On Tue, 21 Sep 1999 WILAX_at_aol.com wrote: > Where does one look to begin research on race (sea)kayaks? The "unlimited" > guys are showing up with long, light, exotic craft that seem to be custom > built. Are there some more popular/accepted builders? Materials? etc? West Side Boat shop from Longport NY makes a whole mess of racing kayaks, I expect most of what you see are their boats. Surf skis are going to be your other option http://www.surfskiis.com (futura) http://www.aloha.com/~twogood (twogood) At a race I did this spring a Necky sea kayak placed second, he was disappointingly close to me, closer than the other surf skis. Necky used to, they may still, make the Arluk I. I've heard rumors of a special, "ask the necky rep if you can borrow" boat, called the 20/20. Seda makes the glider, more of a touring kayak. Baldwin (from bowdoin maine?) makes/made the falcon K, a mighty comfy boat. The CLC 19.5 is another possible option. I think WeNoNah makes at least one race kayak. Also be sure to ask the folks at the races. I periodically ask to try peoples boats. I sometimes ask before the race if I can try a boat after the race. As for materials, light and stiff is the way to go. Expect vacuum bagged mixes of materials with a foam core. Depending on price the layups start at fiberglass, then kevlar, then carbon, then spectra. kirk currently using a futura surf ski to race, my wife's Nordkapp HM just isn't up to the job. *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List Submissions: paddlewise_at_lists.intelenet.net Subscriptions: paddlewise-request_at_lists.intelenet.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************Received on Wed Sep 22 1999 - 08:54:30 PDT
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