I'm interested in designing and building a simple kayak that would suit a young (5-7 year) child. Has anyone built or seen designs for something similar? I'm keen to design it myself, but would be interested in discussing appropriate dimensions, proportions and construction alternatives.

While small children can paddle around in adult size kayaks it is often frustrating for them because the kayaks are too high and wide for the child. Something more in proportion to a child's size should be more satisying for them. Of course stability is important. In my case I'm primarily interested in something for lake and calm sea use.

What would be particularly interesting would be to come up with an easily scalable design that could be modified to suit different age groups: children grow very quickly!

Any input welcomed.

Thanks,

Mark Battley, Auckland, New Zealand