New folding kayak Greenland style launched in Japan

[nikolash]

It's in prototype stage, initial test were excellent.
This prototype is herald of future gamma of folding kayaks.
The aim is to bring true Greenland kayak to suit modern paddlers and their needs, whether they live near or far from the shore, in apartments, condos or travel a lot, by plane, car or public transportation.
Kayaks of Greenland style with authentic geometry and fit in ultra portable package, that can be assembled and disassembled in 15 minutes. Packed it can be checked as standard airplane luggage, even with space to spare, allowing other paddling items like paddle, pfd, tuilik, or suit to bring on trip, and saving your money so travelling with boat anywhere in the world won't be luxury. And this is first time you could check Greenland style kayak on the plane.

This current model is based on Eastern Greenland type with some modification to deliver great paddling experience for modern users.
It is low volume rolling and "light" touring (Spartan light, but still possible to go on overnight trip) kayak, for medium size paddlers (up to 90 kg). It is kayak that suits beginners and most experienced paddlers, you will learn basic moves and most advanced ones in the same boat, boat that will grow with you.
It tracks very well in variety of conditions, and still it is very responsive on any turning input. It is well balanced, it takes no effort to keep it straight nor to turn.
Due to it's low volume and sharp chine angels someone would b mislead to think it is tippy boat, on contrary, due to low volume and cross-section shape, kayak and paddler are sitting very low in water giving stability and great confidence even to beginners who try Greenland kayak for the first time.
Rolling is easy due to its low profile and fit, unlike "modern" hardshell or folding kayaks this model has all features of fit of traditional Greenland kayaks, it has masik, knee brace, and low backrest, as it can be seen on modern handcrafted SOFs.

[DLee]

Very interesting. Got a name or a link so we can get more info?

d

[nikolash]

Dlee, sorry for late reply, somehow I have overlooked your post
here is the link:https://www.facebook.com/NarvalKayak

[siravingmon]

Pity the really narrow one they make is so long... I'm loòking for a fast narrow folder for calm summer sea conditions but all he narrow ones out there are too long for my puny 150 lbs, except of course the incredibly unstable Nautiraid K1

[nikolash]

Narval kayaks are designed to emulate traditional Greenland kayaks in terms of performance, feel, fit, and shape.
Kangamiut (long narrow one) is intended for lighter paddlers weighing no more than 90 kg, anything less is ideal.
It tracks really well, still being very responsive to paddlers inputs, also not prone to wind influence, great kayak for paddling .
Being a Greenland style kayak with very low freeboard it requires wearing tuilik or spray skirt all the time, and also learning some skills particular to Greenland style kayaks (like rolling, bracing...) are necessary and Narval folding kayaks are great tool for learning them.

[Tak]

I have watched your youtube assembly video, with great interest I must add. Rather intriguing. It seems that the tension mechanism is either a common trend in all wooden kayaks, or that it is really similar to the way Nautiraid (and perhaps Klepper?) wooden kayaks are assembled.

Where did you get the inspirations of your kayak design from? I really like the way wooden kayaks are assembled because of the elegant tensioning system. Very neat and tidy, and all the mechanical leverage needed are designed as part of the frame.

[nikolash]

Hi Tak, thank you for your interest!

These kayaks are inspired by original Greenland hunt kayaks, KITAA is inspired by "West Greenlan type" and KANGAMIUT by "East "Greenland type".
I have to agree with every word you wrote about wooden frames of folding frames they are much more elegant than aluminium counterparts.
How I have designed those kayaks?
I was designing totally different types of kayaks, some of them hybryd frame some of them I'm not allowed to mention or disclose in public yet, but totally different in any sense. At that time I have met a group of people that were passionate about Greenland kayaks And they were interested in designing and producing a Greenland style folding kayak.
I have allredy had some similar design proposals in my sleeve but one of design goals was to preserve features of Greenland kayaks as shape (of bow and stern also), cockpit size, fit, including features like knee brace, masik etc...My proposal was modern interpretation of Grreenland kayak so I had to change few things to bring them to the roots.
Design goal concerning weight and packed size are set to fit the requirements of modern Paddler living in big cities who would travel by plane, small city car, or public transportation.
Narval kayak is the only wooden frame folding kayak that fit in standard airline free baggage allowance of one bag up to 23 kg with combined dimensions of 158cm (length+ width+height).

