Re: [Paddlewise] [Performance folders (was: Car topping...)

I have to second Tom Yost's sentiment about folders.  Why do they have
to be big, beamy, stable and slow?

If some of the greatest features of folders are their flexible skin on
frame construction like Inuit kayaks...then why not folders designed
more closely after...Inuit kayaks?

Not to diminish some of the great expeditions done by the likes of John
Dowd, Paul Theroux, or Dr. Hannes Lindemann in their folders, but few
of us have the time (or maybe the spirit?) for such trips.

Why a huge cargo-carrying monster for a day trip?  If wide, short, slow
kayaks were great for all paddling, the hardshell market would reflect
it.  Instead, more and more hardshells are designed for speed,
maneuverability, and performance....surely these things would be
advantageous to the apartment dweller or world traveler?

I'm also a little curious why commercial folder manufacturers don't
experiment more with different designs.  Folders are somewhat costly to
produce...this is reflected in their sale price.  But:  most of this
cost is in labor and materials, not tooling.  It costs an arm and a leg
for a hardshell manufacturer to turn out a new rotomold mold for a new
plastic kayak.  It costs an arm and a couple of toes for a composite
mold.  Relative to these costs, it's practically free to build a
different folder design (materials and labor similar, but tooling would
hardly change at all).

Feathercraft's Khatsalano and Khat-S are fun little boats, but why not
pick up a little gear space as length instead of width, and you could
have a great speedy boat for weeklong trips with maybe a little surfing
or rough water play on the way!

Shawn
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