He was discussing/researching the best manufacturing method for production boat building. I joined in the discussion and we got to e-mailing back and forth. Next thing you know, we had ourselves a project.
We bounced ideas and design concepts back and forth. Tom had the design in his head and drew some images. I helped translate that into a boat that can be built via Stitch-and-Glue. The goal is to prototype his design in a wooden boat. Then venture into creating a mold, with any design refinements, and produce fiberglass hulls.
Here's a concept picture:
As you can see, it's a Sit-On-Top style kayak design specifically to accommodate the needs of Tom's tailfin propulsion system. I also think it would serve very well as a sailing kayak because of semi-rounded hull bottom, is self bailing with the scuppers, and will have provisions for a retractable dagger board in the cockpit. The stern is also shaped like those seen on high performance sail boats. More image to come soon.
All the materials are on order and should be arriving in a week or 2. Tom has agreed to let me post a building log. The log will be beneficial to me because the building method will be a hybrid of techniques designed for the Zephyrus plans (modeled after the famous Kruger Sea Wind).
I'd like to thank Tom for contracting with me to undertake this project.
So let the building begin!
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