Re: [Paddlewise] experience with folding seakayaks

> Hi all,
> 
> I am looking for a folding seakayak that is in handling and speed 
> comparable to hardshell boats. Are there people on this list with 
> hands on experience in boats like the Feathercraft K1 or 
> Khatsalano, or the longer single seat Nautiraids (greenlander 500). 
> Or may be other alternatives?
> 
> Greetings,
> 
> Merijn  
> 

<Voice from the underground>

Hmmm, since nobody answered this, I take this as my turn:

having built a few folding aluminum baidarkas, I don't think they
were in any respect similar to harsdhell boats. Although I wanted
each kayak to be comparable with hardshell kayaks and took
some pain to achive the best results, neither rigidity, nor
speed under paddle were as good. 

The only thing being, when my boss gave me an airplane ticket 
from Germany to Canada on a Friday this summer, I got there on 
that very Sunday and had a kayak with me; _my_own_kayak_ :)) 

Anyway, you might want to look at something narrow and rigid;
I never saw anything in the market that was foldable and would
match at least my selfbuilts with regard to rigidity. They only
_do_ assemble a lot easier.

With each kayak, rudder size would decrease; now, it is merely 
a third of what I had on the first baidarka. Maybe it has 
something to do with development of construction and paddler...

One thing to consider is handling during rescue (-training).
I haven't seen any folding kayak that would match my desires in 
this case. So I have equipped my recent folder with retractable 
compass and hatchcover-mounted pump in order to survive at
least a TX-style rescue; also, I have lowered the deck beam to 
help with rolling.

Cheers

Hendrik
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