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(William R. Watt) wrote in
:

Brian Nystrom ) writes:

It would cost no more to custom design a plywood kayak built with
computer cut panels than to design a mass produced plywood kayak
built with computer cut panels.

How do you figure that?

companies like Chesapeke(?) Light Craft and Pygmy Boats sell plywood
boats and kits make from computer cut panels. people buy the boats or
they can assemble the kits themselves and save a lot of money.

Both CLC and Pygmy offer a line of designs that one can build either from
computer cut panels or from a set of plans and cut the panels according to
the plans. They don't offer custom designs. If for example, someone wanted
a CLC Northbay, but wanted it 21" wide instead of 20" and 17'6" long instead
of 18'6" long the only way they'd be able to do that is take the standard
set of plans, modify them, then cut the panels according to the modified
plans. CLC isn't going to provide a modified set of plans, nor would they
provide computer cut panels for a custom designed Northbay. We'll, they
might, but at a considerably higher price than what one would pay for a
standard CLC Northbay.

Even for the standard models, while the plans + materials or a kit costs
less than a similarly designed composite boat, when one adds in the cost of
tools necessary to build it, extras like varnish, and the cost of labor, I'm
not sure that in the end one will save "a lot of money".
]

... The most efficient hulls (least wetted surface
for a given displacement) are rounded in shape, which cannot be built
from flat panels. The cost to produce a mold for a one-off design is
prohibitive. One could have a boat custom designed and strip built,
but how many people are going to pay in excess of $5000 for a kayak?

yes, avoiding moulds for building resin boats one off was my point.
you can custom design and build a plywood or a "stripper" boat cheaper.

While many people can and do build plywood or stripper boats (I've built one
of each) most kayakers don't build their own boats. No matter what boat
anyone chooses to own there are trade-offs. Many don't have the space or
woodworking skills (or at least they think they don't) to build their own.
Many would rather pay the extra cost to have a boat built for them rather
than spend the time to do it themselves. In that case, they can buy a boat
built from a mold or have something custom built (to the tune of $5000+ for
a cedar stripper as Brian mentioned).

For many, the most efficient hull for flat out forward speed performance
might not be desirable. An efficient hull optomized for higher speeds is
going to have some trade offs in manoeveribility and stability. While there
are many kayakers for which a highly efficient hull optomized for paddling
at high speeds for long distances is very important, I would guess that most
kayakers want a boat does other things efficiently as well.

For example, one of the most popular production boats on the market is the
NDK Romany. There are certainly faster boats available, but the Romany is
"fast enough", is fairly manoeverable, handles rough water well, and is
constructed strong enough that it can handle a variety of paddling
environments.
Such an approach to designing would answer the buyer's perrenial
question "which kayak is right for me?".

Not if they don't understand the information. Most won't and they're
not going to be willing to learn about hydrodynamics in order to do
so.

all part of the education of the paddling public.

I would imagine that most of the paddling public isn't really interested in
hydrodynamics. It's a lot easier to go out, try a few boats, and buy the
one that fits their needs the best.

I think people can relate to how much power it should take a person of
a given weight to get the boat to go a certain speed than to how many
pounds of resitance the boat should have at a that speed, especially
when you tell them how much power an average person can sustain
paddling.

If paddlers were only concerned about paddling at a high speed for long
distances you might have a point, but paddling is much more than that.

I also think people could relate better to how tall they
should be or how much they should weigh for a given kayak than just to
say "for light people" as the brochures usually do.

While there are some that will buy a kayak based on the stats or brochure
(and the appearance of the boat), pretty much every paddler with experience
will recommend that one actually sit in a paddle a boat before buying it.
It doesn't take a brochure to tell me that a boat is too small if the
cockpit is so tight that it cuts off circulation to my legs.

I've actually seen a lot of queries about "what kayak is right for me"
and I suspect its because of the high cost of the boats which makes
people stop and think.

That question is typically asked by people that have very little experience
in kayaks, and is often accompanied with little addtional data that would
help answer the question. I've answered the question many times, and
usually recommended several models with the suggestion to try as many as
possible and decide for themselves what kayak is right for them.

Kayaks and canoes cost more than bikes, skis,
and skateboards.

I don't know what a skateboard costs but it's certainly possible to spend
more a bicycle or snow skis than on a kayak.