58 What is the history of the development of the modern kayaks?
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This article is from the Sea Kayaking FAQ, by Todd Leigh with numerous contributions by others.
58 What is the history of the development of the modern kayaks?
The modern sea kayaks can trace their ancestry via two paths. The
first type are those kayaks that are close copies of the Southwest
Greenland kayaks.
In the summer of 1959, Ken Taylor made a private one-man expedition to
Western Greenland and brought a kayak back to Scotland. This
particular kayak excited special interest because it was a more
moderate example of the West Greenland type.
This kayak has been copied a number of times, most noted being the
kayak built by Geoff Blackford in 1971. Blackford redesigned the boat
to fit his own particular dimensions, retaining the upturned stern,
and ending up with a plywood model 17 ft (5.2 m) long with a 21
in. (533 mm) beam. In all other respects the craft was identical to
Ken Taylor's boat.
Blackford's craft was used as the plug for a fiberglass mould and
eventually found its way to Frank Goodman of Valley Products who went
into commercial production under the name 'Anas Acuta'.
A noted British mountaineer and exponent of outdoor education, Colin
Mortlock, proposed an expedition along the Arctic fiords of Norway to
Nordkapp, the northern-most cape of Europe. Mortlock and his team
paddled the Anas Acuta kayaks around the Isle of Skye but believed
that a new sort of boat would be needed, one that could take huge
quantities of supplies without losing too much manoeuvreability and
seaworthiness.
Eventually Frank Goodman came up with a kayak design, having a basis
in the West Greenland kayaks, but incorporating elements of standard
boat design, with a round bilge capable of the extra payload required,
and the 'Nordkapp' was born. Many modern boats can trace their design
lineage from this root.
The second line of descent for modern kayaks is that of the 'Rob Roy'
kayaks.
The McGregor "canoe" was built in 1865 to resemble what John McGregor
thought he had seen when looking at sketches of Eskimo kayaks. In
shape and size it is fairly similar to a Coaster. The Kleppers were
also of a similar style. Many of the kayaks designed in the Pacific
Northwest of North America have their roots in this basic shape.
If the designs of the Greenland and Alaskan kayaks are studied, it is
obvious that there are a wide range of designs. Each has evolved as
suitable for the region that it comes from. From this one can see why
some designs are popular in one region and not in another, the
Nordkapp style in Britain and New Zealand and the beamier, flatter
boats in northwestern North America. Even in a country as small as New
Zealand there can be regional preferences, a highly rockered boat in
the north and flatter, lower windage boats in the South Island, for
example.
Wood and wood/fabric were common up until 1950's when fiberglass was
introduced. This was followed by plastic in 1984, the Chinook being
the first of the rotomolded boats.
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