Was looking through the Valley catalog recently and doing a bit of dreaming. Noticed they offer a 3 piece option for some or all of the models. Made me wonder - what does one give up if they went with 3 piece?
I figure the 3 pieces together will be a little heavier in total (with basically two extra bulkhead walls and some attachment materials needed).
Was wondering if there is more to it that this? Is their extra water drag at the seam between pieces? Is the connection a weak point, such that you need to be worried about some of the forces a kayak can see at odd times (like getting hammered in the surf)?
What’s the scoop on these take apart boats?
three piece
The three piece has a little more drag vs. the single piece. No matter how well it’s built there is always a dip between the pieces that causes some drag. Impossible to make a 90 degree sharp corner with fiberglass that has any strength, there’s always some (small) radius to those corners.
Bill H.