SK17 - Maiden trip
Posted: Thu May 26, 2005 10:29 am
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SK17 - Maiden trip
https://www.community.boatbuildercentral.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=8292
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Posted: Thu May 26, 2005 10:45 am
Congratulations Bart! I saw the pics in the gallery and she's a beauty! Enjoy!
Posted: Thu May 26, 2005 11:10 am
Uitstekend!
Outstanding job, as usual
Outstanding job, as usual
Posted: Thu May 26, 2005 4:39 pm
Dank je wel, Jacques!
I appreciate that.
Some first impressions of the maiden trip:
- Stability is fine. Not solid as a rock, but enough to get in and out comfortably.
- It's pretty fast, as expected. Weight is about 19 kg (42 lbs), which is 5 kg/11 lbs less than production boats of the same size made of polyester.
- The influence of the skeg is remarkable. In up position (retracted), the kayak turns easily, in down position it doesn't, but it becomes very course stable, which makes paddling less fatigueing.
- I need to put the backsupport a little more forward. When leaning back, my back touches the cockpit coaming.
- The (adjustable) footrests work fine and are in the right place.
- Trim (in longitudinal direction) is ok, as you can see in the pictures.
Evan, you did a great job designing this boat!
Regards,
Bart
I appreciate that.
Some first impressions of the maiden trip:
- Stability is fine. Not solid as a rock, but enough to get in and out comfortably.
- It's pretty fast, as expected. Weight is about 19 kg (42 lbs), which is 5 kg/11 lbs less than production boats of the same size made of polyester.
- The influence of the skeg is remarkable. In up position (retracted), the kayak turns easily, in down position it doesn't, but it becomes very course stable, which makes paddling less fatigueing.
- I need to put the backsupport a little more forward. When leaning back, my back touches the cockpit coaming.
- The (adjustable) footrests work fine and are in the right place.
- Trim (in longitudinal direction) is ok, as you can see in the pictures.
Evan, you did a great job designing this boat!
Regards,
Bart
Posted: Mon May 30, 2005 1:26 am
Dear Bart,
Great job on the boat. It looks very nice overall.
Good to hear that weight is as predicted (41 lbs in the plans for okuome). Obviously you didn't use too much epoxy!
If you don't have any padding on your backrest, you could add some, rather than moving it forward.
I think the trim is about right too. On day trips, with little gear, put your lunch etc. forward of your feet to trim it forward slightly and get the bow knuckle down in the water. On longer trips, with a larger load, load a bit more of the gear aft as well and keep it floating level.
Great job on the boat. It looks very nice overall.
Good to hear that weight is as predicted (41 lbs in the plans for okuome). Obviously you didn't use too much epoxy!
If you don't have any padding on your backrest, you could add some, rather than moving it forward.
I think the trim is about right too. On day trips, with little gear, put your lunch etc. forward of your feet to trim it forward slightly and get the bow knuckle down in the water. On longer trips, with a larger load, load a bit more of the gear aft as well and keep it floating level.
Posted: Fri Jul 15, 2005 3:54 am
Hahaa!!
Our's maiden trip wen t nicely! I'll post some more thoughts (and pics) later when I'm back at home.
Our's maiden trip wen t nicely! I'll post some more thoughts (and pics) later when I'm back at home.
Posted: Sun Jul 17, 2005 7:12 am
Well, we will go paddling again soon but some first feelings:
-It's very stable, really something a beginner can handle. I had little more weight on that Bart, maybe thats gives little more stability.
-It's fast, surprisingly fast while being so stable.
-With the fixed skeg, it's quite difficult to turn but it goes straight very well. Not really for rivers now, but that wasn't the idea either. We had pretty strong winds and steep, maybe 2 foot chop. The kayaks behaved nicely in the chop. I paddled a little tests in different directions and I was very happy how the kayak kept the track. In follower wind it was difficult to turn the kayak - the speed got quite fast easily. Maybe I'll add a real rudder someday, but for now it works nicely in lakes if there's not need for sharp turns.
-The both kayaks are about 2cm's lower than the design. but they still feel a bit "high" - the wind seems to push these kayaks a little. It's not really an issue because tracking is so good. Maybe they could be another inch or so lower. But there lots of room now, and thats good for longer trips.
-V-shaped deck makes the getting in and out a bit difficult when getting to a rock or a low platform. I'm not sure how it should be done.
After all, the kayaks seems very nice - especially the combined stability and the speed.
---edit---
Btw. if you have never paddled with a kayak, I recommend couple trips with a two seater kayak first to get little more feeling before trying a single-kayak.
-It's very stable, really something a beginner can handle. I had little more weight on that Bart, maybe thats gives little more stability.
-It's fast, surprisingly fast while being so stable.
-With the fixed skeg, it's quite difficult to turn but it goes straight very well. Not really for rivers now, but that wasn't the idea either. We had pretty strong winds and steep, maybe 2 foot chop. The kayaks behaved nicely in the chop. I paddled a little tests in different directions and I was very happy how the kayak kept the track. In follower wind it was difficult to turn the kayak - the speed got quite fast easily. Maybe I'll add a real rudder someday, but for now it works nicely in lakes if there's not need for sharp turns.
-The both kayaks are about 2cm's lower than the design. but they still feel a bit "high" - the wind seems to push these kayaks a little. It's not really an issue because tracking is so good. Maybe they could be another inch or so lower. But there lots of room now, and thats good for longer trips.
-V-shaped deck makes the getting in and out a bit difficult when getting to a rock or a low platform. I'm not sure how it should be done.
After all, the kayaks seems very nice - especially the combined stability and the speed.
---edit---
Btw. if you have never paddled with a kayak, I recommend couple trips with a two seater kayak first to get little more feeling before trying a single-kayak.
Posted: Thu Jul 21, 2005 9:50 am
Couple trips behind now.
Well - I hit a rock quite heavily. It scraped varnish and paint from the bottom. Looks quite ugly but it couldn't went through the fiberglass.
Now thinking - maybe a shaded epoxy would be better for "paiting" the bottom, now the not-so-tough paint will be first to get damage. Just a look issue anyway. And the kayak's bottom should be down usually
I also checked some speeds. The first stint (over 5 km's) I made averaging 8,5 km/h, after that I continued with lower speed for about 10 km's. Avg speed was then about 6,5 km/h. The distances were measured from map - most likely the speed values are a bit under what I really had. Especially the first stint where I made couple "curves". Pretty nice speed - because this was about my fourth time paddling this year. Also there was little chop in the first stint (well after that too, but it didn't bother much going touring speed).
Well - I hit a rock quite heavily. It scraped varnish and paint from the bottom. Looks quite ugly but it couldn't went through the fiberglass.
Now thinking - maybe a shaded epoxy would be better for "paiting" the bottom, now the not-so-tough paint will be first to get damage. Just a look issue anyway. And the kayak's bottom should be down usually
I also checked some speeds. The first stint (over 5 km's) I made averaging 8,5 km/h, after that I continued with lower speed for about 10 km's. Avg speed was then about 6,5 km/h. The distances were measured from map - most likely the speed values are a bit under what I really had. Especially the first stint where I made couple "curves". Pretty nice speed - because this was about my fourth time paddling this year. Also there was little chop in the first stint (well after that too, but it didn't bother much going touring speed).