: I don't think anybody really knows why the original baidarka's have
: their stern shape. Let's just say it is traditional. Plenty of
: people probably have their guesses.

: Best place to check for references to that shape would probably be
: George Dyson's book, "Baidarka" The author has a store
: in Bellingham, Washington: Dyson,Baidarka and Co. You can google
: the address and phone number. I don't think he does anything
: with a website or e-mail, though. He is a good supplier of
: materials for making SOF boats.

: As for the Nikumi, just get the answer for that straight from the
: designer, Tom Yost. Check for his contact information at his
: website yostwerks.com.

: Let us know what they say.

: Hope this helps.

: PGJ

Spend some serious time looking at Tom's site and you'll notice that there were a serious number of baidarkas he's built before the Nikumi, overall I suspect that it's just his version of a fairly easy to build baidarka.

Bill H.