Panthera – Dan Caouette

Wednesday, July 6, 2016 (Launchings, Panthera), 5 comments

Dan Caouette (Clear Stream Watercraft) in USA Northeast, who has built many of my kayaks on order has built one for himself. It is a Panthera, and as all his other kayaks built with a superb craftsmanship and a fantastic finish! I look forward to more photos...

"My daughter and I finally launched our new kayaks! The maiden voyages were on Saturday June 18th. I haven’t sent any pictures yet as they technically weren’t done yet. The decals finally arrived late last week.

Here are a few pictures of my Panthera and Lena’s “Atka” with it’s orca-inspired paint scheme.

Fully outfitted my “Silhouette” Panthera came in at 38 lbs (17,3 kg). She’s named after a black jaguar in Arizona. It has a rugged layup and is meant for heavy touring. It’s outfitted with three Kajak-Sport hatches, composite seat and carbon footboard from Stellar Kayaks and a SmartTrack “Race” rudder. The hull has a silicone-epoxy paint originally designed for airboats (Wetlander). It’s very slippery, tough and flexible. It’ll be interesting to see how it wears. I’m very impressed with the general performance of the design so far. She’s a fast, agile cat who loves the water. I’m glad I’m keeping this one!

Here’s my daughter Lena’s little stitch and glue “Atka” iqyax/baidarka in the flesh. It weighs 27 lbs (12,3 kg) fully outfitted. Only notable outfitting is a KS adjustable skeg. It was painted with automotive urethane (primer, white, black then clear coats). So far she absolutely loves it. Everyone thinks it looks great with it’s orca design. I even carved a little Aleut-esque seal for the rigging. Thanks for the design inspiration."

Comments

1 Dan Caouette (CSCWC)
7/6/2016 9:57 PM

Thanks for the post Björn. I DO owe you some better "glamour" shots. It's been a rather busy summer.

For those who may be interested pictures of the build can be found in my Facebook album. It was a fun project and a superb kayak design. I pulled out all the stops making it for myself. Even with using no staples it took only 125 hours to construct. I look forward to getting to know my "Silhouette" more in the years to come.

https://www.facebook.com/301674333251097/photos/?tab=album&album_id=991951970889993

I designed and built my daughter's little Atka kayak using the same plywood S&G methods developed by Björn, Petruskajaks and myself for the plywood Black Pearls, Alleqs and Frej SG. The orca paint scheme was inspired by renderings Björn for the Panthera page. More build pictures here:

https://www.facebook.com/301674333251097/photos/?tab=album&album_id=969473553137835

2 Björn Thomasson
7/7/2016 9:47 AM

Thank you! It is inspirational, educating (and also a bit humbling ;-) to see the kayaks coming out from your workshop! I am excited every time you start on one of mine...

3 Bengt Ekwall
7/7/2016 7:11 PM

Är det bra att fästa lyfthandtagen i däcket?

Hur starkt blir förbandet mellan skrov och däck?

4 Björn Thomasson
7/7/2016 7:53 PM

Lyfthandtag i däcket är inget problem. De är normalt förankrade i en träklots, limmad i skrovet – eller som en del amerikanska konstruktörer rekommenderar: i en s.k. end-pour: en massiv epoxyklump ute i stävarna (något jag inte rekommenderar – onödig tyngd långt ute i stävarna är hydrodynamiskt olämpligt).

5 Dan Caouette (CSCWC)
7/8/2016 1:42 PM

Bengt, deck-mounted handles are a common design feature on commercial kayaks. They are often through-bolted using fender washers. Here the handles are bolted to blocks of mahogany epoxied to the deck interior. They are large enough to spread the load out over a large area of the deck.

https://scontent-ord1-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-9/13051608_1017834211635102_1295995908592433118_n.jpg?oh=0426a322689a849e65498ba26ffe144a&oe=582C1B22

The deck/hull joint is usually just as strong, if not stronger sometimes, than the hull or deck construction.

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