Re: Which boat to build?

Posted by Howard on Oct 19, 2005

on the arctic hawk...the big plus in my view is the very detailed manual (400+ pages) which can teach you a heck of a lot about stitch and glue construction and finishing technique. the details in the manual really move you up the building curve very fast. the arctic hawk is also a great looking classic greenland style kayak and an awesome paddling boat. it will teach you about flush hatches, approaches to wear strips and attention to complex layup schedules. the downside on it, in my view, is that it is a very tight fitting cockpit. while the boat is long, it does not have anywhere near the cockpit room of the other chesapeake boats. so best to do a test ride to make sure you would be comfortable.

the west river 18 is a speedy craft and a pretty boat...but in my view...other than being multichine...is very very much like the chespeakes with respect to what you learn about construction and in terms of its basic looks and performance...it is a modern looking, good performing kayak.

the newfangled boat...the shearwater...seems to give, in my view, the looks and interesting construction bits of the arctic hawk with a bit of simplification vs the hawk and a significant increase in the cockpit size/volume.

if it was me...i would probably be giving the shearwater a serious look. seems to have enough real differences to make its construction interesting compared to the chesapeakes...without the downside of the small cockpit of the hawk. if the small cockpit is not an issue...then give the hawk a try.

In Response to: Which boat to build? by jim nelson on Oct 18, 2005

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