Alpacka Raft Classic Series

The Alpacka Raft Series is our original model and namesake. Our founders Sheri and Thor Tingey built the original Alpacka Raft in the basement of their Chugiak, Alaska home in the fall of 2000.  Thor had just completed 39-day 600-mile packrafting traverse of the Brooks Range. Thor fell in love with the concept of packrafting and the ability to travel light, fast, and low impact across virtually any terrain, but was disappointed in the design, durability, and quality of the boats they were using.  Sheri had been a boater and outdoor clothing designer for 35-years and was looking for a new challenge.

Their first finished Alpacka Raft, the “White Boat,” was made out of heavy white nylon with a urethane coating on one side with 12-inch diameter tubes and an upturned bow all sealed together using a hot air gun, a roller, and a lot of Aquaseal®. They only had enough of the white fabric for one boat, but they made a few more that winter out of different colors with PVC and urethane coatings. The first testing came in the summer of 2001 when Thor took the White Boat to his summer job as a fisheries biologist for Katmai National Park and made multiple descents of the Aniakchak River. Local Anchorage packrafters like Roman Dial started testing the other prototypes and everyone was thrilled with the performance and durability of the new designs.We started our first production of the Alpacka Raft series the winter of 2001/2002 with two sizes, the Yukon Yak and the Denali Llama, and started selling them in the Summer of 2002.

Over the next 5 years, with Sheri running the company and pushing the design envelope, we continued to improve the designs.  In 2003, we added a third size, the smaller Alpaca, and began testing a spray skirt. The first skirts stretched over the entire boat and hand an inflatable rim to keep the boat from filling as quickly in the waves, but they were dangerous in swims.  In 2004, Sheri developed a method to permanently attach the spray skirt to top of the raft which saved weight and made the skirt safer.  From 2005 to 2007, we continued to make the skirt system drier and warmer by adding various Velcro® closures to cockpit that secured around the paddlers waist.In 2007, we moved our operations out of Alaska and opened our own manufacturing facility in Mancos, Colorado where we still make every boat today.

In 2008, a group of Alaskans pushing the boundaries of whitewater packrafting started installing thigh straps in their packrafts. Thigh straps provided new levels of control and whitewater performance, but put Alpacka in a challenging position of not being able to offer thigh straps as a factory option due to the liability risks of entrapment. However, the strong community interest in a better performing whitewater packraft led Sheri to begin development of the Alpackalypse.  Although the Alpackalypse took 6 years to complete, the design ideas that came out of its development were critical to the significant improvements of the Alpacka Series during that same time.

In 2011, we modified the hull and introduced the first extended stern packraft–aka the “Big Butt”–which significantly improved the comfort and performance of the boats. We continued to extend the stern slightly over the next two years to where it is today. Almost every full size packraft on the market today has adopted this design.

In 2012, we made two major improvements to the design. First, we added the first kayak style cockpit in a packraft with our Whitewater Deck which provided an almost completely dry paddling experience.  Like the extended stern, we have continued to make small modifications to our Whitewater Deck over the years to improve durability, weight, and skirt retention in whitewater. Second, added our innovative Cargo Fly internal gear storage system, which allowed paddlers to get their pack off the bow of the packraft which significantly improved performance, handling, and gear capability. Like the extended stern, both of these innovations were developed through the Alpackalypse project.

Other than the improvements in the spray decks and stern extensions, the Alpacka Series remained largely unchanged until 2016 when we introduced our first self bailing model. Alpacka was definitely not the first to develop a self bailing packraft, but we did take a different approach from the other brands by focusing on a two piece seating system that optimized durability, lightweight, and whitewater paddling performance.

2017 represents a new level of refinement and performance from the Alpacka Series. We added 100-denier, 200-denier, and 400-denier Vectran® as custom fabric options. We changed to a new one-way valve that offers both high pressure inflation (without a pump) and easy deflation with a quick turn of the valve core. We added lightweight stainless D-rings for attaching a custom foam backband for added comfort and control. We added ultralight handles to the inside to make carrying and portaging the boat easier than ever. We modified the Whitewater Deck to have a larger cockpit with a deeper one piece coaming and a Velcro® free interface between the cockpit and spray skirt that offers the best spray skirt retention available in a packraft.  We’re even offering our 4-point thigh straps as a factory option in our new Whitewater Series packrafts or as a DIY installation kit for our Alpacka Series.

We don’t yet know what future design and materials advancements will bring to packrafting, but you can always be assured that Alpacka will remain 100% committed to Made in USA manufacturing quality, industry leading design and innovation, and the best materials available.