1997 planing hull kayak

I had a crazy idea, in the fall of 1997. Actually I was super super bored at work and just needed a project to keep my mind occupied at home. Having seen Corran's "Fury", liking the idea,but thinking that it was too long for the small northeastern playspots, and also thinking that it needed more rocker in the ends, I set out to make my own kayak.
this thing was designed just for me. It is about about 6' 9" long. High volume. "3 stage rocker" as the current industry buzz word would call it.
One thing to note is the release chine. Notices how steep of an angle it has in the middle and how much different it is on the ends. This boat was suprisingly NOT grabby because the odd chine in the middle is so easy to control (because it's close to the body).
I thought this boat had been thrown into the dump a long time ago. I'm very excited that I was able to visit it one more time this past weekend and get some photos. I designed two more boats after this, both with more progressive rocker,and a symetrical template. (both way more user friendly than this 3 stage crap we are being sold today)

This is very exciting to remember how long ago that independent boat builders, progressive thinkers, and bored garage builders were making planing hulled spuds. It only took the industry 4 more years to catch up. he he he Ultimately I joined up with Corran in January of 1998 because I realized that he had some equally crazy ideas, and much more experience at making high performance kayaks that were more refined than my own efforts. And, I could get a boat that was similar to my own designs, but in PLASTIC.
Enjoy the photos