John,

One of my customers, Andrea Rea, bought a boat kit from you and built a racing pedal boat using the basic hull as a starting point. She asked me to email you some pictures so you can see how it turned out.

Andrea bought the pedal drive from Sea Cycle. They use it on a pontoon boat. We built a small box around it, filled with foam and glassed, to fit into the trunk. The trunk supports extend under the seat to distribute the load. The seat and drive are easily removed, the rudder kicks up and the the steering stick lays down, so that the boat has a smooth surface for carrying on a car top. The decks are airtight and serve as large flotation compartments. She may add a small v-shaped coaming on the forward deck if she takes too much water in the bay. The boat bottom is coated with epoxy mixed with aluminum oxide to improve abrasion resistance. The bottom is glassed on the outside with 6oz fabric and on the inside with 4oz. The colors (Andrea's selection) are pigments added to the epoxy. The boat weighs 43 lbs without the drive, drive weighs 13 lbs. It turned out very well--tracks straight, steers well, is stable and fast.

When she came in with the plan to build a cycle boat, she brought pictures of the ones used in the races. They were essentially a windsurfer hull with a recumbent bike seat and a hole for the drive. They are inherently unstable and unsuited for use in the Chesapeake Bay, so we consulted Bob Hicks from Messing About in Boats and he suggested a hard-chine, 15-16 foot kayak or pirogue. I will write an article for MAIB about this boat because it is unique (I never built anything like it before and I am 62 years old).

 

Regards,

 

Ken