[Eliot]

Just wanted to share some photos of my V3 kit.

I outfitted it as a light weight whitewater boat with three point thigh straps, a backband and a whitewater deck with a cockpit coaming.

Several of us ran laps on a local class II in it for it’s maiden voyage.

Coming from a rafting and whitewater kayaking background, the packraft  performed really well and exceeded my expectations of handling and speed.

Everyone who tried it is sold on buying a kit from Matt.

Now I really want to build another V3 whitewater boat as a self bailer. 

[Eliot]

Hi Matt,

I’ll get some pictures and documentation together for you regarding the outfitting, hopefully this week.

 

[Eliot]

Hi Clemens,

The rod that forms the coaming is currently a single piece of 3/8″ OD, 1/4″ ID Polyethylene (PEX) tubing. This is available at most hardware stores in North America for installation in household plumbing as an alternative to copper or CPVC.

There is a short section of 1/4″ aluminum tube inserted as a joining piece.

I believe this is what Alpacka and others are doing on the current crop of whitewater oriented packrafts.

Following Matt’s construction guide for a spray deck, I have a small slit in the inside rear of the cockpit that I feed the coaming into and snap the joint together through.

I will be making some improvements to this area as it’s the one thing I’m not 100% happy with. It is currently very difficult to install an off the shelf whitewater kayak bungee sprayskirt. However, once it’s on, it’s fairly secure.

I think a slightly longer coaming piece than I currently have will create a deeper and more secure lip for the skirt to fit over and make it easier to snap into place.

Hope this helps.

[Author]

Replies