Hi all. Wondering if anyone has ever put together a chronological listing of the various configurations of the Nordkapp. Think it'd be neat to assemble a list of era-by-era physical characteristics of these wonderful boats. I just bought a Nordy HM that has a combination of characteristics that I hadn't read about before.
Mine is a '91 model (as indicated by the last 2 digits of the Serial Number?), and has the following characteristics:
. Length: 18'0"
. Beam: 20.5"
. Deck front height: 13"
. Cockpit rear height: 10.5"
. Ocean Cockpit
. Round front hatch and Oval rear hatch
. Chimp Pump on starboard side, in lieu of day hatch
. Modern Brunton/Silva compass recess aft of front hatch
Thoughts? I have read the UK Sea Kayak Guidebook webpage, but had never before seen this particular combination on a 'Kapp. Thanks!
The date is on the boat already
The last two digits of the serial number indicate the year of manufacture.
dpcdivr
Welcome to the NOrdkapp club. I own a 1997 Nord HM carb Kev with Henderson deck pump, ocean cockpit (yours has an OC, too? You like?), and compass.
Yeah!
http://coolkayaker1.blogspot.com/2009/01/valley-nordkapp-carbon-kevlar-with.html
Thanks!
Year of MFG is actually a '91. My initial post updated to reflect this. Thanks for the info! 
Understood, thanks.
Problem is, the info on this site is quite lacking. Note, for example, that my particular combination of attributes is not found on this site. Another example, after reading the pages referenced on the UK site (many times), I had mistakenly thought that all pre-Jubilee Nordys were 17’2". Nope, mine is 18’0".
Thus my initial comment that it would ne neat to somehow formulate a listing of all the combinations found throughout the years. Might this be too difficult a task?
What I like about mine is the
carb Kev ultra (deck and hull) placing it at 44 lbs.
What I don’t like is the high rear deck height which is very limiting for a layback roll.
Agreed!
It also makes it a bit difficult to enter the small-ish Ocean Cockpit (6’0", 210#). I also find the footpeg mounting locations to be best suited to someone about 5’10", max, or with a short-ish inseam.
I have a 1990 Anas
with ocean cockpit and two round hatches. The hatch covers have the metal band and clamp. The footbrace is interesting. It consists of two fiberglass shelves that stick out into the cockpit. They each have several parallel holes drilled in them. An aluminum bar is the footbrace. It is mounted across the cockpit and is adjusted by moving the bolts to different holes. Here’s a picture of the footbrace:
http://good-times.webshots.com/photo/2744564550083735802LTUsmy
This
all sounds standard for that year…not sure where you saw anything about 17 foot 2 inches (that is the length of the Anas Acuta and the pintail)…they all ran around 17 ’ 10 to 18 foot depending on shrinkage as the boat cured and when put together…the width is standard for that year and so are the deck heights and the compass recess…
seems like you need to check your source.
ocean cockpit was also standard…the other option was the Slalom cockpit and then it would be called a HMC Nordkapp instead of a HM which stands for Hatches (H) and Modified Hull (M)
Best Wishes
Roy
Best wishes
Roy
Pre-Jubilee Nordkapps
Here is Valley's own articulation of Nordkapp variations for 1985 - note the dimensions given are 545 long x 54 beam x 37 deep (17'10" x 21.25" x 14.5"):
Got it, thanks!
I downloaded that graphic awhile back, during my literature search. Note that the 1985 boat dimensions have nothing in common with mine.
I understand that there have been over a dozen varieties of Nordkapp over the years (starting to sound like several more than that), and I just thought it would be interesting to put them all in some sort of list. Thanks again.
boat dimensions
Given kayak model dimensions can vary a good bit from actual measures of a boat. I've found the actual measures given by Sea kayaker Magazine to be pretty much the same as I get when measuring boats.
For example, Valley gives the length of the Standard Nordkapp (H2O) as 18' whereas SK got 17' 11". For the Nordkapp LV, Valley states 17'6" whereas both SK and I get 17' 5.5". Pretty inconsequential differences. Also note that Valley gives the overall exterior height of the boat as its depth whereas SK measures the inside depth.
As noted above there is shrinkage as a boat cures. There are also changes as a result of new molds from used plugs (corrected due to more knowledgable post below).
The measures that amuse me are those NDK (SKUK) now gives for length of the Explorer. They used to give 17'6" which is what SK got and I also got measuring three different Explorers of varying vintage. However, sometime after 2005, NDK started stating the length of the Explorer as 17'8". There has been no change to the boat and I've never gotten an answer on why they changed the stated length. The Valley Aquanaut is 17'7" (both stated and actual measure) and I'd wondered if NDK decided their comparable boat needed to be said to be longer - it is a very male organization ;-)
Some of these difference as stated also reflect manner of conversion between metric and imperial measures and how they are rounded.
From my limited understanding, molds get bigger with time - scraping removes miniscule amounts of material causing the boat to become bigger.
Explorer is listed as 5.40 m, which 212.6 inches. That is 17 feet and 8.6 inches.
It’s
not the mold…it’s the plug that the molds are remade off and the the molds get worn out.
the plug gets scraped and cleaned and then re waxed…then a new mold is made…as the years go by and the kayaks get made and the molds get replaced…the plug that the molds are made from gets smaller, untill it too needs to be remade.
the last Nordkapps from the old molds/from the old plug that were made before the Jubilee was introduced, came in at just about 19 inches wide…
So the plug was remade and updated and brought back to original specs and then tweeked some to make the Jubilee…then that was changed slightly to make the H2O…then the LV…
don’t get very many kayaks out of a mold…it’s the plug that’s key
Best Wishes
Roy
SKUK conversion rounds to 17’8"
As noted some variance in stated measures are due to conversions and rounding. When I was in elemenatary school we were told to round up for fractions more than half. SKUK has chosen to round down ;-)
http://www.seakayakinguk.com/kayaks/range/explorer.html
Hey CD
OI for your kapp.
which is which?
Not arguing, just trying to gain understanding.
Here is how I understood this process -
Designer makes, say a stripper, prototype. The external surface get copied on the plug. From that mold is made, and the hull, deck are laid against that.
I think mine was a '92
It came with three round hatches, all centered on the deck, and a foredeck mounted pump. It’s the only one I’ve seen with that configuration, so it may have been a custom boat.
the
round hatches were standard until 1993(front and rear)…1993 I believe, was the first year of the oval rear hatch on a Nordkapp.(might be a few late '82’s) front remained round until the H2O was introduced (Hatches 2 Oval) Not sure about the day hatch as far as when it showed up (date) as a stock configuration) most had chimp pumps off center to the right.
The OP’s has a oval rear…must have been added later or custom ordered…would not have been a stock set-up in '91 on a Nordkapp. I had a custom ordered Pintail , a '91 that had a oval rear…so they were availiable and I assume, could have been ordered as a custom set-up. Mine had belonged to Emma…Stan C. had it custom made as a show boat with factory metal flake gel in '91.
Best Wishes
Roy