WHAT WE DO
LEKKER brings the realm of high-performance kayaking to everyday paddlers. Our ever-expanding range spans adventure, touring, whitewater, and recreational kayaks, designed to elevate your time on the water. From weekend adventures to extended expeditions, our goal is to get more paddlers on the water more often.
WHO WE ARE
LEKKER is a new brand founded in 2024, but its founder is no stranger in kayaking circles.
Celliers Kruger is a mechanical engineer with over 30 years in the paddling industry. In 2025, his latest design, the Petrel recreational kayak, won the prestigious Product of the Year award at the Paddlesports Show in Strasbourg, France—validating decades of innovation in kayak design.
Celliers’s journey began in 1992 as a competitive paddler and evolved through founding two previous kayak companies (Fluid Kayaks and Vagabond Kayaks). He has designed products for multiple international brands and created over 70 different paddling craft spanning whitewater kayaks, touring kayaks, recreational sit-on-tops, surfskis, and more.
What sets LEKKER apart is Celliers’s unique design philosophy: bringing high-performance characteristics to recreational kayaking. After years of designing elite whitewater and racing kayaks, he recognised that recreational paddlers deserved the same level of innovation—kayaks that are stable enough for anyone, yet fast and efficient enough to inspire confidence and enjoyment.
All design and prototyping of LEKKER products is done by Celliers himself. For production, he partners with specialist manufacturers with whom he has long-term relationships. His extensive production experience—having set up three kayak factories and manufactured over 40,000 kayaks—enables him to guide manufacturers to produce top-quality products.
RECOGNITION & INNOVATION
In 2025, LEKKER’s Petrel kayak was awarded Product of the Year in the Recreational Paddling category at the Paddlesports Show in Strasbourg—Europe’s largest paddling trade show. This recognition validates Celliers’s mission to revolutionise recreational kayaking by combining stability with genuine performance.
The Petrel represents years of refinement, informed by:
• Collaboration with commercial outfitters like Andrew Kellett of Gravity Adventures
• Testing on multiday expeditions across diverse conditions
• Feedback from hundreds of paddlers of all skill levels
• Lessons learned from designing for elite athletes and everyday paddlers alike
This is just the beginning. LEKKER’s expanding range includes touring kayaks, whitewater kayaks, and a full series of high-performance recreational sit-on-tops. Designed to get more people on the water—and keep them there.
LEGACY
Celliers has worn many hats over the past 25 years. Below is a summary.
As a KAYAK DESIGNER, he has designed over 70 different paddling craft for multiple brands. Covering everything from whitewater kayaks to surfskis to touring kayaks to fishing kayaks. Also some unique craft such as riverboards and surf, polo and slalom kayaks. He is known for innovative solutions to complex problems.
As an ENGINEER, he has designed kayak fittings of all types, including rudder systems, skeg systems, footrests, hatches, drainplugs, etc. On the other side of the spectrum, he has built a number of rotomoulding machines, both rock-and-roll and biaxle machines.
As a PADDLER: expedition paddler with descents on four continents; veteran of races like Dusi, Fish and Berg. A freestyle kayaker representing SA at World Champs. Safety kayaker and raft guide on various rivers in Africa and Europe. Experienced in canoeing, surfski, slalom, wildwater racing and oar rafting.
As a MANUFACTURER, he has set up three different kayak factories. Created manufacturing processes, trained staff and manufactured over 40,000 kayaks.
As a WRITER, he authored two published books: Run the Rivers of Southern Africa – a guidebook, and African Veins – a collection of paddling stories. He has written numerous articles for various magazines, and is currently working on his third book.
As a FATHER, he intimitely knows the experience of introducing children to the joy of paddling. Both his kids, now teenagers, enjoyed their first multiday river trips at the age of 16 months. Both have grown up to be competent paddlers and passioniate nature lovers.
As a COACH, with specific attention to kids groups. His focus has always been on skills and enjoyment rather than pushing kids until they don’t want to paddle anymore.
As a SPEAKER his favourite topic is adventuring with kids.
All these experiences led him to create two new brands: his recently-launched CEKR Paddles and now LEKKER Kayaks.
WHAT’S IN A NAME
LEKKER is a true international kayak brand, but the name pays homage to its founder’s heritage. “Lekker” is an Afrikaans word that is commonly used by all South Africans. Its meaning is wide ranging: pleasant, nicely, lovely, delicious, optimistic, tipsy… It is often the first word foreigners learn when visiting South Africa. And now they can learn a new phrase too: there is no better kayak than a lekker kayak.
These are the words we strive to live by. These are not just random words we picked as a catchy slogan. It was the personal motto of Hendri Coetzee, expedition paddler extraordinaire and close friend. To honour Hendri’s legacy, we chose these words as Lekker’s official slogan.
For more background on Hendri, visit https://livingthebestdayever.com/
THE LEKKER DIFFERENCE
After decades of designing kayaks for elite athletes and premium brands, Celliers recognised a gap in the market. Recreational paddlers deserved better. Most recreational kayaks prioritise only stability, resulting in slow, uncomfortable boats that limit enjoyment and progression.
LEKKER changes that equation. Our recreational kayaks are stable enough for absolute beginners, yet incorporate performance features typically found only in touring and racing kayaks. Features like proper hull efficiency, ergonomic design, and quality construction that enables genuine progression and multiday adventures.
This is performance for everyone.
DESIGN PHILOSOPHY
The philosophy behind LEKKER Kayaks’ designs is based on four principal concepts:
Performance
Every level of paddler, from beginner to expert, deserves to paddle with craft that has the best possible performance for their skill level. On Lekker craft, you will find no dumbing down. No leaving out of features that could make the difference between a good or a bad time on the water. Our aim is to keep paddlers hooked on the best experience they could have.
Stability
Many years ago, Celliers wrote the following in an article about boat selection: “If a paddler can’t put 100% of their pulling power into a forward stroke because of the need to use some energy to maintain their balance, the paddler is in the wrong boat. It is just about impossible to establish good paddling technique if a paddler is not 100% comfortable with the (in)stability of the boat.” This has become part of his mantra when designing new craft: every design needs to have maximum stability, relatively speaking to the purpose of the design.
Functionality
Everything you need, nothing unnecessary. This underpins the selection of features you will find on every Lekker kayak.
Quality
As a seasoned expedition paddler, Celliers knows the pain of being stranded in the middle of nowhere due to equipment failure. As a result, every design feature and every fitting is selected to ensure reliability.