SL Racing

SL Racing

Trade name	SL Racing Ltd.
Company type	Private
Industry	Boat manufacturing
Founded	Puketapu, Hawke's Bay, New Zealand (2010)
Founder	Simon Lack
Headquarters	Puketapu, Hawke's Bay , New Zealand
Area served	Worldwide
Key people	Simon Lack, Hamish Lack
Products	Racing rowing shells, carbon wing riggers, rowing components
Website	www.slracing.co.nz

SL Racing is a New Zealand‑based manufacturer of racing rowing boats (shells). Founded in 2010 in the Hawke’s Bay region by Simon Lack, the company began as a family enterprise and was later joined by his brother Hamish. Lack had previously competed in rowing at a national level. From its inception, SL Racing aimed to design rowing shells tailored to user feedback and rowing conditions. Early on, the company received a regional business innovation award in 2011 for its growth and export plans, and one of its custom-built coxed fours was used by a crew that won a bronze medal at the national secondary school championships that year. The company expanded its operations beyond its initial workshop in Puketapu after receiving a regional business innovation award in 2011.

Products and Innovation

SL Racing manufactures a range of racing shells, from single sculls to various crew boats, along with related components and hardware. According to the company’s product specifications, its single scull models have a fully rigged weight of approximately 14 kg, and the hull‑only weight is close to 6.5 kg. All shells are laminated and cured at SL Racing’s Hawke’s Bay facility, where manufacturing processes are carried out locally..The company’s boats have been used by school-level rowers as well as international competitors, including Olympians.Boats are built to order with adjustments made to fit rower specifications. Approximately 95% of each boat’s components are manufactured in New Zealand, using primarily locally sourced materials. SL Racing shells are constructed using composite materials, including carbon fibre skins, Nomex honeycomb, and structural foam cores, resulting in lightweight and rigid hulls.. The company has revised its designs and construction techniques in response to performance feedback; in one instance, engineers collaborated with composite specialists to reinforce a boat’s mid-section using carbon “X” strips to improve torsional stiffness with minimal impact on overall weight.

In addition to hull design, SL Racing produces its own racing hardware. This includes carbon-fibre components such as seats and foot stretchers, as well as a carbon reverse wing rigger (referred to as the “Carbon Wing”) designed as an alternative to aluminium riggers. This reverse rigger – featured on included in recent SL Racing single scull models – improves stiffness and can be cured alongside hulls at high temperature,demonstrating the application of high-temperature curing techniques. According to the company, its designs aim to balance speed and stability, producing boats intended to be fast for experienced rowers while remaining stable enough for less experienced users. The same designs are used by both developing and experienced rowers. The company’s staff attend regattas in New Zealand to provide support and maintenance services..

Collaborations with Athletes

Emma Twigg collaboration

One of SL Racing’s partnerships is with Emma Twigg, a four-time Olympian and Tokyo 2020 gold medallist in women’s single sculls. Twigg, who is also from Hawke’s Bay, had expressed interest in competing in a locally built SL Racing boat. As a junior rower at Hawke’s Bay Rowing Club, Twigg was familiar with Simon Lack’s background as a national team rower. After SL Racing was established, she became an early supporter of the company.. In 2021, Twigg collaborated with SL Racing on a custom-built single scull. She has publicly endorsed the company and collaborated on equipment design.

The collaboration included Twigg in the design process for a new high-performance single scull. SL Racing worked with naval architect Kevin Dibley to refine the hull shape, taking into account factors such as curvature and water displacement at different athlete weights. Simon and Hamish Lack worked closely with Twigg – incorporating her feedback and rigorous testing – to iterate and fine-tune the design in a limited time frame. The aim was to develop a boat suitable for Olympic-level competition, combining low weight and speed with stability and adaptability across varying rowing conditions. The boat was completed prior to the 2023–24 season and incorporated design features based on athlete input. According to SL Racing, the design included revised stern geometry intended to improve tracking in crosswinds.. Twigg continued to use SL Racing boats at international regattas, including the Paris 2024 Olympics, where her entry in a New Zealand-built shell represented a notable moment in the company’s international exposure.

Twigg began racing with the new SL Racing shell in European regattas ahead of the 2024 Paris Olympics, where she was among a small number of competitors using a non-European boat on the elite circuit.. Despite a mishap during transit—when one of Twigg’s two identical boats was damaged en route to a World Cup event—she continued to compete with the remaining SL Racing scull, securing a podium finish at the Lucerne Regatta in 2024. Her participation in the 2024 Olympics marked the company’s first Olympic-level appearance.

International Reach

Although SL Racing initially focused on the New Zealand market, the company expanded its international presence in subsequent years. By 2024, it had signed its first overseas distributors in the United Kingdom and Australia to represent and supply its boats abroad. Twigg’s use of SL Racing shells at international regattas coincided with the company’s entry into overseas markets. As of 2024, SL Racing had produced approximately 1,000 boats since its founding and announced plans to scale up production to around 350 boats per year to meet growing demand. This expansion included the development of an export market alongside its domestic operations. One of Twigg’s damaged boats, shipped to Europe, was repurposed as a display model during marketing activities in Europe as it expanded into international markets.

The use of an SL Racing shell in elite European competitions represented a notable development in the company’s international profile. In a 2024 interview, founder Simon Lack stated that SL Racing had begun building a distributor network in the United Kingdom and Europe, following increased visibility through Emma Twigg’s Olympic campaign. He also indicated that, while the company had received interest from the coastal rowing community, it did not plan to enter that market due to its relatively limited size. This represented one of the few entries by a New Zealand manufacturer in a field typically associated with European brands. With international partnerships and overseas distribution underway, SL Racing has expanded beyond its domestic base.

Types of boats

SL Racing constructs lightweight, honeycomb carbon-composite shells. Their current models include:

• Single Sculls (1X)
• Double Sculls / Coxless Pairs (2X / 2‑)
• Coxed Four / Coxed Quad (4+ / 4X+)
• Coxless Four / Coxless Quad (4‑ / 4X)
• Eights (8+)