Kavinci Motors was founded in 2008 by Nick Barton and his father, Chris Barton, in the garage of Nick’s childhood home. At the time, Nick was one of the top Freestyle Jet ski athletes in the world, sponsored by Monster Energy and traveling internationally to compete at the highest level. In pursuit of a competitive edge, Nick and Chris began modifying his personal watercraft—enhancing performance, refining design, and pushing the limits of what was possible.

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As their innovations gained attention, other athletes and recreational riders began requesting the same upgrades. The demand quickly outgrew simple modifications. Partnering with a close friend who shaped surfboards, they decided to build a completely new watercraft design, merging surf-inspired curves with high-performance engineering.

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Chris Barton brought decades of experience from the surf industry, having founded the iconic brands Wavelength and Piping Hot, and successfully operated a manufacturing business in Thailand that was later acquired by Rip Curl in the early 1990s. That factory still operates today.

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Today, Kavinci Motors has grown into a globally recognized, vertically integrated engineering company. Its head office is located in the USA, with a sales office in Australia, a cutting-edge R&D center in Silverstone—the heart of Formula 1 innovation—and a world-class manufacturing facility in Thailand.

Kavinci designs, engineers, and manufactures every component in-house—from mechanical and electrical engineering to aluminum casting, CNC machining, carbon fiber composite fabrication, and final technical assembly.

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The company owns and produces the world’s leading brands in the Freestyle stand-up jetski market and is now expanding into the high-end luxury three-seater space—bringing the same level of design, precision, and performance to a broader audience.

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Kavinci Motors is more than a watercraft company—it’s a high-performance engineering firm born from competition and driven by a relentless pursuit of innovation.