Some of us enjoy posts about boat mods, so here is part #3 of my modification to a Nordkapp HM, 1980's era.
The unmodified Nordkapp HM hull
And after my first trim job
A pencil line marks where the keel will be trimmed
And the piece that gets cut off. I only had an inch measure handy.
I did all work with a rotary(Dremmel style) tool.
This is the first stage. I will paddle it for a while to get a feel for how it handles and then trim more.
Read part #1 and part #2 to see why.
One thing I found surprising is the fact that I did not touch any resin/fiberglass. This part of the hull is pure gelcoat and it is pretty strong, I know, I've run against my share of rocks.
I also added some closed cell foam in the thigh/knee area. There wasn too much space, making it harder to control and rolling/bracing more difficult and painful.
I will be testing these mods out over the next few weeks and post comments.
4 comments:
I'm curious about how the mofication has worked out so far. Can you give us an update?
Hi Alphonso,
Thanks for the comment.
After a few paddles by myself and a friend Chalu:
We agree it lee cocks less and maneuvers slightly better.
We both feel it is more neutral in wind and waves.
It now has a slight tendency to weather cock, which I feel is a good thing.
As to the question of if I'd trim it even more?
I don't know yet, but should know after some longer paddles in the spring.
I paddle a Romany in the winter months and use the Nordakpp HM for more extended overnight trips in warmer weather. So I'll want to test it with a full load of gear to know for sure.
Chalu likes to race and he feels it is just fine for this purpose as it is. It is a fast boat compared to most British sea kayaks and he feels that trimming it more might reduce it's tracking.
I don't race and prefer a more maneuverable kayak, but on long extended trips the tracking and narrow hull is a plus.
Rene came up with a similar opinion after his modification:
http://www.zeekajaks.info/blog/r_weblog.php
You have guts. I'm still in plastic boats because of the expense of harder materials, but I've never heard of boat mods like this. Very interesting.
Philip, Thanks for the comment.
That is one of the beauties of fiberglass composite, it is easy to modify and repair. I could have always gone back if it didn't improve the handling.
I actually did this mod because it brought the hull somewhat in between the two hull designs of the older Nordkapps. One tended to weathercock, but was maneuverable and mine which had a tendency to lee-cock and was not maneuverable.
Mods like this are not so easy with plastic boats and I wouldn't have attempted it on a plastic boat.
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