P&H Sea Kayaks were amongst the early pioneers of modern sea kayaking. The first kayak that P&H manufactured for the sea was as far back as the early 1970s. It was a called the "Swift", a short river kayak adapted via the addition of a skeg and watertight hatches and subsequently used to cross between the UK and Ireland.

Our first true modern sea kayak was manufactured during 1979. Working closely with designer Derek Hutchinson we launched the Umnak, a 15' expedition sea kayak with full deck rigging, waterproof hatches and retractable skeg. Other models were soon to follow, Icefloe, Baidarka, Fjord, Iona, Dawn Treader Odin and Orion. Most of these British sea kayaks are now regarded as the classics of their day and are etched into the history of modern sea kayak design.

During the 1990's, as sea kayaking grew rapidly in popularity and paddlers sought ever-higher performance standards the P&H sea kayak range continued to evolve. The finest attributes of these early designs were improved whilst any negative attributes were left behind.