UK launches the Hobson Space Probe

 Photo by Austin Davies of Chris Hobson (2011 World Champion) launching to the moon off the coast of Ireland.   Check out kayaksurf.net for more details.  

First Production Black Swan by Murky Waters

Well "we" (Ed and Mariola and myself) finally got a production Black Swan made in time for the recent World Surf Kayak Championships in Nags Head, NC (October, 2011).     The boat is 7'5" and about 24 1/4" wide at the hip.   Features very minimal tail rocker with hard chines in the stern.  Recessed cockpit.  Hull design is basically a bonzer hull with spiral vee and double concave with additional e-wings.   Five fin boxes for ultimate flexibility in fin setup.    Had some good input from Tim Stafford in the UK with respect to the hull design.

Very preliminary impressions from myself and other more talented paddlers (Jorge Anchorena, Anthony Bell, Barry Jones, Jared Licht) at the worlds:   Boat requires very little fin due to the rail design.  I had it set up originally with way too much fin and I was down to one 3" center fin by the end of the week.    Seating position is critical in allowing the tail to release due to the minimalist tail rocker and large stern volume pod.    I was continually moving the seat forward with each session.    Still need many more days in the water and many more paddlers to try the boat.   Particularly now that the seating position and fin setup has been worked out to some degree.    The boat is very comfortable and lots of volume to accommodate any sized paddler.  

 Carbon-Inegra Layer in the Hull with BlackBurst Edges

 Recessed cockpit in the front with drainage facilitated in the rear.

 Color-shift micro flake and black splatter graphics

 Vee and Bonzer hull

 E-wings and bonzer channels

We will keep tweaking things with rider feedback and post an update in the future.  There is now a demo in Southern Ontario for any great lakes paddlers to try.  Just contact MurkyWater (ed@murkywaterkayak.com) to arrange a demo time.

Iron Wave - Jorge Anchorena

Just returned from the World Surf Kayak Championships at Jennette's Pier in Nags Head, NC.
Big congratulations to my very good friend Jorge Anchorena from Argentina on being 5th overall in men's HP and WINNING the Iron Wave competition.   Jorge triumphed over Darren Bason in the head-to-head single elimination.   Stay tuned for more updates about the competition and the maiden voyage of the Black Swan.

Inspiration for Worlds Surf Comp Next Week

Sick picture of Rusty Sage (former World Champion) in a Murky Water "Reaction".   The "Reaction" is a Vince Shay designed boat.   Murky Waters are the makers of my Black Swan surf kayak design, and a whole slew of other surf kayaks, squirt boats, and whitewater kayaks.

I think the photo was taken at Mundaka, but I could be wrong.   Killer photo by Oscar Martinez.

Lets hope for good swell in OBX!  There are a couple Pro Surf comps going on there right now at Jennette's Pier in Nags Head NC, including the Hurley Pro.

2011 World Surf Kayak Championship Registration LIVE

 

Attention Goatboaters:  

The 2011 World Championships of Surf Kayaking are being held at the Outer Banks along the Hatteras National Seashore, USA from Sept 28 - Oct 10, 2011.    Individual registration is now open and until Aug 22, qualify for early registration.     Among the sponsors are my good friends at Murky Water Kayaks who are building my surf kayak design (The Black Swan).  They will be bringing a slew of demo boats to try at the event (HP and IC classes).

This is a call out to any and all Canadian paddlers wanting to give this sport a try.  Team Canada is especially looking for Juniors and Ladies to compete.   Send me an email if interested in trying this exciting sport and I will put you in contact with the appropriate people.

Check out the following link for more information.

http://www.worldchampionshipsofsurfkayaking.com/

See you all there in September!

Check out these killer shots from Murky Water Kayaks.   Serious Airtime.

Black Swan is ALIVE!!!!

 Ed and Mariola at Murky Water Kayaks have been working really hard to get the Black Swan ready for action.    We took the first boat out of the mold for a quick float test to get a sense of seating and cockpit position, ergonomics (knees and feet), balance (fore-aft), stability,  "rollability" and fin box positioning.     I have to say I am extremely happy with how the design turned out with regards to the above criteria and the boat shows great promise in the speed department too.   More about the specifics of the design to come............. Stay tuned. 

This boat will likely go out to California as a demo in the next couple of weeks, so plead your case with me and Ed as to why it should end up in your hands.    No waves here right now, so we need some real world feedback.

Of course any maiden voyage requires some champagne!

Black Swan - Retrospective IV

Laying up the negative molds under the watchful eyes (and hands) of Ed and Mariola of Murky Water Kayaks.   A mess of gelcoat and matt glass.  

Black Swan - Retrospective III

The long and arduous process of making the Black Swan Surf Kayak continues.   Once the foam plug is shaped, it needs to be glassed and sanded, primed, then blocked, then primed, then blocked and so on until you get rid of any high or low spots and generate a nice smooth surface.    Once we are comfortable with the contours, symmetry etc. of the plug, a flange must be built to be incorporated into the mold for infusion and vacuum bagging.  The pictures show the plug during the process of adding the flange.  Next step: laying up the mold.

Black Swan - Retrospective II

These pics were taking near the end of the foam shaping process.   Ed and I decided to change the flat spot in the deck/nose area.  We rounded out that region to increase the strength of the boat and  decrease the amount of water load-up that happens when paddling out and through waves.    I have kept considerable foot volume and tried to keep the knee pockets high and far enough to the sides that it should be a good cross-over from whitewater paddling ergonomics.    Can't see the hull features in the pictures but feature a slight displacement nose, transitioning into strong double-barrel concave and quad runner channels all shaped into a moderate Vee with an e-wing at the flight.  Very little tail rocker for max speed.     Very much based on a bonzer hull.   Will be very interesting to see how she flies.  Had great input from Greg Webber (Webber Surfboards in Australia) and Tim Stafford (English shaper and Bonzer expert).

Black Swan - Retrospective Part 1

After design of the Black Swan surf kayak on BoardCAD, the next step was to hot-wire the rocker and deck profile, followed by the outline template from a large EPS billet.

Black Swan Project - Part I

The "Black Swan" Project is a surf kayak design that I am currently working when I have free time between surfboard shaping.     Black Swan Definition : an extremely rare event or something not predicted or out of the ordinary.    My intent was to take what I have learned from close to 30 years of kayaking and bring that together with my surfboard shaping expertise to create a surf kayak that differs from and improves upon designs currently on the market.   For this particular design I was striving for a good balance between speed and maneuverability, and responsiveness while trying to maintain good ergonomic function and structural strength.  This design is keyed towards steep, fast and well formed waves.    Moderate nose rocker and minimal tail rocker to aid in the speed department.    The outline is unique from a surf kayak perspective with a fairly straight template that features a significant bump in the outline which will create a pivot or break point of water flow.    

Length 7'5"        Width 24.5"