not discontinued
But the Solstices are being given their first serious face lift in many years. Expect easier to use hatches, lower deck profiles, and comfier cockpit layouts.
thanks nermal
I always respect your input.
The dealer to whom I spoke def. said “discontinued” shaking his head in mystification that CD would drop their foundation series. So maybe there was some honest confusion on his part which in turn was relayed to me.
OTOH he did seem really sure of what he said…hopefully he heard wrong.
A good facelift would be welcomed for this fine series of boats.
Infinity
http://www.cdkayak.com/products/template/product_detail.php?IID=220&&
pretty tippy IMO
steve
10# Lighter
I was amazed when I lifted a new AA. They are much lighter than those around 5 years ago. Mine weighs around 60# ready to go and it is average. OTOH, the older ones had extra FG reinforcement on the deck in front of cockpit and along keel as well as lots of gelcoat which takes years to abrade through. Wonder if they are still made to be tougher (not necessarily stronger) that way.
Valley does vaccum bag
– Last Updated: Jul-22-09 8:50 AM EST –
At least per their web site...
http://www.valleyseakayaks.com/rapier18.htm
Click on Pro-Kevlar Construction for instance... Don't know if they do it for all models though. My Rapier certailnly looks vaccum bagged with a very "dry" layup.
Cypress only weighs 44 lbs
Guess from your discussion, this is light for a brit boat?
deb
Rapier yes
that’s true, tx 4 the link. I was talking about North Shore and their vacuum bagging for seakayaks. The Rapier, a fine boat, is in a specialized niche which is a bit different in construction and purpose than a typical Brit boat.
If anyone can confirm that Valley vac-bags any of their traditional designs pls. put it out there, thanks. I know that they decided to go that route w. North Shore - actually saw some gorgeous new NS models on an Australian outfitter’s website - and have heard that Nigel Dennis may follow suit in some models. But Valley has been untypically quiet in that regard.
yup
that’s a really enjoyable weight for a boat of that length. That’s one reason why CD has been vac-bagging and they’ve gotten pretty good at it doing so for just a little over 20 years.
did you pick up your Cypress yet?
I hope you will be so delighted w. your boat and forgive the delay. It is a PITA to ship a composite boat solo and CD had to do the best it could w. midseason transport schedules. At least they didn’t just throw it on some general carrier and hope it didn’t arrive in pieces!
Valley Vacuum Infusion
Vacuum Infusion is a step up from vacuum bagged. Infusion is where excess resin is sucked through and out of the lay-up while bagging is when the resin is just pressed into the lay-up. Both make for a lighter lay-up.
From what I’ve been told.
vacuum infusion
good bit of info there, as always, right on time. thanks.
From a few minutes of nosing around online I found that Epic also vac infuses and Tahe Kayaks offers it as an option. There surely are others, esp. those shops specializing in racing hulls.
What I can’t find is some independent description of the real value of vac bagging and vac infusion, or an independent comparision of the two. That would be enlightening.
Based on the descriptions I can find (sans marketing hype), it seems both use less material in a more efficient and stronger process that can be a marked improvement over hand lamination. I hedge by saying “can be” because a very masterly hand laminated layup may be a fair match for either. There certainly are enough people who build and glass their own (individuals and very small shops) that there is a very high level of craftsmanship possible.
Either method esp. on a large production scale (or as large a production as making composite seakayaks can be!) would give overall greater precision and a better result than mass produced hand layups… the new methodologies may satisfy the continuing market push for ever lighter boats, even at seakayak lengths, without the fallout of overly flexy decks that tend to cave during normal use and/or rescues. Or maybe not. It’s a precarious plank for kayak builders.
This is an exciting time in kayak technology, using ne methods to create a shape that would be recognizable to an Inuit hunter of 10,000 years ago! Strange juxtaposition!
Wood is still king…
My Nordlow Ultra weighed the same as my Pygmy Arctic Tern but cost more than 4X as much, and Ceder strip is even lighter than stitch & glue.
If you are willing to invest some time and labor you can have something better than the latest technology.
well, I think there are princes
no material is king. They all have pros and cons.
