Subject: Re: baidarka books on foldables
From: GUM@exmail.de
Date: Mon Dec 04 2000 - 11:20:29 EST
Hello all,
to give you an idea what we are talking about.
Lorenz Mayr, the author, lives in Munich, Germany and met most of the pioneers
in folding kayak building in his live. As living near the alps,
whitewaterkayaking his one of his obsessions and when he started kayaking,
folding kayaks were the only boats to use as there were not so many cars to
carry kayaks with. He met some very experienced builders and whitewater kayakers
of that time. Those guys had the idea, that a greenland-kayak is the thing for
white water, so they built boats as narrow as 39 cm and more than 5 meters in
length. Some call them "slim kayaks" as the standard folding kayak (for example
Klepper as you know him today) was much wider and shorter as were most other
commercial built boats. Those "artists in kayaks" kayaked heavy wildwater (for
example "Salzachöfen" by A. Anderle) all over Europe and especially the alps.
Later they called themselves the "Alpen-Eskimos". Their boats, the "Möll" or the
"Drau" for example, often had a stem end stern section for good turnability and
had only the "garage-dimensions" in common with greenland kayaks.
Building techniques differed widely as there were many places in Germany before
WWII where folding kayaks were built.
L. Mayr shows in his book some building techniques which were used at this time,
but mostly those used by H. Slanar. This book is a real joy to read, browse
through and a spring for inspiring ideas.
In his instructions you can feel the background of someone who is not only
writing about kayaks but who has built and used them for a long time (I know
about 8 persons in Germany who built such a kayak in the last 10 years).
I got his book long after my own boat was finished. I took a complete different
approach in construction, but the comparison to his techniques was exiting.
Another real treasure of his book are his stories about those men in folding
kayaks, their live and their ideas in folding kayak building. He added some
linedrawings with permission from the original designers which makes this book a
diamond.
It is a true credit to those pioneers of modern whitewater- and seakayaking and
if you watch old films (where their competence in kayaking is documented) you
get the idea that there was nothing new in kayaking in the western world the
last 40 years except rotomolded or fiberglassed boats.
Only a few names of these guys got into the record of kayaking but this book
documents with facts what they were able to. It is well written, full with
useful hints and unreached concerning it's topic. L. Mayr is an expert writing
about experts, a combination that is seldom enough.
Gerald
Gerald Maroske
GUM@exmail.de
-
Baidarka Mailing List - All postings copyright the author and not to be
reproduced outside Baidarka or Baidarka archives without author's permission
Submissions: baidarka@lists.intelenet.net
Subscriptions: baidarka-request@lists.intelenet.net
Searchable archive: http://rtpnet.org/robroy/baidarka
This archive was generated by hypermail 2b27 : Mon Jan 01 2001 - 01:00:01 EST