Hello Patrick,

If you look at pages 5 and 6 of the manual, it shows the 12.5 transom notched and the 14 transom without notches.  Pages 14 and 15 show the same, so it appears that the one that you have is correct.  The picture on page 34 shows a transom without notches but the note says that is a 14 picture.

Why have notches on the 12.5 and not the 14?  Who knows, but it does appear to be intentional.

To add confusion to the discussion, I built the 12.5 Hybrid and the transom did NOT have notches.  Intentional or not, who knows?

In the end, it will not matter because you will be covering the plywood transom with strips on pages 48&49.  I used cloth instead of strips because that is what the customer (my bride) wanted on her board.

If you have not already, I would strongly suggest adding the fin box option.  This allows you to easily switch the fins depending upon the conditions that you are paddling in.

Fin box with big sveral fin choices.  The 9" is great for beginners becasue it gives increased stability.  The other one in the picture is a flexible 4" for use when paddling where there are underwater onstructions.  For flat water, she has found a 6" blade to be the best compromise between tracking, manueverability and stability.

She even lets me paddle it once in a while.  It is a great rec board.

   Looks like my login timed out while I was writing the post above.

   Thanks Mark. Your board looks great. But can you confim for me the shape of your tailblock. Is it shorter at the top, or shorter at the bottom? It's really hard to tell from photos, since it's also steeply angled.

Despite the parts list and layout pictures, I'm not convinced my tailblock is correct. The notches will leave big holes in the build, and while they can be covered up, I'm not convinced the decorative cedar pieces (and you said you used material!) are supposed to be structural. The boat should be waterproof once the tailblock is on, surely.

It doesn't look like the optional fin-box is available in Australia, so I'll probably have to go without, although I do like how it makes the board easier to store.

   Some designs like my skerry kit have seen minor design improvements over time that aren't in the manuals. And errors can happen. In my case there was a change in the CNC programming that resulted in a mirror image error in a pair of parts that I was able to fix with a bit of trimming. Call or write directly to CLC and they are great with sorting it out. 

No doubt it is possible that you got a wrong part.

The sides of the hull flair outward so the deck of the board is the widest part.  On my wife's board, the transom is ~17" wide at the deck and ~16" at the bottom. 

If you are planning to use the "decorative" strips for the transom, the notches are irrelevant.  The decorative transom is 1/4" cedar strips with a layer of 4oz glass on top so it will be both water tight and plenty strong.  On my board, that is what the entire deck is made of.  Honestly, the ply transom is more of a frame than transom and could probably be omitted.

   Hello Patrick,

The longer edge is the top.  The shorter edge matches the width of the bottom panel at its aft end.

   Hi Jay - thanks for that. The instructions should be updated to clarify this, since they state exactly the opposite. 

Do you have any comment on the notches?