Re: [Paddlewise] Durability Testing (Seakayaker Mag are you listening?)

Just out of curiosity, are there any PaddleWisers out there who own
Tsunamis?  How do you feel about their durability vs. the Brit.
Battleships?

LedJube_at_aol.com wrote:
> 
>     Is it possible that we have the whole British boat strength versus weight
> conundrum wrong?  Certainly the British boats are laid-up by hand and not
> vacuum bagged.  Certainly vacuum bagging results in the higher strength to
> weight ratio.  But how is this strength defined?  Tensile only, if my
> not-in-the-business mind is not mistaken.  The glass fibers in Fiberglas are
> strong, very strong but in tension only.  What provides the other components
> of this thing we call strength? The compression resistance, deflection
> resistance, torsional strength, abrasion resistance, shear strength, to what
> degree are these other properties required and in what parts of the boat?
> 
>     The durability issue is so much more than strength versus weight.  I have
> owned more than a few North American built boats that were beautiful, very
> light, very capable of handling heavy water but were built as if they'd never
> see action beyond flat water, sandy beaches and protected launches/landings.
> All of my experience now leads me to the British boats.  They are not, to my
> eye, the most appealing. Nor are they, to anyone's arms, the lightest.  They
> seem to be, to many of the most experienced of us, the most durable and
> tolerant of rough handling, the proverbial "battleship".
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