Brian @ Cape Falcon was working on something based on(or at least similar to) the recovery/retrieval boat from one of the major SOF boat building books (title escapes me at present, but it had several styles, two kayaks and two other boat types). I can't sseem to find it now, but he had several pictures and tests...

http://www.capefalconkayak.com/

: I've been really hankering for a surf kayak lately, and am thinking
: about planning my spring/summer boatbuilding time.

: I live in michigan, so any surfing I'd be doing will be on the
: great lakes (cold and with wimpy surf).
: I want a kayak (instead of a board) because:
: A) Cold - it seems to me it'd be easier to kayak surf in colder
: weather. I'd need a less intense wetsuit/drysuit and I'd be
: warmer in general.
: B) I don't live on the lakes, so a lot of my kayaking will be local
: on lakes and rivers. I have a normal kayak for this, but a less
: aggressive surf kayak could double as a cruiser for a friend in
: a pinch, where a board would be pretty useless.

: I'd really prefer to build skin-on-frame, but (although I've seen a
: few skin-on-frames for surfing) that there are some limitations
: when it comes to hull shape with a skin on frame (hard chines,
: can't do a concave bottom, etc).

: I'm wondering if I could do a hybrid strip/skin boat. I'm imagining
: a strip-built bottom that copies as exactly as I can a typical
: longboard shape with a skinned upper portion. Imagine a flat
: bottom, solid wood or foam rails, ribs that bend downward into
: the rails, and a skin that gets stapled to the rails.

: I could just do all strip-built, but the top of a strip-built
: surfer kind of looks like a nightmare to me, and I'd really like
: to minimize the amount of epoxy/fiberglass I need to use. Also
: it seems like a fun experiment.

: Has anyone ever built something like this? Any thoughts?