The Product Profile | Lettmann The Horny Potato (THP)

Welcome to « The Product Pro-File » at Kayak Session! This new section is all about helping paddlers learn more about the latest products on the paddlesports market. By chatting with designers and experts within the brands, we uncover the design and function behind these products. Explore the stories, craftsmanship, and innovative features that make these products stand out. Join us as we bring you exclusive insights to help you to make the right decisions for your paddling sessions.

We had a chat with Lotta Lettmann – Lettmann’s Brain of Marketing and Sales about the newest addition to their kayak range, the THP. We managed to ask a series of questions gaining an insight into the design and goals.

Lotta Lettmann – Sales & Marketing of Lettmann GmbH

I was pretty much born in a kayak. Being raised in the Lettmann family I didn’t have any other choice but to kayak – thank god! It is great to share a passion with the whole family which is one of the reasons why I decided to start working for our family business six years ago. Now I get to share this passion with even more people!
Whether I was sitting in my sprint, whitewater or sea kayak – plenty of my most precious memories were created paddling.

What makes the THP different compared to the Rocky and previous River Runner/Creekers in your line?

Compared to our previous Creekers The Horny Potato has got a hull way flatter. The idea behind it was to make a kayak inspired by our Machete’s hull and make it a creeker that provides the same initial stability, boofs easily and is manoeuvrable under any circumstances.

Lettmann THP (85) & Machete side by side

What were the key steps considered in the design process?

The biggest hurdle is to design a kayak that looks new and catches an eye while still having the brand-specific look to it. We really wanted The Horny Potato to stand out while still being recognised as a Lettmann kayak right away.

It is also a challenge to have technical and style feature align in a way that is both appealing and functioning.

What was considered when designing the hull of the THP?

Creating a kayak based on another kayak’s hull you want to make sure the boat still feels different. That was one of the reasons we added slightly more rocker to the THP compared to the Machete.

The other reason is that we wanted to make sure you’ll have nice and dry runs even in class 4 and 5. We fell in love with the Machete’s flat hull and sharp edges in the rear. It sparked the idea of an innovative creeker that has similar edges to make it more reactive and agile compared to the creek boats on the market. It worked out perfectly as the edges do not just provide manoeuvrability but make it more “boofable”. The combination of those edges and the flat last 40 cm of the rear allows you to boof the kayak by push down the rear getting that nose as high up as possible. After you land the boof The Horny Potato’s volume pack boosts you out of the water.

From complete beginners to advanced kayaker who is the THP best suited for?

The THP is a boat made for everyone! The flat hull provides more than enough stability for beginners to feel confident without taking away the fun intermediate or advanced kayakers want to have when playing in waves and streams. If a beginner wants to learn how to boof The Horny Potato is the way to go, as you’ll achieve successes right away. You’ll make the THP boof by just thinking about it.

THP in Action | Photo courtesy of Lettmann

What was the biggest goal Lettmann aimed to achieve when designing the THP?

At Lettmann we’ve always been striving for innovation – it is the foundation this company has been built on. So, with every new model we design, we’re looking to make something unique. With The Horny Potato we really feel like we’ve launched a product that the market has not ever seen before. The feedback of people having to get used to its looks is reassuring to us as it means it is something unfamiliar – something new!

A question I think we all ask, what is the meaning behind the name of the boat?

Funnily enough, the man behind Kayak Session inspired us. He once called one of our prototypes (that we wrapped in aluminium foil for the expo) a potato. Prototypes in general are, let’s face it, not the most aesthetically pleasing, which is why we continued calling prototypes potatoes ever since. For some reason the potato kind of stuck with us while creating the THP. We were so stoked with the boat’s characteristics though that just naming it potato wasn’t an option. In German the literal translation of horny does also means awesome and for a kayak so different we thought a disruptive name is the right way to go. There you have it – The Horny Potato!

Are there any environmentally friendly materials in the THP? Does this affect durability and weight if so?

Our number one aspiration is to deliver high-quality products that provide stability and durability. Especially for white water kayaks we need to make sure the materials we’re using meet the highest standards as it is a safety aspect, as well.

In the past we have tried using recycled Polyethylen to rotate our kayaks with, unfortunately that was not very successful. The different recycled materials we’ve tried to use simply did not meet our expectations. Using recycled plastic in our kayaks would be amazing, but safety can never be a compromise! However, we are making sure to recycle the production residue and we can even recycle our customers’ old PE kayaks. In addition, we generate about 80% of the electricity we’re using with our photovoltaic system.