: Hi, i was looking at some old wooden racing sculls, flat water
: racing kayaks and a surf ski yesterday. They were all old but in
: excellent, and useable, condition. Their construction was
: similar as they were all wood with round chines and I'm assuming
: a single or double ply - it looked like a single sheet for the
: hull and decks respectively. I'm assuming a single sheet of wood
: had been cut to the right shape, then steamed and folded around
: a form. Beautiful looking things...

: Does anyone know how they are made? any old books, videos etc
: around?

Older, wood flatwater kayaks were made by Struer Kayaks, and were several layers of raw veneer, glued and molded, not a sheet of plywood heated and formed. Some video of the process is available here:

http://kayaksport.net/struer/video.htm