Avoncraft kit built Class 3 racing kayak

Hi Forum Members

I'm new to WCHA, but am hoping you might be able to help. About a month ago, I bought an old wooden racing kayak. At this stage, all I know about her is that she was built in the 1960's from a kit supplied by Avoncraft, to specifications for British Racing Class 3. I've been told the designer was one of the aircraft engineers from De Havilland (?). What ever her provenience, she's a beautiful boat and I'd really like to find out more about her, and how she was built so that I can restore her.

This is all I know at this stage (and apologies for not knowing the proper terminology for things):

1. She is made of wood veneer, bonded over fibreglass sheeting to give it strength without weight. I don't know what wood was used, but the veneer appears to be about 2mm thick. The wood/fibreglass construction makes her incredibly light. She compares very favourably with modern racing kayaks, in terms of weight.

2. She appears to be built in 5 sections -
(i) there is a 'stapled' seam running around the middle, separating the front and back halves of the boat.
(ii) the rear half is made up of 3 sections: the curved & shaped underside of the boat, which includes the 'hips', and then two smaller panels making up the top deck. These appear to have a narrow wooden strip between them, as a join.
(iii) the front half of the boat appears to have been made from one single piece of veneer/fibreglass, with a single joint running across the top of the boat, from the nose to the cockpit. Using pieces of paper, I've worked out how the sheet was cut, in order to achieve the shape, and can only assume that it was shaped around a mould?
(iv) the cockpit itself.

I don't know if the pieces of the kit came pre-shaped, with the veneer & fibreglass already bonded together, or if the recipient was expected to shape the pieces themselves (presumably around a mould?) and the bond the fibreglass. Except for a very narrow rib that runs the full length of the boat at about the waterline, there are no internal spars or internal supporting structures except the foot bar, so I'm guessing it was assembled around a mould.

Attached are some photos to help - http://www.flickr.com/photos/106221899@N08/

Can anyone tell me more about her? How was she built? What materials were used? Any advice on stripping the old varnish off her, and what would be best to use?

Thanks WHCA members!

Catherine

I just googled Avoncraft Kayak, and got this hit:
Avoncraft, Sales of canoes, kayaks, paddles and associated ...
www.avoncraft.co.uk/‎
12 W Burrowfield Welwyn Garden City, Hertfordshire AL7 4TW, United Kingdom
+44 1707 330000

Though the web site says it's under construction.

There was also this article that might be of nterest:
http://www.sailingnetworks.com/organisation/view/8048

There aren't many helpful repair suggestions that I can offer but the solution is likely to involve a lot of sanding and some careful application of new fiberglass and varnish. There was probably nothing extra in the original design so repairs are likely to require the addition of new materials. These are wonderful boats and learning to keep it upright will require some practice if you haven't paddled one before.

I own a similar Struer Rapido 65 K-1 as shown in the attached images. It is like the one which Erik Hansen of Denmark used to win the 1960 Olympics according to Peter Sorensen at http://www.struerkajak.com/International-site/The-Story.aspx a few years ago.

Good luck and please keep us posted on your progress,

Benson

Wooden boats are beautiful

Benson Gray said:

I own a similar Struer Rapido 65 K-1 as shown in the attached images. It is similar to the one which won in the 1960 Olympics by Erik Hansen of Denmark according to Peter Sorensen at http://www.struerkajak.com/International-site/The-Story.aspx a few years ago. Benson

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Hi Benson. Thanks for the encouragement, and for the photos of your lovely boat. She really is stunning! I found the Struer website while Googling 'wooden kayaks' and was mesmerised by how beautiful they look. There's something very attractive about natural wood, grain and all. I paddled my first K1 in a quadrathlon, just recently, and loved it (hence getting a K1 of my own). The boat I used was a Kirton, and relatively stable (about an 8?), but I've yet to find out how 'tippy' the Avoncraft is. She needs revarnishing first, before I put her on the water. How often do you TLC your Struer? I'll post photos and news, as the restoration progresses. Catherine

pklonowski said:

There was also this article that might be of nterest:
http://www.sailingnetworks.com/organisation/view/8048

Click to expand...

Hi Paul. Thanks for the links, especially the article about Bob Vardy. Fascinating! I've written to Avoncraft, to see if they can tell me more about my boat, so will pass on what ever information they can provide. Even though I may not be able to paddle the kayak straight away, the lay-up period is giving me plenty of opportunity for research. Catherine

More on the Bob Vardy method

Hippychick said:

Hi Paul. Thanks for the links, especially the article about Bob Vardy. Fascinating!

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Armed with the name "Bob Vardy", I've now found this reference to the build method he used for these types of kayaks. It was included in a discussion about a 'mystery' canoe, and you can find the whole thread here...http://jamesraffan.ca/the-eyes-have-it/

"Expatriot British canoe/kayak guru and author of Living Canoeing, Alan Byde, who lives now in New Zealand, chimed in in response to a query forwarded from Jeremy Ward at the Cdn Canoe Museum. Byde replied as follows:

Memory twitches. There was a chap in UK who used two sheets of thin marine ply to build a kayak shape a bit like this. The sheets were 4ft x 8ft so the loa was 16 feet. This is not it but the overall shape is similar. There was a firm ‘Avoncraft’ I knew the owner quite well, his name escapes me just now. Originally he offered kits of thin ply to schools, scouts, etc with the loan of a jig on which to build it. ! Ah gottit, Bob Vardy. (Google Avon Craft Robert Vardy Ltd ) The business is current.

The kayak was about 16 ft long with frames at (?) 3 ft intervals. Each frame received a narrow strip around it, 2mm birch ply, so that the edges of the strip extended beyond the edge of the frame. The frames were rigged on a spine. Thin ply was bent round each pair of frames, glued and stapled to the strips on the frames. The thin 1.5mm birch ply was originally used to build ‘Mosquito’ twin motor fighter bombers over a balsa wood sandwich. Beautiful aircraft , fast and deadly. I think Bob lived near where they were built. I have an ace B&W video of Mossies being built in OZ. I could sketch the method. I digress.
What reminds me of that is the inside view of the cockpit of the mystery craft, the thin flat transverse strips look like the strips that were fitted to the Bob Vardy kayak jig. Also the sections between the black seals at roughly 3ft intervals on the mystery craft look as if this one was built on a Bob Vardy type jig.
The Vardy kayak shell was given a skin of aircraft quality woven glass and resined down. The whole assembly was very lightweight.

My guess is the mystery craft was built by someone who knew the Bob Vardy method.

It is definitely not a Ken Littledyke design. (Kayel)"



Also, another thread discussing the 'Bob Vardy Method'. http://www.woodworkforums.com/archive/index.php/t-127783.html

This is great fun! Thanks Benson and Paul

Hippychick said:

How often do you TLC your Struer?

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This Struer probably hasn't had the TLC and attention that it deserves. My understanding is that they should be toweled dry after each use with a full sanding and new varnish every few years. Mine has not been treated that kindly in the past and it's not been used much recently. The last new coat of varnish went on in 1998. Have fun,

Benson