And while I'm at it, here is the final linesplan. Quite a V'd bottom, and very V'd ends. The keel line is slightly concave towards the rear, giving almost a skeg at the stern, aiding tracking. Lots of rocker, especially at the bow, for manoueverability.

I've been asked about the experiences I had with DelftShip producing panels which didn't work out right. So here's a picture. This is of the bow. The stern was very similar. In this picture

• the bottom panels are fully wired together
• the side panels are wired together at stem and stern
• accurately shaped stations are in place, temporarily glued onto the side panels to hold them in the correct position
• I've run a string from top of stem to top of stern, and measured down from it to the stations: this confirms that the side panels by themselves are forming prety much exactly the shape as designed
• as the picture clearly shows, the bottom panels are exactly the right length
• also, the panels are the right width at all points (eg panel width at the station exactly matches the length of the station edge)
• also, a photo from the top (not shown here) clearly shows that the chine (top) edges of the bottom panels are just the same distance apart side to side as the chine (bottom) edges of the side panels they should meet
• but the sides and bottom do not meet vertically!

The stern was if anything even worse: the design called for a very very slight hollow in the keel line to form almost a skeg at the back, but the bottom panels when joined again left a gaping gap to the side panels, and the keel line dipped down hugely.

Fixing this was not too hard in the end, with a long thin V of wood glued onto the top of each bottom panel at each end, then the bottom of the bottom panels trimmed (a lot!) as required.

I suspect this is due to twist in the panels. This does make them not fully developable, so it is fair enough for Delftship not to cope - and I was expecting a little adjustment to be needed - just not this much. I'm passing on this pic and the design file to the DelftShip developer - to whom big thanks for the free program to start with! - and I'll post any interesting developments here.

The new kayak is now even closer to being finished while not totally done.

• Coaming added: glass and carbon molded lip on a ply upstand.


• 6" RWO inspection hatches set into front and rear bulkheads, and bulkheads bonded in place.


• Brackets added to attach the backrest to.


• Yakima sliding footrests added.

All that's left is the final finish: sanding then maybe a final coat of epoxy if it needs it, then paint or varnish. Then add deck lines and bungees.

Further sea trials after adding coaming and bulkheads have shown the following.

• Previous comments about manoueverability, stability and tracking still apply.


• Still very light!


• I've now found it does turn when heeled, hurrah. Not super-strongly, and it turns very easily with a little extra effort on one paddle stroke anyway, but it does work. Good.


• The only negative though is that the secondary stability gives up quite quickly - at quite a low angle of heel - for me. I suspect this is due to the low freeboard: when the waterlevel is significantly over the side of the deck, there is no more hull to get into the water as I heel further, so no extra righting force being added. It's fine for my wife, the intended owner, though, since she is lighter.

Anna loves it which is the most important thing. It's just the right size for her, she feels much more at home than in the Point Bennett.

More pics to follow when the finish is done and deck lines and bungees are on, which will really finish it off.

Oh, and in related news, I learnt to roll a couple of days ago. I'd previously had two practise sessions (all in the Point Bennett).

• First session I just practised bracing back up from greater and greater angles of heel, but it was cold and I didn't feel like getting wet so that limited how far I heeled!
• Second session I rigged up a small dry bag as a kind of paddle float, gaffer (duct) taped to the paddle blade. Using this I practised hip flicking back up from horizontal with body mostly in the water and kayak tipped over on top of me. As I got the hang of it I reduced the amount of air in the bag more and more until there was none and I could capsize and flick up. Then I went for a few rolls, and got two but with no consistency at all.
• Third time I used my new Greenland paddle. First few practices at capsizing and flicking back up were unpromising - the lack of a large blade made this type of recovery harder. But I found I could scull and pretty much support myself. So I went for a roll and within a couple of goes had cracked it. The secret (for me) was recovering right back up while sweeping rather than trying to sweep until the paddle was at 90 degrees to the boat and I was on my side, then flicking up in a separate movement. After another go I could also fully support myself capsized, and recover, by sculling.

Having never had any tuition or seen anyone roll in the flesh I was pretty pleased, but I'm sure my roll is very poor compared to most! But I did then manage to roll first time with a Euro paddle and with a different kayak (the blue Dagger in the last pic) so I hope it wasn't just luck. I also need to learn to do it on the other side.

My three top tips from this process would be:

• Learn in shallow water so you can push yourself up with the paddle if you fail the roll. Even though I didn't manage to push up every time, it saved so much time and energy compared to having to wet exit every time.
• Wear goggles: being ablt to easily see what you're doing underwater helped me a lot, and wearing contact lenses I needed goggles for this.
• I'm sure it was worth learning the recovery from capsized before trying the full roll.

It should also go without saying that you've got to practise and be confident in doing a wet exit before you start, and despite me doing most of the above alone it would be much safer to have a partner, ideally one who knew what they were doing!

Another picture, showing the shape next to a Dagger Charleston 'plastic fantastic'. It is *so* much nicer than the plastic one:

• hugely lighter


• much more attractive


• much better tracking while nearly as manoeverable


• generally much easier to make it do precisely what you want - more delicate and more of an extension of the body.

Nearly done!

Nearly done! I finalised the design basically as per the previous post, and got cracking. I was slowed down a bit by the panels produced by DelftShip not being the right shape (it appears it can't cope with twist at all) but once I'd modified them a bit I was in business. Because of this I think the shape has ended up not precisely as I designed it - slightly less rise in the stern - but its pretty close.

This is the first test paddle. It's not finished at this point: it's fully glassed inside and out and I've just done the taping of the deck/hull seams with the masking tape still in place in this pic. But bulkheads, cockpit coaming, footrest and back band are all missing. But it floated so I thought I'd try it out to check it was worth finishing!

So, what was it like? Well, the idea was a kayak which was

• a bit shorter and lighter than most - check! (about 15'8" and (guess) 30lbs so far)
• straight tracking - check! On the limited paddle I've had so far I think I've cracked this.
• No weather-cocking - check! There was a decent breeze and I *think* this is going to be OK.
• stable - check! It is positively stable for me at rest, unlike the Point Bennett. But not too stable.
• Manoeverable - check! At least compared to my Point Bennett, which is very hard tracking, first trial suggests this one is much more manoeverable.

So I'm very pleased so far! However, one extra thing I'd like, but didn't really think about much beforehand, is the ability to alter course with leaning. I don't think this is going to work, boo. I wasn't tipping it much cos I didn't have the cockpit coaming on, so there's still a chance, but I don't think it will work even then. Loads of bow rocker and the chine above the waterline at the bow particularly are the culprits I suspect. So at present that's the only thing I think I might change if I were doing it again - otherwise I'm very pleased indeed. But longer sea trials will reveal all - and I'll add more comments when I've experimented further.

If you look closely you'll also see a Greenland paddle I've made, which I've now fallen in love with. So much lighter than my old Euro paddles (see previous grumbles!). I also love the ability to do sliding strokes, which I find I'm using all the time.