News: A preliminary version of the double Halten is designed. Here is slso our ideas about using pontons to enhance stability in rough sea.
We can help with:
Improving your kayak or kayak drawings
Kayaks for strip building
3D-printing of accessories
CNC-machining of cross sections for strip builders
CNC-maching of building jigs
Dry testing of kayaks and strip building
Tjelmeland Kayak is a wanna-be kayak firm that is based on designing kayaks using a mathematical model for the hull. This enables automatic testing of key characteristics of the kayaks and for finding the fastest hull given stability and length constraints.
We can aid buyers or builders in testing kayaks for stability and resistance, and we can deliver drawings or dxf files for some kayak models we have designed in-house. However, we are small and slow so for most things we write about here we probably will not be fully operative until somewhat into 2017. It helps, though, with a tight cooperation with the clever guys in Tjelmeland Friksjon.
On this website we mainly deal with the technical aspects of dry testing and of strip building using our method. People interested in the wider aspects of kayaking and kayak building should go to Bjørn Thomasson's website - a fabulous resource deeply rooted in Scandinavian outdoor culture.
In case you want to take contact concerning anything on these web pages: sigurdtjelm@gmail.com.
Our passion is touring the coastal seascape. The picture above is taken west of the islands outside Bergen, sometimes rugged, sometimes mild with blooming heather. To the west is Shetland (outside of the picture). The paddler in the foreground uses a Sibir Expedition, mentioned elsewhere on these web pages.
Dry testing
We have given up understanding why there are no tests for, for example, stability and resistance in kayaking magazines and why not vendors deliver such data. Sea Kayaker had such tests, but we do not see them anymore. This situation is in contrast to nearly all other fields, where essential data are given. For cars, for instance, you readily find the power of the motor, fuel consumption and emission data. Why cannot prospective buyers browse through the most essential characteristics before buying a new kayak?
We have developed methods for dry testing of kayaks. If the vendor can supply you with hull data, we can test your kayak extensively for stability and resistance. Few vendors for some reason of their own can or will other do this, except those that deliver drawings for strip builders. We can digitalize drawings although raw hull data are preferrable. It is also possible to measure an existing kayak.
A kayak that has the smallest resistance at 4 knots is not the kayak that has the smallest resistance at 6 knots. Optimization of a kayak for speed depends on the strength of the paddler.
We use the test methods extensively in-house during the design of our own kayak models and they are especially well suited for comparing kayaks, which we do regularly when we suggest improvements of existing kayaks.
Strip building
Quite a few people (on a world basis, that is) build their own kayak and the most favoured metod is strip building. With this method you are not limited in which hulls you can realize. Strip builders are people that seek an especially beautiful wooden kayak or people that seek characteristics that are not readily met by off-the-shelf kayaks you find in the stores. Or they are people that seek the deeper connection with the boat that you get by building it yourself.
Tjelmeland Kayak has invented a new method for strip building that reduces building time considerably. We have also developed a few kayaks for which we can deliver drawings for those who want to build traditionally or dxf-files for those who have access to a suitable CNC machine. We can also deliver building sets where the parts have been machined in-house.
Experimental yet, we may deliver 3D-printed accessories, like cockpit coamings and hatch rims that will fit your strip-built kayak exactly, reducing much of the total building time. Alternatively, we may deliver stl files that you can use for printing the parts yourself on your own printer or elsewhere.
Kayak models
We have developed a suite of kayak models. All models are the fastest possible for their length and stability. Most dear to our hearts are touring kayaks, i.e. kayaks suitable for long trips in the coastal landscape.
The target group
The picture below shows Per Tjelmeland posing as the target group for the activities in Tjelmeland Kayak.
