Shearwater 17 / Hybrid Kit

I recently completed this Shearwater 17 and have now taken her out for a paddle. I am an experienced builder and paddler and the boat was well executed and came in at 41 lbs completely rigged -- about 3 lbs below the weight given on the CLC site.

I don't think it's possible to get much lighter than this without significant modifications….the 41lbs weight was primarily due to very careful epoxy work and wood work which minimized epoxy weight. In a nutshell... easy to carry.

The boat was built from the material included in a CLC kit which was relatively complete. The hull was built per plans and all bulkhead locations, foot pedal track locations and other critical measurements were right on specification. I paid careful attention to the deck rigging as the plans and included material did not address what I consider sea-kayak safety minimums. So the boat has full perimeter lines (not included in kit), fore and aft flush hatches (included in kit) and two fore and two aft bungee tie down sections (not included in kit) to hold paddles as well as toggles (not included in kit) to make carrying the boat easy. A well contoured seat from redfin kayaks (not included in kit), the back band (included in kit), and padded knee and thigh braces (included in kit) rounded out the cockpit. dynel rub-strips on the bow and stern knuckles (not included in kit) extending about two feet towards the center of the boat allow the hull to deal with beach or a boat ramp without getting destroyed. These additions probably added another $100 on top of whatever the kit cost.

When it's all said and done, there is little in the commercial market that is a high-performance, fully rigged 17 foot sea kayak that would come in at this weight. There is no skeg on the boat but one can be fitted... it would probably add another two pounds to the hull.

The Shearwater is an attractive boat with an interesting mix of classic looks while at the same time modern. I finished the boat brite which let the underlying wood show through. The dark sappele deck is a nice complement to the okoume hull and shear pieces. Nothing but complements from other paddlers and park walkers when I pulled it off my car top to get underway.

I weigh 183 lbs and am 5'10 inches tall with a 30 inch inseam. For this review I was wearing a dry suit with just long underwear underneath and my regular shoe size is a 10.5. I had water slippers on to preserve the booties of my drysuit... I also paddled with a neoprene skirt. By way of paddling experience I paddle 300 to 400 hundred miles each year... usually once a week during the high season. My other boats I have paddled extensively include the Night Heron, the West River 180, Chesapeake 17s and a large number of commercial sea kayaks. I roll as well.

From a fit perspective, while not roomy, the boat was comfortable and worked for me. My sense is that if I had bigger feet, however, it would have been tight.

When we hit the water we had a 7 knot wind and light chop as well as motor boat wakes. The journey was a quick 8 mile round trip so roughly 4 with the wind at my back and 4 with the wind on the nose.

The first thing I noticed was the boat felt fast and relatively nimble. She tracked nicely without the need for correcting strokes and also responded very nicely to leaned turns. Not as nimble as my night heron with skeg up….but certainly better than the Chesapeake 17 or west river. I had initially considered building the boat with a skeg option….but glad I held off….i did not feel, under these conditions, like the boat was lacking in any way that a retractable skeg would address.

The boat accelerated easily and seemed to hold her speed well. the eight mile run was completed within two hours at a leisurely paddling stroke. My sense is that one is not going to worry about being able to keep up with the group with this hull. The numbers suggest she is fast and the on-the-water performance seemed to confirm that. This is not a high volume boat and for the upwind section, she knifed through the little chop with ease. I found the cut-away shear panels created plenty of room for a relatively aggressive paddling style and I did not once accidently strike the paddle to the boat. I found the boat stable... and had no real adjustment period required... just got in and went.

Overall, I am very happy with the results and the performance. Frankly, I was pleasantly surprised, for a hard-chined boat, at the good balance of tracking and maneuvering and speed. Definitely a keeper.

I will probably write an updated review after I put more miles in more varied conditions.

I have built this Shearwater 17 stich and glue kayak at Arwen Marine. I added 2 options: sectional take apart in 3 pieces and a skeg. I have paddled it 7 times now and I am enjoyed. She is fast, straight but turn easy on angle, comfortable, stable, lightweight for this kind of construction, robust and surf well. I tried it in different conditions in open sea, calm to choppy, not severe yet.

