: I've clearly been badly bitten by the building bug. I built two S&Gs last
: year, build and tried out a SoF at Easter and have a canoe (Selway Fisher
: Prospector) on the go for my brother and his family. But when my aunt said
: she wanted a kayak and was looking at some commercialy available ones I
: naturally though about building her one instead.

: Her criteria are: - mostly for use in sheltered water
: - mostly for exploring as opposed to long journeys
: - high initial stability
: - very manoeverable for playing in small creeks and inlets
: - able to track well when required for straight line journeys
: - lots of foot room: feet must be able to be vertical
: - lightweight so easy to car-top and carry around.

: A skin on frame might be a good option. But I also remembered the Mini Benny
: by Duane Strosaker (although mention of it now seems to have vanished from
: his website - I don't know why - Duane?) which looked interesting, for its
: small size and planing surfing ability, and then I came across the Bluesky
: Rockhopper too. This second one in particular seemed to meet a lot of the
: brief, while going further too: performs very well in rough water and
: surf. We get plenty of that as well as having creeks to explore, so that
: would be a great bonus.

: Rolling all these ideas together I've come up with a possible design. Loads
: of rocker, very U'd bow, completely flat towards the stern - and with a
: transom! It feels like this might tick all the boxes.

: - Short length, lots of rocker, U'd bow and flat bottom aft should all mean
: very manoeverable.
: - Short length = light and easy to handle out of the water. Plus, wooden
: constrution is almost bound to be lighter than the polywotsit commercial
: alternatives anyway.
: - Will probably track positively as is, with the hard chines in the aft half
: compared to the U'd front half giving some directional stability, but I
: would also add a retractable skeg to increase tracking further.
: - Fairly wide, and flat bottom, will give high primary stability.

: The looks have also grown on me since I designed it: I really quite like the
: odd transom now. I've been tweaking the design for a while and have pretty
: much settled on it as where I was trying to get to. Decision time: do I
: build it or not?

: Opinions???

One other comment, you probably also won't like. Many years ago, back when I was in the Navy, I built a kayak with a transom, wasn't quite the shape you have but similiar width. Makes it very difficult to lean turn, the entire side of the boat drags in the water from the cockpit aft. Though with the rocker in that boat it won't matter. Just for reference though if you decreased the rocker.

Bill H.