Re: CLC weak deckline des

Posted by Laszlo on Jun 12, 2006

Adam,

It's good to worry about safety, but your analysis is dead wrong.

1 inch nylon webbing has a tensile strength of over 4000 pounds, and because of the weave and nylon's tendency to stretch under load, it absorbs any sudden shocks and transfers loads more gradually to the anchor points.

The other thing you didn't consider is that the geometry of the lines and anchors transfers the forces tangentially to the deck. So you end up trying to pull the screws sideways through the wood, instead of up and out. And not just through wood, The deck and sides are reinforced with fiberglass and epoxy. Any force which would even loosen even one of the anchor points would probably more than loosen the hand that applied it.

The rings provide no strength themselves. Instead, they spread the loads over a wider surface area which allows more of the structure to participate in carrying the load.

Finally, there's the historical record. That system of anchoring rigging and hatches has been around since the first Chesapeake kayak. You'd have to ask CLC for the exact sales numbers, but they've publically stated that there have been thousands of these kayaks built. Statistically, if your concerns were valid, we could have expected dozens (if not hundreds) of failures in the years since the first Chessie was built.

So relax, don't worry. It's a lot stronger than you think. It's a robust, time-tested design. Build one and see.

Laszlo

In Response to: CLC weak deckline design? by Adam Bolonsky on Jun 12, 2006

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