Interesting design ideas: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ijFRMuYFIgA
Too bad the videographer had such poor technique. I wanted to see the kayak and the parts that were being demonstrated rather than the inventor talking about it. And for pity sake, narrow the Field of View on the GoPro to reduce the barrel distortion.
Still, interesting variation on other take apart kayaks. Be interesting to see what the price tag looks like and whether it will follow the tradition of British kayaks that favor smaller paddlers.
He mentioned something about a couple design patents pending; perhaps the video slight was intentional. Nevertheless, I find the whole sectional aspect interesting. I know there have been other companies who have attempted it, with varying degrees of success. This design looks a bit more robust than others I’ve seen, and might appeal to city dwellers who don’t have a garage to store a sea kayak.
Wait till sand gets between sections and you try to separate it. Hopefully my suspicion is wrong. My guess minimum 10 grand in USA.
That will depend on the price, I’m sure. But with all the thought that went into the design some consideration about the price point was surely factored in. Bet it’s north of $5,000 though.
Really? Is there any non-pro/non-competition kayak out there at that price point? $5,000 wouldn’t surprise me but it would seem anyone with that kind of money wouldn’t have storage or transport issues and would only buy it as a “look what I got” vanity toy.
Agree that care would have to be taken. In the video, Steve was taking a lot of care picking stuff off the pins before he put them back in. But yeah, just look at all the problems two piece paddles have!
Average composite sea kayak is 4500+ without blinking nevermind all carbon fiber, 4 sections, and all the special shapes involved that lock it together. Shipping from down under .
Never had a two piece CF paddle problem.
You can buy a high performance folding kayak, the 44 pound Nautiraid Nook, for about $3700. Or, if you have tge patience of Job and don’t mind prepaying in full to get your boat in 2 years (if at all) there is the slick Trak 2.0 for $3850.
I will be interested to see what this new carbon thing weighs and how bulky it is to travel with. And I would cringe to think of it in the hands of baggage handlers inlessit was in a bulletproof trunk. Not easy to repair damage either. Bespoke toy for those with deep pockets, I imagine.
There have been many modular sectional kayaks over the years. Even the legendary Nordkapp expeditionary composite kayak could be custom ordered as a 3 piece that bolted together, and at least one skin on frame builder I know of made a sea kayak with wood frame and ballistic nylon and epoxy skin that broke down into in 3 sections.
Def this bespoke carbon toy will be WAY north of $5000. My 15’ 9” Feathercraft Wisper folding sea kayak (hand crafted in Canada) was $4500 new in 2010.
I agree, crappy video. Mostly viewing the inventor’s bald head instead of showing anything he is demonstrating on the boat, That skeg mechanism looks over complicated. And that wide gutter he was so proud of around the coaming? Better be a custom snug rand neo skirt for that. You could put baby alligators in that moat
It’s 52.xx lb.
Not sure does skudder he has kick up? I may have missed that. Not watching the painful video again.
That doesn’t look “easy to take on a plane”. The cockpit section is oversize, and the other four pieces would require a second oversize bag or two regular bags. I don’t think the cockpit section will fit in your average taxi or rental car either. The main advantage I see is that you could store it in an apartment.
Easy to take on a plane? Look up airlines damaging wheelchairs. It’s appalling. And lately requiring even more federal intervention because airlines really don’t care all that much about destroying them.
Carbon fiber boat and baggage handlers? I gotta see this.
I always thought it would have been a cool feature to have the day hatch as an optional add-on, so if you ever wanted to day paddle with a 15-foot boat, then you could simply don’t make it part in the assembly. Or take add it along for when you need the extra equipment space to do a week-long trip. But how to design a hull that would accommodate both conditions is above my pay-grade.
Re airline travel practicality: this is my Pakboat folder in an airline standard rolling duffel when I flew with it to the UK. Packed bag is 32" x 16" x 14" and weighs 48 pounds – boat itself is only 24 lbs. The “exploded” pic shows everything packed in it including 4 piece carbon shaft paddle, all my safety gear, PFD, paddling clothes and even a Malone inflatable roof rack kit for the rental station wagon I had for the trip.
This was 2017 and IcelandAir allowed a passenger 2 bagsunder 50 pounds each free of luggage charges. Nothing damaged despite 6 flight legs. And I could pull it myself through airports, and onto shuttles and trains while carrying the rest of my clothing and toiletries for the trip in a convertible internal frame backpack.
This was only a 12’ kayak (since I was paddling small inland rivers in the UK) but I have a seaworthy 14’ one that packs just as compactly as well as two 16’ folders (one that can be solo or tandem) that are each under 40 pounds and can be packed about the size of a large golf or downhill ski bag. Any of them while packed can be carried into a hotel room or stashed in the trunk of a car.
Not tempted by bulky modulars.
@PaddleDog52 - Steve (the guy talking) said that the “skeg”, or more properly the skudder as you said, was pulled up and down solely by the paddler’s feet. No sliders or cords. I do agree with @willowleaf - the mechanism looks finicky. Kinda weird that Steve said you could store things in that section. I’d think you run the risk of something shifting and impeding the rotating mechanism. Wonder how the kayak handles without the optional skeg.
The paddlers around here (Chesapeake Bay) routinely struggle to get their two piece Werner paddles apart. We’re talking two paddlers pulling opposite directions with all their might. Werner is famous (infamous?) for blaming the paddler for not flushing the joint after every paddle to remove sand and salt. I don’t think the camlock style paddles have the same problem. Not had the problem with my GearLab GL but my new one did come with a packet of lube, which I won’t use. Gooey lube and sand? Don’t think so.
Steve said the actual kayak in the video had traveled thousands of miles on multiple flights, packed into 3 bags. Maybe just lucky? No mention of over size baggage charges or what the bags looked like. But then I couldn’t make past about 1/2 way in the video.