Severn kayak

I am interested in building the "Severn" kayak shown in the book, The New Kayak  Shop. The plans are no longer sold by CLC. It is a very lightweight, small "tortured plywood" kayak.

Has anyone built one? Does anyone have one? Thanks/ Bob


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RE: Severn kayak

I built it's  larger brother the "Yare" which was featured in the previous book.

The Severn is 1½ feet shorter, 2 inches wider, and has a higher arch to the deck which may make for a bit more foot room. The design can give you about as light an S&G hull as there is but it is not perfect. They are rather tight inside and the building process is a bit quirky.

If you are looking for a boat that is quick to build, lightweight, easy to paddle and your feet aren't to big for the available space the Severn is it but I wouldn't consider it if it was the only kayak I ever built. 

For those that have never seen a Yare here it is;

http://209.190.4.227/gallery/displayimage.php?album=lastup&cat=10905&pos=1

RE: Severn kayak

First CLC boat I built. Did it from plans. Originally the boat weighed about 22 Lbs. Love the way it handles and the high arch on the deck is just beautiful. The angle of the top by the cockpit makes you feel like you are part of the boat and water. This is a boat that is only glassed with a strip down the middle. The rest is wood. After about a year or so my son cracked the bottom just outside the glass tape strip in the middle of the cockpit. I built a jig to surround the  boat for veneer presses so that I could reshape the bottom, glass the interior cockpit and then glass the bottom so that it would hold the round bottom shape.  The boat weights just a bit more now but it is still one of the lightest craft out there. And I think one of the prettiest also. It is truely a "tourtured plywood" design. I hit myself in the chest with a clamp really hard when it slipped from my hand while trying to bring the two bottom panels together at the bow. I bought the rights to build two, but during the second build, one of the bottom panels cracked during the bow/stern stich up. Gave up on it and built a chessy 14 instead. And if you ask, just like with children, I love both of them equally.

RE: Severn kayak

Ricks-Thanks for the information. -I am anxious to get started and will definitely make sure I reinforce it well. I thought I would add 3.25 oz  fiberglass cloth to the outside of the hull to keep it light, but add some strength, // Bob

RE: Severn kayak

It's stated in the instruction of both books that tortured plywood designs work the plywood really hard so they require the best class marine plywood. No junk from an unknown source. Something with a brand name like Joubert, Shelmarine or Brueget. My hull is made from Bruynzeel which is gorgeous wood  but doesn't seem to be available  in the US any more.

My boat has been around for ten years. It has a piece of glass on the inside because it was holed when it fell from my roofrack. But the outside is just epoxied wood and isn't scarred up at all. There are a couple of layers of glass on the keel and that seems to be where most of the abrasion occurs.

 

RE: Severn kayak

I am about to start one.  In reviewing teh plans, there is a sharp corner on teh shear in teh plans, and teh keel line adds up to more that teh 14'6" overall length.  The book does not describe the orientation of the fore and aft panels when scarfing.

 

Actually, I think I want to make the  boat about 10 inches longer, which will still fit on one sheet of plywood, and perhaps increase the deck arch (one inch smaller diameter)

 

Any comment?

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