New to this forum but not new to the sport. I’ve had plenty of experience in various canoes and constructions and am also a boat builder as well. I wanted to bring to light the construction of many of the 80’s- 90’s solo composite canoes.
Most of the solo canoe revolution companies of this time were building composite layup boats with no core and added layers of fabric. Think mad river, curtis, old sawyers. This allows for a lot of flex in the hull and obviously has some drawbacks. They are heavier layups typically when compared to today’s cored solos and less rigid.
I have a kevlar curtis nomad that on paper is a great shape (minus a tad too much rocker in the stern for true lake paddling). The issue with the boat is the flex. The hull flattens out a full 1/4" or more when seated due to the hung seat. When shifting to more pressure on the knees it fairs better but when paddling hard you can feel the flattening of the hull (i race paddle as well so am fairly aware of how a rigid hull feels). Sometimes I hit and switch in the boat if I need to get anywhere quickly and in that position you can really notice the lack of rigidity in the hull.
What I am wondering is: would it be crazy to add a core to the boat to try and keep its shape and bottom rounder while underway? I know that flex does aid in taking impacts but it is gel coated originally and on any big hit that would crack anyways. Is this a quirk of this generation of boat I just have to deal with? The boat has great lines but struggles to keep them while underway.