So I was looking at my book “Sea kayaking”, written by Dereck Huntsmen (Might be off a tad on the name, he designed the orion). Anyways, This book was from the late 70s. In this section about poly, he emphasized many serious cons of poly- which dramatically outweighed the pros. he talked about how hard it was to install parts, how they oil-canned, saged if you left them on the roof rack on a hot summer day, the deck buckles, it chemically degrades, it has to be stored on the gunwhale ETC. Well, I store my Pamlico 140 on its hull and its midsection is resting on a rolled rug so the bow and stern which is rockered are suspended in mid air not resting on anything. And the bow and stern are still above the ground and hasnt saged to the ground, and I have no support in that boat either. Has polyethylene dramatically improved on these things over the years?? wouldnt my boat’s hiighest point be in the middle if this was true?
;youre right
RM boats have improved dramantically in the past 20 years—most new boats, at least the ones made by reputable manufactures don’t oil can or get mishaped hull any where near like they used to. And BTW I think you are talking about Derek Hutchinson, a brit who is regarded by many(including himself) as the father of modern sea kayaking
Along the way…
I think there were advances the peaked out and now are on a downturn again.
When Necky made there SOTS in Canada I bought my first kayak. The plastic was very stiff and hard you could hardly scratch it. It had a lot of black specks visible and was touted as being cross-linked super poly or something like that. I remember something being said like it wasn’t recycleable so they (now Ocean Kayak) went back to using the common milk bottle poly… Or maybe it was a cost thing?
Anyway I still see that "Made in Canada’ SOT around and it still looks great.
I have noticed the same with WS
I have a few older Wilderness Systems kayaks that are in great shape compared to ones made out of their Gen2 plastic. Necky also continued to make a tandem (Amaruk) out of their ‘older’ plastic because it was very durable. Sadly, they discontinued the model recently.
You will also find that when Derek loves something (which is rare) he really loves it, and when he hates something (very common) he really hates it.
Amaruk not dead.
It will be re-released this year as a Looksha Tandem. Virtually the same hull, as it was a winner, but more ergo cockpits, better hatches, inserted RDF deck fittings etc. SuperLinear poly. It looks to be a terrific update of a super boat.
paddled an amaruk
for the first time last sunday—a buddy of mine and his wife paddled with me from searsport to belfast–the wife didn’t want to paddle back in the wind and waves that had kicked up so I paddled in the front of my friend’s amaruk—I’ve been paddleing over 20 years that was my first time in a tandem—interesting feeling not having total control of the boat. But a good stable boat—you could land an airplane on it.
I’ve seen plenty of oilcanning
on new boats. Wilderness Systems, Necky, etc. Short-term storage hull bends are usually temporary, but combine these with high temperature in the sun for some time and they get pretty permanent from what I've seen.
There are other plastics however, used on boats from Hurricane, Eddyline, Delta and others, that are not the same "poly" as the majority of other use. Unlike "Poly", these plastic boats are said to be easily repairable, stiffer, lighter, more scratch resistant. They generally cost more and fall b/w plastic and fiberglass boats of the same type in terms of price (exception is Hurricane, which seems to price themselves similar to "regular" plastic boats).
P&H has a three-layer plastic hull that IMO is stiffer and stronger than regular poly, though it is still poly.
Also quality varies b/w models, production batches, and hull shapes. By looking at a number of WS Tsunami hulls (not the air light or whatever they call the thinner plastic) I saw most of them were wavy. The Tempests were less wavy on the store shelves, but the two demo Tempests I had the pleasure to paddle both had severe oilcanning dents from storage that seemed quite permanent and could only potentially be removed with heat reshaping of some sort.
Lastly, several of the Liquid Logic Tryon boats I checked on shelves had more or less curved keel lines. Some of it was due IMO to the mold used as they all had it in the same area, but others had a large arc there instead of straight line, that was just due to improper storage for a long time.
I’ve owned an RM Tempest since 03
still as straight as the day I bought it and it has seen a lot of hard use—but I do store it out of sunlight and don’t leave it on a car rack for extended periods of time.
I sure hope mine will remain good too
Expecting delivery of a new '07 RM Tempest 170 tomorrow. Based on my limited experience storing and using my Tsunami before it, I think there should be no hull issues with it for many years to come.
Jackson
uses cross-linked PE for their current boats and superlinear PE for the old models in continued production.
you be good to those babies
and they’ll be good to you.
Jackson…
You’re correct, and they’re one of the only manufacturers using Cross Linked… It’s more expensive, but in my experience, it holds up VERY well!!! (Very hard to repair if needed though… )
“The father of modern kayaking”
"(Including Himself)"
Priceless! I used to have a lot of respect for the guy… but I’ve read too many of his single-minded ramblings. The guy can’t seem to say anything nice about the accomplishments of anyone in kayaking aside from himself.
Paddle the hell out of it and
scrape the hell out of the hull! That’s what the designer would wish for you…I’d bet beer on it. It’s a kayak…go wear it out…if you can.
“father” of modern sea kayaking
not “sweetheart” of modern sea kayaking
I’m sorry I had to delete the part where
we were talking about how my kayak was stored. It triggered an OCD attack. please bear with me.
Sure, no problem…
Could happen to anyone…
Polythene Pam!
Wasn’t that a Beatles song on the Abbey Road album?
OCD, basically,
makes you worry about issues WAY more than most people worry about them. When I get an OCD attack, it causes physical pain because my mind is so unrest. It gives you headaches, imsomnia, loss of appetite, its no minor thing and I wish people would respect that.
don’t worry
about it—It’s your thread and you can delete the whole thing if you want to. As far as storing your kayak probably doesnt make a great deal of difference and if the bottom is still straight, then who cares right?