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Shearwater Hybrids
Product Code: CLCSHWH
Availability: Made to Order (approx. 5 weeks)
Availability: Made to Order (approx. 5 weeks)
Price: See options for price
Ex Tax: See options for price
Ex Tax: See options for price
As paddling boats, the Shearwaters are sophisticated and fast. On the water, the Shearwater demonstrates excellent poise and responsiveness in a broad range of conditions, edging turns easily when leaned but tracking straight when pushed hard in surfing conditions. The narrow beam and low profile translates into fewer corrective strokes and more paddling energy spent on covering ground. The speed and relatively narrow beam means the Shearwaters are not beginner paddling boats, but athletic paddlers and paddlers with intermediate skills will find them an excellent fit.
Hybrid designs substitute a cedar stripped deck for the standard plywood deck. Somewhat more challenging to build, Hybrid designs reward the kit builder with a unique and beautiful design. Builders are provided with a mixture of light and dark strips and may create their own patterns, or imitate the design in the instruction manual.
| Model: | Length: | Hull Weight: | Beam: | Max Payload: | Cockpit Size: | Paddler Weight: | Knee Height: | Max. Men's Shoe Size (US): |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Shearwater 14 Hybrid | 14' 6" (4.42 m) | 17.5 kg | 58.5 cm | 90 kg | 78.5 x 42 cm | 45 - 70 kg | 25.5 cm | 10 |
| Shearwater 16 Hybrid | 16' 2" (4.93 m) | 19 kg | 58.5 cm | 110 kg | 78.5 x 42 cm | 55 - 85 kg | 25.5 cm | 10 |
| Shearwater 17 Hybrid | 17' 0" (5.18 m) | 20 kg | 57 cm | 120 kg | 78.5 x 41.5 cm | 70 - 100 kg | 26.5 cm | 12.5 |
|
Shearwater Sport-Hybrid |
14'6" (4.42m) |
20 kg | 63.5 cm | 136 kg | 86.4 x 43.2 cm | 45 - 100kg | 33 cm | 13 |
Cedar-strip kayaks are admired for their beauty and functionality. Kayaks made entirely of cedar strips require a “strongback” and special molds, which translates into a lot of skilled labor and time. Why not combine the best qualities of stitch-and-glue plywood kayaks with the beauty of a cedar strip deck?
This is exactly what we have done with the Shearwater Hybrid kayak kits. We took the standard Shearwater’s graceful hull lines and added a strip-planked deck. The resulting hybrid of strip and plywood techniques combines the look of a cedar-strip hull with the speedy assembly and great handling of a West Greenland-style hull. The Shearwater Hybrid is a kayak with elegance and individuality. Since the hull forms the “strongback” for constructing the strip-planked deck, assembly time is a fraction of an all-strip hull. Our Shearwater 16 display model took about 100 hours from start to finish!
Here’s how it works. The Shearwater Hybrid’s hull is identical to the standard Shearwater’s, with computer-cut BS 1088 Okoume panels assembled with “finger joints” so it goes together very, very quickly. Computer-cut molds are set into the hull with temporary hot glue. These molds shape and support the deck during construction. With the kit we include a mixture of dark and medium color western red cedar strips, plus white cedar strips for light accents. The strips are milled with a “bead and cove” joint so that one slides into the next for perfect joinery. While we offer suggested patterns, each builder can develop their own unique strip deck design as they assemble their kit. Run riot with your creativity! Almost anything is possible. Parquet decks, anyone?
Build this boat if:
- You want the looks of a cedar-stripped kayak without the construction difficulty
- You want a sporty, West Greenland-style kayak
-
You prefer advanced handling qualities in all conditions, including waves
Shearwater Sport Hybrid
You can't have everything in one boat. For speed, you want long-and-narrow. For comfort, you want beam and a big cockpit. For maneuverability and compactness, a short kayak is desirable. Artful compromise is the mark of good design, and we feel that Eric Schade's Shearwater Sport is a great combination of kayak virtues.
For years kayak builders have been asking us for a kayak that slots in between the high-performance Shearwater Series and the beamy, comfortable Wood Duck Series. At our in-water demos, the experienced paddlers often made a beeline for the Shearwater 14, because it has the handling and the great looks of the West Greenland-style kayaks, but its shorter length makes it more maneuverable and easier to use than the long, fast Shearwater 17. The Shearwater 14, however, is a scaled-down 17, intended only for smaller-statured paddlers weighing less than 150 pounds. That left a lot of paddlers on the shore.
Eric has brought his practiced eye and decades of paddling experience to bear on the problem. Settling on a length of 14'6", he added just enough beam (25") to support paddlers over 200lbs. Refinement of the underbody, the bow, and the stern allowed him to retain the crisp handling that has sold almost 650 Shearwater kayaks.
For paddlers with longer legs who want an easy entry and egress, Eric specified a 34-inch long cockpit. Standard spray skirts still fit, and the Shearwater Sport is outfitted with all of the features expected in a high-performance kayak: knee braces, hip braces, and a low aft deck for those who want to roll the boat.
The compact Shearwater Sport gives up nothing in cruising speeds to its longer, narrower Shearwater sisters, though it won't be quite as fast in a sprint. It's still more than fast enough to accelerate onto waves for surfing. Indeed, many paddlers will build the Shearwater Sport just for surfing, while maintaining longer kayaks for distance work.
For less adventurous paddlers, the Shearwater Sport offers the perfect compromise of light weight, sharp West Greenland handling, effortless cruising speed, and an extra-large cockpit for comfort. The shorter length means easier construction, storage, and cartopping. It might just be the One Kayak that does almost everything well. Watertight bulkheads and flush-mounted deck hatches are standard, so many builders will camp out of the boat.
The payload is ideal for up to a 220-pound paddler plus gear. The reduced windage of the Shearwater family means that small people can paddle the Shearwater Sport, too, so more than just one person in the family can enjoy this beautiful kayak.
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Denman Marine specialises in custom wooden boat building and repair. We utilise both traditional methods such as carvel or clinker and modern methods such as strip planking, cold molding or clinker plywood.
We can custom build to any design - for example those by Iain Oughtred, David Payne, Paul Gartside, John Welsford, Mark Bowdidge, Francois Vivier, Atkin , Bolger B&B, etc.
We are a small team of Australian wooden boat builders based in Kettering Tasmania, and are the sole agents for Chesapeake Light Craft (USA) wooden kit boats in Australia and New Zealand, as well as Swallow Yachts, and Barton Marine products (UK).
Denman Marine are proud builders of Wooden Boats in Australia.
Denman Marine Pty Ltd ATF | ABN: 54779786053 | 2888 Channel Highway Kettering, Tasmania 7155