My wish was to bring best of two good and very rich traditions together, again.
One was centuries long tradition of Greenland hunting kayaks from which most modern kayak-like vessels originate, and other is more than a century long tradition of folding kayaks/boats that were first commercially/mass produced kayaks, and also originally inspired by Inuit vessels.
As folding kayaks are my passion for a decade, I have studied almost all folding kayak types ever produced. With around 130 kayak PRODUCERS in Europe alone and uncountable boat/kayak types you would think that all kayaks start to look alike but no, then you start to realize subtle differences.
Having all that knowledge in the pocket also combined with own solutions I have devised folding mechanism for a Greenland kayak.
The design has been changed many times mostly due to availability of some materials like special rivets, extruded profiles etc... you would be surprised how one such thing can affect course of actual design. And it is what you see now.

Narval kayaks are not built under direct influence of any other folding kayak, they are built upon best experience of long and rich tradition combined with most modern ideas, materials and processes like cad-cam design and processing, materials like ptfe, epoxy resins, corrosion resistant metals etc, along with best grade hand selected White ash.


Some have mentioned that Narval kayak is "copy" of some other manufacturer.
I will take that as a rather clumsy compliment
If you knew more you would say same for the same manufacturer is the "copy" of some other, and so on, but is the same rough generalisation as outside people perceive that all folding kayaks in the world belong to one brand.

The most resemblance Narval kayak bears with some kayaks individually made in Germany, they, as far as I know are made from plans from some book. In my early years I was eager to get hands on such book but I had no luck, language and country barriers, payment methods all got in the way, then I have turned to my own resources as I was young the dreaming/designing was all I could do.

[nikolash]

Off topic:It is good start for your further information on history of folding kayaks (beside this great forum) you have http://faltboot.org/index.php
with special attention to their database of folding kayak typeshttp://typen.faltboot.org/f2005_search_grd.php you have around 1000models on 153 pages
and website http://www.faltbootbasteln.de

[gbellware]

Nikolash,

Great contribution to the forum and the field of folding kayaks. Can't wait to see further developments. Thanks!

g

[Tak]

What material is the hull and deck made off? How are the seams joint? What wood is used for the frame and what is the finishing for the wood?

I apologise in advance for the number of questions, just very curious about your new kayak (:

[nikolash]

Thank you gbellware, I wish that glory of folding kayaks reurns as it was in 30's and 50's, but unlike then we live in digital era and our pastimes are more....digital

Tak, thank you again for your interest, no need for apologize actually i like your questions, feel free to ask anything about Narval kayak

Hull is made of pvc with keel strip as standard chine strips are optional, for now only available in grey.
Deck is made either of heavyweight cotton(available only in olive darb) or nautica acrylic fabric breathable impregnated fabric (available in range of colours).
deck and hull are connected with special double stitch for waterproofing the seams.
you can see the stitch here:https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid ... =3&theater
Frame is made of wood, of course , laminated birch for bulkheads and white ash for stringers, finished either in 3 coats of oil varnish or two coats of epoxy.
Connectors are made mainly from cnc machined and anodised aluminium, on some really stressed points marine grade stainless steel is used, all moving parts are isolated with ptfe layer for smooth operation and longevity.

N

[nikolash]

Happy New Kayaking Year!!!

[john allsop]

Now thats a novel Christmas Tree. May the New Year bring all the success you deserve and keep up the good work. Here in Northern Ontario this morning we also have clear blue skies and officially it is minus 41c but i have been outside and i think it is lower than that.

[nikolash]

Thanks John for your kind wishes, I wish same same to you! And I wish your climate to get back !
How are you struggling with the cold wave?!
Climate is on crazy shuffle, here in Serbia we have unusual high temperatures from +10 to +15c : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lQOku3-9arY

[Tak]

Nice rolls! What about the other side ?