Re: [Paddlewise] Innovations in sea kayak designs

From: Kirk Olsen <kork4_at_cluemail.com>
Date: Mon, 13 Apr 2009 12:27:13 -0400
On Fri, 10 Apr 2009 13:42:33 -0400, "Darryl Johnson"
<Darryl.Johnson_at_sympatico.ca> said:

> But there seems to be a fairly limited range of variables involved in 
> building a kayak, so that they will tend to resemble each other. And, 
> it seems to me, there is a certain inertia in the marketplace that 
> almost dictates that a kayak must look like other kayaks to gain any 
> foothold in the market.
> 
> As an example, there were some reviews of a kayak in the past year or 
> two (my memory isn't what I'd like it to be) which has sides that 
> curved inward in the middle of the boat. This, to me, was a new 
> variation in boat design, but it seems to have disappeared from view. 
> I have seen nor heard nothing in many months about this design. 
> Perhaps it was an ill-conceived design from the performance point of 
> view and has justly been tried and sentenced. Until I read otherwise 
> though, I will  hold my suspicion that people didn't buy it because it 
> looked *too* different.

The boats you are thinking of are from Warren Light Craft
http://www.warrenlightcraft.com/

The boat designer/builder spent many years as a multi-hull sailboat
designer.  He's used to going against tradition ;-)

The paint jobs on his boats are amazing.  I'm not sure if I ever want to
see the customer who goes for the "we can match the color of the kayak
to your vehicle"....

A year or two I got a tour of his manufacturing.  It's an interesting
process of vacuum bagging in an oven.

Kirk



-- 
  Kirk Olsen
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Received on Mon Apr 13 2009 - 09:27:21 PDT

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