Your kayak is beautiful. I'm getting ready to start mine and I hope someday I will be able to achieve results like yours.

John

: I finally launched my Guillemot 18 on Friday!

: It is a great design--thanks Nick!

: I didn't have time to fully outfit it with seat, hip pads, and thigh braces,
: as I wanted to launch it at my family reunion and lost patience! It was
: easy enough to roll even without the thigh braces, and I'm really going to
: enjoy it with them.

: I ended up putting in a slightly longer cockpit than Nick designed, so I can
: get my long legs in with a butt-first entry. I didn't, however, make the
: cockpit recess larger first, so the coaming sits up a bit high. I also
: neglected to make the aft cockpit recess deeper to accommodate my higher
: deck in that area, so the aft coaming is a bit high. Luckily, I'm long in
: the torso, too, so laybacks still aren't bad. This will definitely not be
: a small-person's boat, however!

: On Saturday morning, I was fortunate to wake up and find 2.5' waves lapping
: up the beach, so I went out and was astonished that I was able to surf
: them! (Thanks Nick!) It was something I'd only ever experienced in the
: Chesapeake once, and on 4' boat wakes. The boat sprinted down the shallow
: face, and didn't seem to have any overwhelming tendencies to broach. When
: it would broach slightly, it was easy enough to turn back onto the fall
: line with a single small sweep stroke. I had originally been worried that
: I would take too much of the "playfulness" away from Nick's
: already excellent design by stretching it a foot, but it still really
: maneuvers well. You can really do a mean leaned turn in it, as well. The
: Guillemot edges like a machine! I was able to do a 180* with a lean and 2
: sweep strokes and maybe a 15' radius. The Chesapeake required a heavier
: lean, 4-5 sweeps, and a 20-25' radius.

: My brother and I raced out and back after the waves died down. The G18
: waterline length is about the same as my old Chesapeake, so I had a hard
: time pulling away from my brother in the Chesapeake at top speed, but I
: was paddling with a lot less effort, I'm sure due to the decreased beam
: and lower wetted surface. He got tired halfway back to shore, and I was
: still going.

: Paddling out into the waves, the bow sliced nicely through the crests, and
: didn't pound when it dropped back into the troughs--definitely a smooth
: ride! The Chesapeake always felt sluggish, and felt like the waves were
: pushing me backwards, but the Guillemot's hull just danced over them.

: All-in-all, I think I'm going to be glad I added that foot, as it will make
: up for the cargo space I'd have lost to legroom. Also, the increased
: height in the deck near the cockpit didn't seem to affect weathering (the
: wind didn't budge the boat!). I'm glad I stayed with the original width,
: though, as it will keep the initial stability down. When my brother and I
: were parallel to the waves, he rocked and rolled with each passing wave. I
: bobbed up and down, and didn't feel the boat heel at all. (I'm sure it
: did, but it was barely perceptible). I'm in for some serious rolling next
: week with the seat and thigh braces!

: That hull shape really feels great at 18'. If my experience with the
: Guillemot stretched to 18' is any indication, I think Nick's new Guillemot
: L will be really popular with the big guys, especially if they're not so
: concerned with rollability. My cousin, who is 6'-2"/300#, paddled it
: and found it pretty tender. He's a former college football player and 200#
: is in his upper body. He um, swam. I think the L would have felt better to
: him. His brother, who hadn't paddled before either, is only 6'/210#, and
: took to it like a duck to water and was doing leaned turns after an hour
: of paddling.

: Thank you Nick for writing such a great book and for the great design! You
: are a master kayak architect!

: Okay, I'm babbling, so I'll sign off now!

: Shawn