Mystery Racing Sea Kayak

Product Description

The Mystery solo racing sea kayak has been optimised to be as efficient as possible at race pace, while fitting within the rules for a Sea Kayak Touring Class as defined by the United States Canoe Association. The hull is computer-optimised to have a very low wetted surface area and extremely low wave-making shape for the minimum possible drag. The overall maximum beam flares out 20″ to conform to the minimum requirements of the Blackburn Challenge Sea Kayak class. The flare also provides additional secondary stability and excellent downwind surfing performance.

The foredeck is high to provide a clean, dry and fast ride going into heavy chop on open water. The deck ahead of the cockpit is cut away to allow efficient, close-to-the-hull paddle strokes without hitting the boat. The cockpit is long enough for paddlers to sit with their knees up, free to move, allowing full leg extension and torso rotation.

This strip-planked kayak design is built with 1/8″ thick wooden strips on the deck and 3/16″ strips on the hull. With a lightweight racing layup, the kayak can be built with a bare-boat weight of 26 lb and fully equipped at 31 lb or less.

The Mystery sea kayak will perform best when equipped with a rudder. It tracks very straight and is barely affected by wind, but efficient steering at a race pace is best provided by an efficient rudder. It is a stiff turning boat, not suitable for races with a lot of sharp turns, but runs fast on a straight away. Due to the narrow waterline beam of this design, it is not particularly stable, however a low seat will make it comfortable for most experienced paddlers. A higher seat placement will allow better leverage for those comfortable with the stability.

Nick Schade designed the Mystery racing kayak based on his Bootlegger kayak designs. He has also designed an endurance racing sea kayak, the Yukon Racing Kayak.

The kit includes:

• Pre-cut forms and strongback
• A mixture of red cedar and paulownia strips. Please note that these are non-standard thickness and do not have bead-and-cove joints
• Waterproof glue for the strips
• Epoxy resin and activator
• Epoxy fillers
• Woven glass fabric
• Fabric covered foam seat and backband
• Deck hold-down lines (bolt-on)
• Adjustable footbraces
• Plans and building notes
• The Strip-Built Sea Kayak (book) by Nick Schade
• Free technical support from a competent builder

We supply roughly one-third red cedar strips and two-thirds Paulownia strips as standard but if you have a particular pattern in mind, we can provide a different ratio if you contact us before ordering. We can also supply yellow cedar strips.

What else do I need?

Plans (not required by kit purchasers)

The plans contain sufficient information to make it possible to build the boat from scratch rather than a kit. They include full size drawings for all the forms. We recommend Nick Schade's book, The Strip-Built Sea Kayak, which covers the techniques that are used to build strip-planked kayaks.

Forms and Strongback

For those wanting to obtain the other materials needed to build the boat from other sources, this option contains the pre-cut forms and strongback and the necessary plans to build the boat. The wooden strips are not included (see below).

Wooden Strips

The Mystery Bootlegger uses non-standard thickness strips – please contact us if you are building from plans and require pricing.

Compare this kayak with others.