what about scratches? the question of repairing molded plastic boats came
up today in rec.boats.building. the rule of thumb is one season's
scratches reduces canoe and kayak hull speed 5% (increases hull resistance
about 5%). not much of a concern to white water paddlers perhaps but
purveyors of moulded plastic kayaks expect purchasers to pay thousands of
dollars for surperior performance over long distances. yet the salesrep I
asked about repairing scratches said to ignore them. seems silly when
people are paying high prices for paddles to reduce the paddling effort
while their hulls take on the skin resistance of porcupines. sadly I've
watched staff toss rental kayaks about like firewood. at the evening
demos I've been frequenting they drag them across the sand, and effective
abraisive. plastic boats may not break from this type of handling but
they sure get sctratched up.

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