For the time being, I am fully fan of it and do not use the others I have.
And of course she is nice. She is a true versatile sea kayak

After building from plans and paddling another manufacturer's kayak that has a stern that acts as a sail, I wanted a boat that tracked well. When a couple of my buddies in my kayak club (Warehouse Church Kayak Shop) wanted to learn how to build a boat in 5 days (yeah, right) but they didn't need another boat, I checked out what they would be building - the Shearwater 17. CLC's review of it indicated that it tracked well and was fast, and that made it the boat for me (I'm still 'fixing' the first boat). So after a week stitching it together and glassing it, my buddies handed it off to me to "finish."

----Finishing the Shearwater 17-----

TIME AND VARNISH. Finishing is really the biggest part of building a stitch and glue boat like the Shearwater 17. This took a lot of time across a couple of months. Getting the varnish just right was a challenge, but after 7 attempts I learned that a little dab of mineral spirits across the deck and hull will do ya - and the boat does look good.

HATCH KITS. CLC provides one of their standard hatch kits with their boats. Which, per other reviewers and my experience, leaks. Going with an s-cam buckle kit from another manufacturer really provides a good seal - and dry holds.

DECK LINES. CLC like at least a couple of other kit manufacturers neglects to include deck lines for rescue - a safety feature which I did add both fore and aft. It doesn't diminish the boat's appearance, and even if it did, it's an essential safety feature all kayaks should have.

FOOT PEGS. The CLC kit provides plastic rails & foot pegs that are sorely inadequate when it comes to serious paddling when you're pushing hard with your feet – the pedals come off! Plus, the plastic Keepers require drilling holes through the sides to bolt them in. I replaced these with aluminum rails & foot pedals that attach within the cockpit - no holes required. This both improves the appearance and performance of the boat.

BACK SUPPORT. The CLC comes with a support band that is worth, well, very little. I replaced it with foam cut to extend no higher than the top of the coaming, and so far this has been pretty good.

KNEE BRACES. What remains for my boat is cutting out the foam knee braces. There is so much room in the cockpit I'll need to put fairly thick knee braces in since when attempting to roll (I'm just learning this) I end up floating around in the cockpit, not able to shift leg weight. This of course is not a problem, more space (to a point) is better.

------------Paddling the Shearwater 17---------

TRACKING, STABILITY, SPEED. Getting to performance. Wow. I could not believe the boat. No weathercocking - it tracks beautifully. No wobble - as stable as could be. And the long Loaded Waterline Length ensured a fast hull speed. Wow. I've enjoyed it in one 10-mile downstream river race already and look forward to more.

WAVES. I've just moved into intermediate paddling category - I do like waves a lot but need more time in the seat in waves to be fully comfortable and better at edging and bracing to contend with rough water. The Shearwater 17 gives me the "tool" to make going through the waves happen. What a delight.

FLAT WATER. On flat water the boat "disappears." It's so easy to paddle that you can easily get lost in the experience of being on-water.

FISHING. It's been fun using the Shearwater 17 for fishing. I built a rod holder that I easily can slip on and off under the front bungees, and use it for trolling. When it comes to casting, it's like casting from a lounge chair. It's a bit more difficult to fly cast, but whether fly casting or casting lures or live bait, the Shearwater 17 remains calm - no tendency to roll over with the shift in body weight. So far I've taken only pan fish in it, but have gone fishing for kings (which were only jumping around the days I went out).

---------A Final Note--------------------

LOOKING GOOD. Performance is what counts, and the Shearwater does not disappoint. However, the Shearwater 17 with the okume mahogany hull and sapele mahogany deck looks great. The cambered sapele deck is a delight to just look at. And the Shearwater 17 is better than a puppy for starting conversations!

3 1/2 years later and still luvin' this boat! It's fast, stable, comfortable, and can handle some pretty severe seas. I've owned about 6 other boats and have test paddled many others and I wouldn't trade this one for any of them

This boat went together very easily. The puzzle joints and pre-drilled holes were a really big improvement and eliminated most of the measuring and aligning that for me is the scary part of putting these boats together. I installed a skeg and a creature comfort seat. As for performance this boat is FAST!! I think it's faster than the pax20 I had previously.

It's stable, tracks well and is very responsive to edging so there's no need for a rudder. With the cc seat I'm very comfortable and have plenty of leg room. If you're thinking of building a boat that'll really make the miles fly by, this is the one!