Humans are very inventive. They’ve used papyrus, animal skins and bladders, bones, cork, wood, bark, iron and steel to build boats -from the smallest personal craft to the largest working vessels. And now modern technology gives us more options. If it works for somebody’s needs who am I to say it’s not the right material?
Got It!
Got it today!!! Tom got home early from work, so we ate an early dinner and just got back from her maiden voyage on a local lake. LOVE the magenta! and the yellow gold of the kevlar hull is beautiful.
The fabric I’ve picked out for the paddle, just happens to match the boat colors perfectly! I have to wait a couple of weeks (save a few pennies) then maybe I can get the paddle made.
Aug 1st Tom & I are participating in an American Cancer Society “Relay for Life” paddle on the Withlacoochee River in Citrus County. Our leg is a 15 mile paddle, we are going for time. The Cypress is not only going to be a GREAT boat for this paddle, should be a big hit with the color as well. We’re going out this weekend too, but we had so much fun this evening, Going to try to get a few more early evening paddles in.
Thanks for all your emotional support while waiting for my boat. Now, Let’s all paddle!
deb
CD Boats need more fiberglass
I have an issue with CD boats. The old ones are solid boats, but the issue I have is how they are cutting down on the amount of fiberglass used to drop the weight. I was looking at a Gulf Stream until I could push both side of the bottom in where the boat flares up. Hit a rock and you got yourself some fiberglass repairs not to mention weight added for repairs. I am not a boat builder, but there are materials to use that make boats lighter ie. K-Lite,carbon kevlar. My new Impex K-Lite comes in at 47 Lbs. Have any owners of these boats had problems that actually paddle them in tough conditions???
Just took a puncture
– Last Updated: Jul-24-09 8:45 AM EST –
Side surfed on to a beach and got poked by another stripper stern and it drove a 3/8 hole into my hull. 4 oz cloth over redwood. I don't know if a common glass boat would have been punctured? Strippers are strong and can take a surprisingly good amount of abrasion with two layers of 4 oz cloth on the bottom but obviously they can be punctured by a sharp object. Kevlar would not allow the puncture but still might require repair. With all paddle craft, the strength / weight ratio is dependent on the power source and practicality of carrying it. This is the first time in at least 15 years that my stripper(s) have been wounded - and I don't baby them. I think it was the pointy shape because I have landed on rocks and only sustained scratches.
flexibility
it doesn’t always mean less durable. But plain old 24oz woven roving seemed to work just fine.
How do they drop the weight
Flex is bad when you are talking about fiberglass. Spider cracking is one example I can think of.
review of the CD Infiniti
just off the press from Adventure Kayak:
http://www.adventurekayakmag.com/adventurekayakmag_fall09/
In partial answer to the OP’s question, the Infiniti is new this year and the Cypress first appears in the 2008 catalog. Seems to take a few seasons for the number of boats circulating to result in any meaningful numbers of reviews or even quick demo takes by the paddling public.
How can you compare
A standard glass layup to another companies premium layup which costs over a thousand dollars more? Sure there is a stiffness difference. But I bet if you give Current Designs an extra thousand dollars they can build a better boat. for the price, CD’s glass is a great deal for those with weight issues.
Well,
my 1998 Caribou has been heavily used, abused, and bounced off numerous rocks and beaches. I’ve had to put a keel strip on the stern, but it took me 6 years to wear the gelcoat off to need it. I don;t count that as an issue – ANY kayak will need that eventually.
I also pitchpoled it when it was brand new, and tore a chunk off the tip of the stern when it hit a jetty during the pitchpole. I’ve done a few repairs to it, and most of them were from extreme use that would damage any composite kayak. And at 11 years old, she’s still in solid serviceable condition. And she has a number of “Beauty marks” from being used. Nobody can accuse me of babying her.
And not a spider crack to be seen. Anywhere.
My better half’s much-worshipped NDK Explorer spider cracked on the deck after a month’s use, and she babies her boats. Spider cracking is more often caused by too much gelcoat (An NDK trademark), and a flex point - in her case, the rear dayhatch bulkhead. A proper layup can flex and not spider crack. In fact, ALL kayaks flex.