General Purpose Boats


Curlew is what I like to call a fast cruiser. However, top speed was never a consideration in this design, instead it was optimized for the 3 to 4.5 mph range. The speed range most recreational paddlers paddle 95% of the time. This way you get the most speed for your effort.
Ravenswood is another fast cruising hull. It is based on the Curlew hull but has a little better performance in the 3-4.5 mph range. The resistance is a little lower than the Curlew, making it a good choice for most paddlers. If you are into fast paddling this is not the boat for you. At 5 mph the resistance starts to increase dramatically. But this is into sprinting speeds for the average recreational paddler.

Vardo: The design goals were for a boat a new paddler would be comfortable in and not outgrow. Large enough for weekend camping and a larger cockpit with lots of knee room.

Vardo has met those goals. It's performance has been better than expected and I find it to be a good all around boat. I often use mine when I am going fishing on one of the creeks. I have not camped from it but it has the space. I think a couple of Beckson style hatches for access to the ends of the boat and it would be a good touring boat.

Stonefly:This is a boat I built for myself. I wanted a canoe to fish from. I have fished from my kayaks but a canoe makes a a better fishing platform than a sit-in kayak for me. I did not intend to offer plans for this but there was a lot of interest in it.

StoneFly will track well . It is not flat bottomed and it was designed for use on a very large lake where I may paddle some distance. So it's not going to spin around quickly. That is a drawback on smaller creeks but I still use on them, it just takes more effort to turn it around.


High Performance Kayaks


Sling Shot is a performance boat with a single hard chine instead of the multiple chines like Firefly and Long Shot. In order to increase the performance potential the hull is longer and has a narrower water line. It also has a more pronounced V shape. The trade off is it's lower stability.This is not a practical kayak but it just looks so fast. A Ferrari is not practical but you have to have one. This kayak is the same.

Long Shot has a multi chined (round) hull shape. By going with a rounder shape the boat has less wetted surface area which lowers the resistance. It is noticeably faster and it has quickly become my go to boat. The low seating position makes it more stable the numbers imply. If you are a stronger paddler this is a boat you want to consider!

Short Shot has the name implies is just a shorter version of the Long Shot. It has a multi chined (round) hull shape. By going with a rounder shape the boat has less wetted surface area which lowers the resistance. It should be quick boat and easy to paddle.


Firefly is what I like to call a "Modern Baidarka". It is not true to the 'traditional' Baidarka design but is very much inspired by them. Most single hole Baidarkas were very small boats with low stability and a small ocean cockpit. Not something most paddlers today want. I have always loved the Baidarkas but was always afraid I would never be happy with one so I decide to design my own.