thinking ultralight, In rough water , (for instance three foot breaking whitecaps)
Would one be stronger than the other?
For instance if both boats were loaded with camping gear and you were crashing off waves could their be a chance of the carbon kevlar boat breaking up ?
I am not talking about crashing down on a beach, but just out in the open water in a stormy condition.
cheers,
JackL
23 lb RapidFire did fine
not even a creak. Its got the right fabric in the right spots.
In the Gulf…loaded early on a week long Everglades trip. Whitecaps,yes. Not sure they were three footers… There was some pancaking off waves but more of the two foot range.
That sounds good
What is the material, and does it have gel coat or is it ultralight ?
I thought the Rapidfire was a canoe?
cheers,
jackL
Kim’s RapidFire
Is made by Placid boatworks in my old home town of Lake Placid, It has an outer gel layer, a layer of carbon with a carbon spine, a double layer Kevlar bottom, a double layer carbon diamond and a double inner layer of Kevlar, with copious stem reinforcement; 37 pieces of fabric in all, with two more CobraSox sleeves over foam for rails. It’s eight layers thick under the paddler and ten layers thick in the stems.
Completely outfitted with carbon seat, carbon float tanks, foot pegs, backband and two CobraSox thwarts and grab bar and dymondwood decks it weighs just under 25 lbs and is very stiff, strong and fast.
The stiffness, ruggedness and weight are a combination of laminate engineering and infusion technology. It’s a rugged ultralight with gelcoat!
It’s the layup that matters
Any of the typical materials can produce a very durable boat if it’s laid up properly. As a general rule, Kevlar adds strength and puncture resistance and carbon fiber adds stiffness. Kevlar also has much better abrasion resistance, as carbon fiber is pretty poor in that regard, but hopefully, that will never matter.
you can regard RF as a topless
(got your attention?) kayak paddled from a sit on the bottom position.
Or with an extra belly band of CF(is there an extra Kev layer in there too? I don’t know…I have always been blindfolded LOL) it can be paddled kneeling.
A hull is a hull. Both kayaks and canoes for most purposes I figure would have significant forces from the same direction.
Ok, I knew all that and
I have a Savage River carbon kevlar canoe built similar to the above posts, but point me to a kayak built the same way without a gel coat outer finish and preferably with a plumb bow, (for speed), that could take pounding off waves with the hatches full of camping gear.
Cheers,
JackL
Warren Little Wing
is one kayak that is all carbon fiber, does not have a gel coat, and that is structurally strong in big waves although extemely light weight (28-Lbs for a 15.5-ft), and with watertight hatches. There may be others.
Does it have to be a kayak?
I’ve read about Huki surfskis being outfitted for gear hauling for multi-day marathon races. Would something like that work for you, or do you want a kayak that you can put a skirt on and stay relatively dry?
The foam core in the Little Wing
can get crushed though. I would hate to have to fix it.
VECTRAN?
I’m in contact with a company that claims to be the sole USA weaver of Vectrtan and have been waiting for a suitable order to tag in on for over a year. How did those guys get Vectran?