Something We Can All Get Behind
What do a shark, a tiger, a koala, a sea otter, a box full of snakes and a crew of slightly sunburnt yaks have in common?
Sea Otter Australia 2026!
What a weekend. This is what we live for…
Fresh gear. Old mates. New friends. More Party Shots taken than we could count. 69 pairs of Pit Viper sunnies given away at the Yakima stand – not to mention a few more over at the Pit Viper chop shop!
We headed to Batemans Bay with a pretty clear mission: show off our latest bike racks and gear, connect and party up with the riding community – and make the Yakima stand a place people wanted to keep coming back to all weekend, and for years to come.
Come for the party, stay for the vibes, check out the gear… leave knowing and loving what Yakima’s all about.
From the moment gates opened on Friday, people were straight in. The stand stayed busy all weekend with Party Shot queues, ambassador signings, new gear getting plenty of attention and one Sea Otter mascot with some unexpectedly solid dance moves.
Not a dull moment.
PartyBox. Party Shot. Party on.
It started with a Yakima GearBox.
Then our mates at Pit Viper got involved.
Add one custom wrap, 69 pairs of Pit Vipers and a heap of Yakima swag, and the PartyBox was born.
To get amongst it, Sea Otter punters could take a crack at the Party Shot. Sink the shot and you got to raid the lucky dip. Miss it and there were still Side Quests, swag drops and a shot at taking home the PartyBox itself.
Simple enough.
Except people got very into it.
By Saturday we had to move Party Shot to scheduled sessions just to keep things under control. People came back anyway. Some several times. A few younger competitors may even have attempted strategic outfit changes between rounds.
Respect.
Jack Moir and Sian A’Hern got involved too, proving once and for all that being very good on a bike does not necessarily translate to elite pong ability.
Our Side Quests sent people off to take selfies, watch Nick Hills’ Beyond the Hills, tackle pop quizzes, visit the photo wall and, yes, find Jason.
Pit Viper were in on the action from their end too, promoting the PartyBox, sending people our way and joining us for the final draw. Meanwhile, anyone who missed out on sunnies at our place was happily pointed towards their Chop Shop.
Brand bro-mance confirmed.
And then came the payoff. On Sunday we drew the PartyBox winner and Jenny was absolutely STOKED. The kind of reaction that made three days of Party Shot chaos completely worth it.
PartyBox officially found its home.
The athletes and the artist: our very talented VIP crew
Our Sea Otter VIP crew was a pretty good one: Jack Moir, Sian A’Hern, Ellie Smith and Nick Hills of Hills Draws.
Jack, Sian and Ellie weren’t just there for a scheduled appearance. All three dropped in throughout the weekend to hang out, play Party Shot, sign things, jump behind our ridiculous inflatable pink microphone and generally become part of the fun.
Saturday’s signing absolutely went off.
Jack understandably had some very ‘frothin’ fans. One declared after a high five that they were never washing that hand again.
But it was equally good seeing plenty of young riders, girls and boys alike, keen to meet Sian and Ellie too.
The girls then flipped the whole thing around and asked the Yakima crew to sign a poster for them!
Very sweet. We’re still blushing.
And those epic posters? We take very little credit. Major kudos to our artist, Nick Hills of Hills Draws who took the brief of something not far from, “Hey let’s do something cool, yeah nah?” and just ran with it.
Like, sprinted.
For Sea Otter, Nick rolled with our theme of “Something you can all get behind”, reimagined each ambassador as their chosen spirit animal and created a masterpiece.
He packed each one with tiny personality details, then the artwork escaped the confines of a poster and became stickers, individual athlete prints, giant scene graphics and a full-scale photo wall.
The ambassadors loved it. The crowd loved it. And seeing people line up for posters, stickers and photos made it pretty clear how much love there is for Nick’s work in the MTB world.
One of our favourite moments was spotting a young fan already wearing one of Nick’s other designs in the signing queue, then getting to introduce the two of them.
This is the bike community we love and get behind.
Take It Easy Zone
Every party needs a little corner to escape the noise and get some fresh air. Our Take It Easy zone nailed it, giving riders, parents and the littlest groms somewhere to pull up a deck chair, get some shade, rehydrate, even do some colouring in if they fancied - and essentially recharge without having to tap out of the action and head home early.
