Sixteen and a half feet long, around twenty-two inches wide, about eight inches deep at the backrest, 30 lbs.
It is with reluctance that I announce the newest member of the Cape Falcon Kayak family, the L.P.B. (long pointy boat). Even though I've had this design finished in my head for three years, I've avoided bringing it to life as long as I could. Why? because you don't need it. Well, maybe not you personally, perhaps you are one of the powerful few who travels at 5 mph everywhere you go, but for the rest of us mortals who honestly have never finished a twenty mile day faster than 4 mph, we'd be so much happier in a 14ft kayak that cruises EASIER at our TARGET SPEEDS, and is MORE STABLE, MORE MANUVERABLE, and MORE FUN. Despite this irrefutable scientific truth, there are simply too many kayakers that think they need a 17ft boat, and well.... I'm gettin old and I'm tired of arguing. So here it is, my 17 footer. Stable, manuverable, fun, room for camping gear. It balances in the wind without a rudder or skeg, it surfs pretty good, and yes, it's fast, a little faster even than it's fiberglass brit boat competitors, assuming you've got the arms to push it.
This LPB was custom built by Marvin in one of my classes. A dedicated fitness paddler, Marvins first priority is flatwater speed but without the tippieness of true racing kayak. We decided he would be a good candidate for the very first L.P.B. Despite Marvins better judgement, he agreed to loan it to me for an afternoon of testing. I hauled it down to the ocean with the wind blowing a boat snatching 25 knots, gusting to 30. I decided to bring my surf boat with me so I wouldn't have to walk all the way back to the truck when I was done testing the first boat.
The moment I let go of the surf boat it blew away, thank you Lisa for being fast on your feet and tackling the flying yak AND not damaging my camera! (and thanks for taking these photos)
So here's what it looks like. On the next one I'll probably give it a sexy upward swoop at the bow. Not for any functional reason, just to make it prettier. It is a fact that sea kayaks with swoopy bows sell better, so for the remainder of this documentary I ask you to add a mental swoop to the bow.
I need a V8! the wind howled so hard I needed to lean to keep my balance!
I took it offshore and put it through the paces. It edge turned reasonably, and didn't weathercock. Living at the beach, surf is an unavoidable occurance if you want to sea kayak, so I design every kayak to punch out and surf in well.
Paddling back up the beach sucked! I've always said if you are paddling into the wind you are going the wrong direction!
Satisfied, I crawl out...
...and try to hang onto the boat this time.
A familiar face wanders by "...I figured it had to be you out here," he says. It's a real treat to carry my boat up the beach with Robert Livingston. Back when I was about six years old, Bob was paddling his own design, the Ursa Micro, which inspired Cam Broze to divert from long sea kayaks and design the legendary Mariner Coaster, a design which I've spent the last three years tweaking into a my skin-on-frame F1. My trial and error with the F1 cemented my general design knowledge and prototyping methods, so much so that after it I now feel comfortable designing as I teach in classes. We all stand on the shoulders of our predecessors, and here Bob is again, helping me out.
So there you have it, the L.P.B. A long boat that does everything the F1 does, and is a little faster. Now where was I, the surf boat, ah yes....
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