: I hear you there Bill - although mine is oddly heavier than many
: other NDK's I've had the "pleasure" of lifting, and if
: my memory is correct it didn't start out that way, hence my
: suspicions. Still, could be in the range of normal weight
: variability. I perhaps I'm getting weaker! I have another
: british boat that's also "heavy" but comparitively
: light despite being bigger/longer. Go figure. Carbon layup has
: some value I suppose...

The problem is NDKs construction method, which produces widely varying weights and inconsistencies in the layup. I learned recently that they actually use a chopper gun rather than glass matt in their construction. This is a method that's best suited to large, thick hulls, not kayaks, and AFAIK, nobody else in the industry does this. A slight difference in the time and/or pattern that the gun operator uses to spray the glass will result in inconsistencies in thickness on a single hull and wide variations in weight between boats. I always wondered how NDK boats could vary so much; now I know.