[Paddlewise] Eddyline Kayaks and Carbonlite (was "Spare the gelcoat ...")

Not to spin the thread too far off course, but I thought I would
mention something else about the use of polycarbonate in kayak hulls.

On Thu, Jun 05, 2003 at 08:17:57PM -0700, Vaughan wrote:

> The Eddyline hulls are a separate issue.  They are lighter.  I've
> read their information on repairs and it seems punctures can be
> fixed.  They claim the manufacture of them is more friendly to the
> environment.  Wear from dragging the hull over sand and rocks for
> five years is not addressed.  I'm not sure the environmental
> argument holds up if I have to buy three Carbonlite boats and only
> one gelcoat boat over the same number of years.  The jury is still
> out on Carbonite.

I think the verdict is still out on Eddyline's Carbonlite (whether the
pure poly Carbonlite 2000, or the composite Modules versions) boats.
And I expect Tom and Joe at Eddyline will admit that in a quiet
moment.  But the only way to really prove this is to use the material
in some type of well designed, thorough, extended study, or else bet
your company on it and let the results from use in the field (and
warranty repairs, plus dealer and customer feedback) provide the
result.  This is their second year without using any gelcoat in their
boat making.  Maybe at year five we'll have an answer.

A comment that has been made to me one several occasions by a kayaking
veteran, that I've not seen mentioned elsewhere, is that the use of
polycarbonate as the hull material, or as the outer layer of a
composite lay-up, presents limits over the more conventional approach
to building fiberglass and/or kevlar composite boats.  Specifically,
or so the person claimed, the use of thermo-molded polycarbonate sheets
places limits on the boat's hull design -- you can only "form" the
stuff so much under heat and pressure.  I would really be curious as
to whether or not this is the case (I expect it is, to some extent at
least).  And, if so, I wonder what classic hull designs you couldn't
pull off using this material in manufacture.

Oh, by the way, thanks to all for an interesting discussion.  I don't
know if there was any definitive answer, but there was certainly
plenty of good points raised to consider.  The more I'm learn about
this sport, the more it reminds me of the motto for Perl -- namely
"There's more than one way to do it!"  Now we just need cool t-shirts
that say as much (and a logo like the Perl camel) :-)
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