Question: What are the advantages of using such a high cambered deck / disadvantages of a low cambered deck?

I have never had any difficulty cambering the decks on my kayaks and wondered what the fuss was about until I received my plans for the CLC Chesapeake 17 - Wow! 16 inch rad! No wonder decking has been described as a wrestling match.

On my kayaks, designed for fresh water lake & river touring, I typically use a 24" or a 30" rad for the decks.

This is from the old (1936) Dutch plans that I used for my first kayaks (frame style construction). The other features that make these kayaks different from the typical "sea touring" style is the more open cockpit, higher side panels and lower bow & stern. The ride is dry with only a lap "drip skirt" used.

These craft are designed for stability - not to be rolled, great for fishing. I have never flipped one (knock on a wood deck!) in 25 years of paddling. The closest I came to rolling was when I fired 3 rapid shots broad-side with a 12 ga shotgun - skidded sideways a couple of feet!

On my current S&G kayak (made of 3 mm luaun - hope to post a picture soon) I anticipated that the deck would require some additional support to compensate for the lack of internal framing so I added a couple of light weight luaun deck beams - all seems fine.

Thanks in advance for your comments.

Hank