Ny Najad i Nya Zeeland

Sunday, January 15, 2006, 0 comments

Det kom ett mail från Grant Glazer down under:

Hi Björn
After 6 months of playing around in the workshelter I have managed to launch "Kekeno" (Maori for fur seal) today. Final outfitted weight of 18kg, it is made from Paulownia, Western Red Cedar, 200gm cloth and West System 207. The hull design wasn't touched but to suit my personal preferences I lowered the deck by a maximum of 5cm, fitted an ocean cockpit and added a rolling recess. The hatches are copied from Jay Babina's Flush Hatches (didn't leak a drop despite 1hr rolling), and the rudder is CF over ply.

The design more then lived up to expectations. The first thing I noticed was the speed of the kayak, my normal touring speed has now gone from an average of 7km per hour to 8.5km. The Najad carves a turn better then any other kayak I've paddled and despite it being a calm day it breezed through the occasional 20knt gusts with out any noticeable weather cocking even with the rudder up. The kayak also rolls well and I could do my all my GP rolls without a problem. Unfortunately I could only find boat wakes to surf today but it handled them well.

Thanks for producing such a fantastic design. It will be a great touring kayak, exactly what I wanted.

Cheers
Grant