Positioned beside the Skratch Labs hydration station, under the shade of our 180 OverNOut awning, our custom deck chairs became a handy hangout, interview spot and occasional ambassador lounge.
Jack Moir liked the chairs so much he asked for one.
Message received. We’re working on it, Moi Moi!
We were just stoked to also receive a number of heartfelt messages like this from those who dropped by across the weekend:
“You guys put on an epic display and were so inclusive and encouraging of the kids, especially the upcoming generation of young female riders.”
Wow. Goosebumps. That one meant a lot. ICYMI: THIS IS WHAT WE LIVE FOR!
Because we didn’t just want people to look at the stand. We wanted them to feel welcome, to Take it Easy and experience what Yakima’s all about.
And yes, the gear got plenty of attention too
Sea Otter gave us a chance to put a heap of new and coming soon Yakima products in front of riders, media and industry mates, and the response was everything we’d hoped and more.
The recently landed 2026 HoldUp joined StepUp, FlipFlop, BookMark and LightMate, including the rack-specific mounting options for LightMate that had plenty of people stopping for a closer look.
We also previewed StepUp Swing Left, the updated GateKeeper, and a massive drop coming down under in early 2027: the EXO system – along with the MOD in-vehicle drawer and storage system.
There were many “Oooohs”, “Ahhhhhs”, “That’s smart” and “I’ve been looking and waiting for a product just like this!” reactions all round.
The bigger setups got people opening things, swinging things out, crawling around vehicles and imagining how they’d use them themselves.
Revolution MTB’s JT also dropped by for a proper walkaround with Josh, inflatable pink microphone included.
Watch the full interview with JT from [R]evolution MTB Magazine
The beasts: Yakima vehicle setups at Sea Otter
GMC Yukon Denali
The GMC Yukon Denali was hard to miss.
A huge thanks to GMSV for trusting us with it for the week, because it became a genuine drawcard in its own right and gave us one very good-looking platform to load up with Yakima gear.
Out back, EXO carried the DoubleUp bike rack and GearLocker.
Inside, MOD kept the event chaos under control with HomeBase, Topper, StretchNet, GearCrate, GearTote and MicroTotes. Up top, SightLine towers and JetStream bars carried a SkyBox and HighRoad bike rack.
There was a lot going on, but somehow the Denali wore it well.
Watch our tour of the GMC Yukon Denali
Kia Tasman
Alongside it, the Kia Tasman was set up with our OverHaul HD system, HD Bars, SideBar, and MOLLE panel, topped with the SkyPeak HD rooftop tent and SideKick.
Around the back sat the upcoming GateKeeper and StepUp SwingLeft.
Two very different vehicles. Plenty of Yakima on both.
Beyond our own patch of grass
Sea Otter was obviously bigger than one stand.
We watched the School Championships, caught Sian and Ellie preparing for e-cross, supported Sian around her women’s activities with Specialized and Batemans Bay Cycles, and caught up with young Yakima rider Luca De Fina after racing.
We wandered the pits, spotted Yakima gear in the carpark, visited mates at Pit Viper and Krush, caught up with media including Revolution MTB, AMB and Flow MTB, and RideOn generally made the most of having so much of the bike community in one place.
A special shout out to our local Yakima crew at Batemans Bay Cycles, who helped us look after anyone wanting to take their Yakima interest beyond the stand.
And somewhere in there, the Sea Otter mascot kept turning up to dance.
Sea Otter AU 2026: done.
Three very full days later, we left Batemans Bay tired, slightly sun cooked and absolutely stoked!
A huge thanks to everyone who stopped by, took a shot, asked about the gear, grabbed a poster, coloured something in, introduced themselves, brought their kids, shared our content or just hung around for a chat.
And to our ambassadors, collaborators, industry mates and everyone who helped bring the whole thing together: you know who you are.
Actually, plenty of you are probably in the photos.
If you were there, thanks for making it what it was.
If you missed it?
Sea Otter AU 2027 is happening from 22-24 October next year. Consider this your warning.
