Sea kayak history

[edit] McGregor and the Rob Roy

Many paddlers date the beginning of recreational sea kayaking to John MacGregor's famous adventures in the second half of the nineteenth century. MacGregor commissioned a decked canoe or kayak of cedar and oak and used it with a double bladed paddle to travel around Europe and the Middle East. This kayak, which he christened Rob Roy, attracted a lot of attention and his voyages made news all over the world. As a result of these exploits, many others picked up paddles and began the adventure we now call sea kayaking. For further details, check the Sea Kayaker article MacGregor: A Victorian-Era Paddler by Brian Kologe in Issue 71, Aug. 1999, page 61. As well there are references in books such as MacGregor's own A Thousand Miles in the Rob Roy Canoe (ISBN 1929516061)

[edit] Copies of Traditional Kayaks

Throughout the early days of recreational sea kayaking, paddlers would make kayaks based on traditional designs. Eschewing the easily degraded sealskins of the Inuit in favour of coated canvas, paddlers would make kayaks much like the traditional kayak enthusiasts of today. In addition, copies of these kayaks in wood and plywood were made. These were not commercially produced in large numbers, however.

[edit] Folding Kayaks

Folding kayaks began to become common in the early 20^th century. Many were wooden framed and had rubberized canvas skins. Their utility and portability make them popular with many paddlers. Many of the early folding kayaks were made by companies in Germany and Austria. Klepper, the first maker of folding kayaks, began in 1905, after buying the design from a student. Folbot, the oldest folding kayak maker in continuous production, was established in London, England in 1933.

In the 1930s, folding kayaks were used for every aspect of recreational kayaking, including running whitewater rivers. A Viennese kayaker, Adolf Anderle, was the first person to successfully negotiate the Salzachofen Gorge on the Salzach River. In 1938, Genevieve and Bernard De Colmont and a friend, DeSeyne, traveled in folding kayaks down the Colorado River, negotiating many whitewater runs.

During World War II, folding kayaks were notable for being used in secret missions, getting special forces personell into situations where they could sabotauge enemy ships. “WWIIʼs Operation Earthworm” by R.T. Webb in Sea Kayaker's Issue 68, Feb. 1999, page 7 describes such a mission. In addition, the famous Cockleshell Heroes used kayaks. Folding kayaks also were used by a few individuals to escape from continental Europe to Britain during that time.

[edit] Anas Acuta and the British Sea Kayaks

British kayakers were somewhat influenced by the exploits of the members of the British Arctic Air Route Expedition (BAARE). Working in Greenland, some of their number, notably Henry George ("Gino") Watkins, learned the ways of the Greenland Inuit and their kayaking techniques. There is much doubt about the degree of influence of Watkins. Other paddlers using skin on frame kayaks modeled on Greenland kayaks, such as Franz Schulhof in 1937, also influenced the early British paddling community.

Regardless of the actual source of influence(s), the Greenland-style kayak became quite popular in Britain. British paddlers appreciated the small, maneuverable kayaks that were well suited to the rough sea conditions found in the waters around the British Isles.

The development of modern composite kayaks in Britain is often traced to the development of the Anas Acuta. Some say it was the first production fiberglass kayak. The name comes from the Latin name for the Pintail duck. As Vernon Doucette wrote on [QajaqUSA Greenland Forum]

Colin Mortlock had proposed an expedition along the Arctic fiords of Norway to Nordkapp, the northern-most cape of Europe. Having paddled the Anas Acuta around the Isle of Skye, Mortlock and his companions believed that a different kayak design would be needed, one with more capacity for supplies while retaining maneuverability and seaworthiness. To meet this demand, Goodman, through his company Valley Canoe Products, designed and built the Nordkapp in 1975.

Derek Hutchinson, Nigel Dennis and other designers and builders also contributed to the British sea kayak world. Regardless of the designer, the British kayak scene shows a tremendous adherance to the Greenland-style kayak.

[edit] North American Sea Kayaks

Interest in kayaks in North America pretty much followed that of Britain in the early days of recreational kayaking. If you were interested, you either used a folding kayak or built a kayak following traditional archetypes.

In 1972 George Dyson, son of physicist Freeman Dyson, paddled on the British Columbia coast in a homemade baidarka. Fabricated from aluminum and nylon, he must have attracted a lot of attention. His contemporaries, Mike Neckar, Brian Henry, and Steve Schleicher, took kayak making one step further and founded three composite kayak companies - Necky, Current Designs and Nimbus, respectively.

If the British sea kayaks follow the model of the Greenland type, it seems like the commercial kayaks of northwest North America follow the model of the northwest and Alaskan kayak traditions. How much of this was Dyson's doing and how much was just awareness of the type is not known. It's possible that the resemblance is pure coincidence. The following images show how much the overall shapes of the traditional King Island kayak and the typical modern British Columbia kayak resemble each other superficially.

The first rotomolded plastic kayak was the Chinook from Aquaterra (now part of Perception).