Hallo
YLVA (which is a very old nordic female name that has relations to wolfves) is designed by Hans Friedel, a swedish constructor and paddler.
http://www.friedeldesign.se/stripeng.htm
You can see and read a lot of HF´s designs at that adress.
At this adress you can read about the YLVA I built for about a year ago.
http://www.friedeldesign.se/rickard.htm

This kayak follows a nordic approach. We have a great archipelago that shelters from very hard conditions and we need more manouverabilities(?)(I got to invent some words)
Ylva appeared to be a very responsive kayak, tracks well and has a very good secondary stability. The one I built we had to shorten about 20cm, Hans run the new measurements in his computer and approved that. He also could get drawings in full scale to perfectly fitting bulkheads at the positions wanted. A great time and laboursaving service.

Cause of the fact that Nordic spruce (Picea albae)is very common here, its very longfibred, semihard and flexible, nontoxic and ideal for any boatbuilding we use it to our kayaks as well. The strips is 4,5x19mm c´n´b. The Ylva I build weighed in at 19 kg with an extra bulkhead and double glassed on the whole outside.
I put on an extra inch on the aft outer stem to get a little skeglike ending. That little turned out well so for the four Ylva´s at the circle we adopted that.
I havn´t tried Ylva in tough conditions but from what I can judge I trust in her. The owner hasn´t complained, he was a novice paddler for a year ago and he was out on the water very much last summer and autumn. No mishaps reported.

Richard K