- Story by Sean McIntyre Photography by Don Denton

David Smith is a hard man to reach, but that should have been obvious based on his bio: B次元官网网址渆ntrepreneur, builder, racer, adventure-seeker and so much more.B次元官网网址�

Smith has been an entrepreneur on the Saanich Peninsula since the early 1980s. His company, Professional Components Ltd., employs more than 50 full-time workers in the Sidney area and produces high-end, custom marine suspension seating for power boats and off-road vehicles.

Customers include the Canadian and US Coast Guards, the RCMP and a roster of international military and commercial organizations and acclaimed racers. Overseeing a company with global reach from a Saanich-area industrial park would be enough of a task on its own, but thatB次元官网网址檚 only the tip of SmithB次元官网网址檚 exciting and high-powered life.

B次元官网网址淚B次元官网网址檝e always had a passion for racing,B次元官网网址� he says, and indeed, SmithB次元官网网址檚 life of speed dates back to the 1970s, when he got a job building chassis for race cars on the NASCAR circuit. The gig lasted nearly 20 years and paved the way for his marine suspension seating company on his native Vancouver Island.

The early years saw Smith assembling the cars, but in building his company, heB次元官网网址檚 had the opportunity to get a whole lot more hands-on. These days, he tests the marine seating products that excel in choppy seas at high speeds in some of the worldB次元官网网址檚 most isolated regions.

B次元官网网址淭he racing industry is just right at the forefront of technology. ItB次元官网网址檚 virtually a melting point for all the best technologies in the world,B次元官网网址� he says. B次元官网网址淪hockwave Motorsports, a division of Professional Components, was an opportunity for us to get even more hands-on and for myself, to be not just the person who was setting up the cars and building the cars, but to actually be the one who was out there and driving the vehicles.B次元官网网址�

As an inductee to the Victoria Auto Racing Hall of Fame in 2011, Smith is described as a bit eccentric and a little wild, but as someone who could design and build a race car unlike anyone else.

That same year, he teamed up with Bear Grylls to set a new world record by crossing the 12,000-kilometre Northwest Passage in fewer than 300 hours in a 33-foot RHIB equipped with the first iteration of the ICE Console, a fully suspended, triple-axis marine suspension unit, designed and patented by Smith himself.

Always on the lookout for a challenge, three years ago, Smith thought it would be interesting to get behind the wheel of some high-level racing, which led to the 69-year-oldB次元官网网址檚 participation in the Trans Am racing series, which visits cities across the United States. Closer to home, islanders may have spotted him as a regular at The Keg Drivers Challenge and the Canada 200 at LangfordB次元官网网址檚 Western Speedway.

If it sounds like SmithB次元官网网址檚 personal biography has all the elements of a movie B次元官网网址� or at least a television mini-series B次元官网网址� thatB次元官网网址檚 because it does. Part of the reason itB次元官网网址檚 so hard to get Smith to sit down for an interview is because heB次元官网网址檚 got a film crew trailing him for a good portion of his life these days. With filming set to wrap up this fall, Smith says work will soon begin to get the show ready for screening on either the Discovery or National Geographic network.

B次元官网网址淚tB次元官网网址檚 been a lot of work, and itB次元官网网址檚 really something to have your life out there on display for everyone,B次元官网网址� he says. B次元官网网址淭he average person does not want to be David Smith. There are times when IB次元官网网址檓 tired.B次元官网网址�

Part of the impetus for the show came from SmithB次元官网网址檚 latest battle: fighting and overcoming cancer. The road hasnB次元官网网址檛 always been easy and Smith readily admits that his good days may be great, but that the bad days can get really bad. Perseverance, he adds, has always been a part of his life, so this latest fight has tapped into his innate skillset to overcome a formidable opponent. He hopes his story will inspire others facing similar hurdles in life.

B次元官网网址淭his isnB次元官网网址檛 everyoneB次元官网网址檚 cup of tea and there are all sorts of mountains to climb in life, but I find that if you donB次元官网网址檛 ask, you rarely get, and if you donB次元官网网址檛 put yourself out there, youB次元官网网址檒l never really know whatB次元官网网址檚 possible,B次元官网网址� he says. B次元官网网址淵ou donB次元官网网址檛 really live life unless you put yourself out on the fringes.B次元官网网址�

Off the track and outside the office, Smith is also an outspoken advocate for coastal fisheries. Smith, who owns a holiday retreat in Tahsis near Nootka Sound on northwest Vancouver Island, has seen the effects of poor logging practices, irresponsible corporate fishing practices and unenforced regulations first-hand. Firstly, as a boy growing up on the Coast, then as a young man employed in a commercial fishery, Smith saw an unmatched bounty off CanadaB次元官网网址檚 West Coast. TodayB次元官网网址檚 efforts to protect whatB次元官网网址檚 left, he says, are not only too little, but likely also too late. Nevertheless, he continues to work with local fishers and community organizations to rehabilitate coastal streams and to nurture precious spawning grounds in the hope of saving whatB次元官网网址檚 left of British ColumbiaB次元官网网址檚 coastal fishing legacy.

B次元官网网址淏eing situated on the West Coast is ideal for our business,B次元官网网址� he adds, coming back to the company heB次元官网网址檚 built. B次元官网网址淥ur marine suspension seating products require rugged ocean conditions to properly test the capabilities, strengths and weaknesses of our suspension systems.B次元官网网址� With products going to the military and law enforcement organizations around the world, testing needs to be rigorous, in the most severe conditions. B次元官网网址淲e have plenty of opportunities here to get our products out on the water in rough seas to test, re-test and perfect our marine- grade products.B次元官网网址