.

Despite its humble beginnings, the AlumaSki seems to be soaring in popularity. What started with a drawing, some string and a few balsa wood sticks in November 2011, has grown into a top-quality, innovative product by MacKinnon Marine LLC, inventor Brian McKinnon was reported as saying in the 2014 edition of Alaska Innovator magazine.

Last year, MacKinnon Marine took third in the Alaska Business Plan Competition, second in the Arctic Innovation Competition, and second in the Dream Big America Competition, as detailed on the company’s Facebook page. In April of this year, the company received money for the manufacture of approximately three dozen AlumaSkis from the Alaska Accelerator Fund, with help from 49th State Angel Fund founder Al Hermann, according to an article written by Jamie Gonzales for the University of Alaska’s “Green and Gold News.”

When the money came in, McKinnon and general manager Slavik Lund spent “every single day” in June working on the first “ski,” Lund said, with the help of Hylite Fabrication staff at their shop in the Butte. The effort was a success, as two Anchorage residents jumped on the opportunity to purchase the first of what people are calling “the SUV of personal watercraft.”

“I bought it ’cause I liked it, pretty much,” Joe Peters said, in simple explanation of his purchase.

Peters has taken his AlumaSki out just once, he said, on a sort of sightseeing trip up the Knik River to the glacier, but has been satisfied with the craft thus far.

Having caught the attention of investors and interested individuals all over the world now — this month alone, the AlumaSki was featured on the Discovery Channel, KTUU and KTVA broadcasts, in Gizmag and the Innovator, and filled the centerfold slot in Hot Water Sports Magazine based in Japan — MacKinnon Marine has decided to amp up marketing in the Lower 48.

On Oct. 1 — or, more realistically, sometime in the first half of October, Lund said — Lund and McKinnon plan to hop in their cars and head down to their ultimate destination of Florida, promoting their product and looking for dealers and distributors along the way. AlumaSkis are currently sold directly by MacKinnon Marine to the consumer, Lund said, though customers can order the crafts through Marita Sea and Ski in Anchorage. Sea and Ski is not currently an official contracted dealer, he said.

The tentative plan for the tour is to head east from Seattle toward New York and then south to Florida, Lund said. But with Canadians reaching out as well, the course could change. Lund is still “feeling the aftershocks” of the AlumaSki’s promotional video on the Discovery Channel, he said, receiving emails daily from people in and out of the country.

“This is gonna be that one trip that will really get things moving,” Lund said.

He and MacKinnon have not established a return date from the tour yet, he said.

“Money-wise, it’s just better to go and not return until the drop’s done,” Lund said.

Even though they’re marketing the craft outside of Alaska, McKinnon said he has no intention of moving the company headquarters.

“Every good idea that comes from Alaska leaves Alaska, and that’s not something I’m going to do,” he said in the Innovator story. “I want the money here. I want the jobs here. I want Alaska to get credit for this.”

MacKinnon Marine doesn’t have an office yet, but once they return from the tour, hopefully, Lund said, they will find some space in Anchorage.

“When we get back, there will be a lot to do,” he said.

For now, Hylite Fabrication is what keeps the AlumaSki tethered to its Alaska home.

Hylite is almost as new as MacKinnon Marine, having started up slowly in 2009, while Henry was still working full-time as the general manager at TriJet Manufacturing in Palmer.

When Henry’s previous employer, Jeff Johnson of Peregrine Falcon Alaska, said he wanted to build a landing craft larger than Henry’s shop, rather than looking for another fabrication location, they decided to expand the shop. In 2011, Hylite grew to nearly double its original size. And before long, word got out that Henry was running a serious business.

“If it wasn’t for him, I wouldn’t even be here,” Henry said, of Johnson. “I owe him tons for getting a boot in my butt to get (Hylite) going.”

Now, Hylite consists of two lead fabricators, two welders, one rigger and two “helpers,” in addition to the owner, who now runs the company full-time.

Once MacKinnon — the company, not to be confused with the man, McKinnon, who claimed in the Innovator that his ancestor’s name was misspelled in the military — delivers the Yamaha WaveRunners to the “fab” shop, Henry said he and his men cannibalize everything but the hulls to make the AlumaSki. Once the majority of the fabrication is complete, Hylite sends the crafts to TriJet for industrial powder coating and the more intricate cutting required for the final product.

Lund said that MacKinnon Marine hopes to develop means for the public to follow the AlumaSki on tour, such as a Twitter feed, but other ideas are welcome. Visit their Facebook page to comment.

For more information on Hylite, visit hylitefabrication.com.

Contact Caitlin Skvorc at 352-2266 or caitlin.skvorc@frontiersman.com.