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#1
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Shortening a kayak?
How about posting pics of them, are they sea kayaks...or perhaps old slalom
racing boats? Either way, if they are being trashed anyway, why not experiment? From a face value POV, I would keep the ends intact as not to drastically change the handling characteristics (although any alteration will do this to some degree) and remove the volume from the middle say just in front of and just behind the cockpit? Keep it symetrical. wrote in message ups.com... Dear All, I have recently acquired 2 fibreglass kayaks. Given our lack of storage space, I am considering shortening them. Has anyone done this before? I have done some research into glass fibre moulding, and if I was to do it, was planning on making a male mould that I would leave wedged into the cut ends and lay the fibre over it. My brother has some experience of glass fibre moulding and is prepared to advise too. One is 3900 long, the other 4200 long. The width is around 600mm. I have calculated the volume of the shorter one as being around 360 litres. Surely I can afford to lose some volume given that some modern kayaks are as little as 180 litres and I'm not that heavy? I read a little somewhere about people shortening plastic kayaks, so I would have thought this would be more straightforward? I know it could be quite time consuming and messy but it seems a shame not to make use of kayaks that would otherwise have been destined for landfill! I have had some advice from another couple of forums advising that the paddling efficiency could be reduced, this is not too much of a problem as I will only be covering short distances on a placid local river. I understand that bouyancy and waterline depth will be affected too. Any thoughts/advice gratefully received! Regards, Nick |
#2
posted to rec.boats.paddle
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Shortening a kayak?
Thanks for that, I hadn't thought of cutting them that way!
That might be an easier way of going about it. I'll have another look at them with that in mind! As for kayak type, one has Kiwi (Perception?) and Slalom on it so I'd guess it is an old slalom one as you suggested. The other one is unmarked. As you say, I've little to lose by experimenting! Cheers, Nick |
#3
posted to rec.boats.paddle
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Shortening a kayak?
Have a look at the pictures on these websites and see if your kayak has
a similar design: http://www.canoeslalom.co.uk/ http://www.jacksonkayak.com/kayaks06/ricochet.cfm wrote: Thanks for that, I hadn't thought of cutting them that way! That might be an easier way of going about it. I'll have another look at them with that in mind! As for kayak type, one has Kiwi (Perception?) and Slalom on it so I'd guess it is an old slalom one as you suggested. The other one is unmarked. As you say, I've little to lose by experimenting! Cheers, Nick |
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