Petrel Stitch-and-Glue

Product Description

The stitch-and-glue Petrel is a Greenland-style sea kayak with speed and refined handling that excels in surfing conditions.

Nick Schade's line of strip-planked Greenland-style sea kayaks are renowned for sophisticated performance on the water, beautiful lines and sculptural hull details, but strip-planked boatbuilding is not for everyone. For many people, the hours involved in building a strip boat just don't fit into their lives.

The new stitch-and-glue version of the wood-strip Petrel eliminates the fussy strip-planking procedure. Computer-cut plywood panels for the hull and deck are stitched together with wire, then reinforced with epoxy and fibreglass. The simplified plywood hull has its own sculptural qualities and gives up none of the performance and handling of the original. Puzzle joints, one of Schade's signature design motifs, give the stitch and glue Petrel great artistic flair.

Like the original strip-planked version, the stitch-and-glue Petrel has a transitioning chine; a soft multi-chine bow and a hard-chine stern. This allows for responsive control surfing, with less tendency for the bow to lock in and softer landings going up through waves.

It can be built with all the features paddlers expect from a modern sea kayak; features not found in any other kayak kit. It has super-waterproof rubber hatches, including a day hatch behind the cockpit, giving it a rugged, business-like look. These hatches are recessed to minimise spray and ease rescue techniques and the cockpit is also recessed to make rolling easier. It also has an efficient retractable skeg, which is easy to adjust and is offset from the centre line to virtually eliminate jamming.

The stitch-and-glue Petrel is a sophisticated design that is not the easiest to build but the complexity pays off in the paddling. The boat works well as a long distance touring kayak for smaller paddlers or as a day or overnight boat for larger paddlers.

Schade also created a shorter, wider version of the Petrel: the 14-foot Petrel Play will suit a beginner for exploring lakes, or an expert surfing big waves.

Kit contents

The kit includes:

• Pre-cut wooden panels with pre-cut joints and pre-drilled tie holes
• Retractable skeg
• Epoxy resin and activator
• Epoxy fillers
• Woven glass fabric
• Rubber hatches
• Fabric covered foam seat and backband
• Adjustable footbraces
• Foam knee pads
• Deck hold-down lines (bolt-on)
• Comprehensive building manual
• Free technical support from a competent builder

What else do I need?

To install the rubber hatches, a marine-grade adhesive sealant will also be needed.

Study manual

This is intended for pre-build study or to help with the decision to purchase. This is the comprehensive manual that accompanies the kit; reading it will help you decide whether or not you can build the boat. It describes all of the techniques that will be used during the build and also a step by step guide to construction. It contains a photograph or diagram of every step.

If, later, you decide to purchase the kit the cost of this will be deducted from the kit price.

The manual does not contain the cutting instructions so it is not possible to build the boat from scratch using only this.

PDF study manual

The construction manual for the boat is also available as a PDF download. After credit card authorisation a download link will be sent to the email address put on the order form.

Plans (not required by kit purchasers)

The plans contain sufficient information to build the boat from scratch rather than a kit. They include full size drawings. Please note that there is currently no manual for building from plans. The stitch-and-glue Petrel is not very easy to build from plans unless you have plenty of experience. We strongly recommend novices to build from a kit.

Wood

This option contains only the building manual and pre-cut wooden parts for the boat. This option is for those wanting to obtain the other materials from other sources.

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