lso, the deck height right after the cockpit is reduced, so that climbing in the kayak would be easier. The hull’s upper bilges now have much more flare, especially at the 2 ends, to help improving secondary stability, that also has Cp (prismatic coefficient) increased to about 0.52 ~ 0.53, a value usually seen on a faster cruising kayak, unlike the quite – low value of 0.5 on my previous Serene – 2. Transverse metacentric height – Kmt increased to 26 ~ 27 cm, which indicates satisfactory initial stability.

Thus, Serene – 3 is designed with a shift to (primary and secondary) stability concerns. Directional stability (reflected by the Cb – block coefficient value of 0.39) is ensured with an improved rudder system. The beam is slightly widen to 46 cm, and LOA stays at 17 feet. The 5.2m length is an important factor, cause it could entirely fit into a 4 meter truck, which could be easily hired to transport the boat if needed, otherwise at 18 feet, I would need a larger truck, which could be hard to find.

The hull features a deeper V – bottom, something similar to that of the Illorsuit. In all three Serene – 1, 2, 3 designs, I’ve always tried to combine deep V – hull with a narrow beam, something until now I’ve only partially succeeded. Various other improves would be incorporated into this boat. I would build different hatches with big silicone gaskets, to completely solve the water leaking problem (hopefully). Also, there would be 3 hatches along the kayak, to better utilized the storage volume inside.

t’s time to move on to a new kayak design 😀. Lessons learnt from my last failed trip signifies the necessity for a boat design that is geared toward a wide range of self – rescue actions such as: balanced brace, roll and wet – entry. Thanks to the very dynamic world – wide sea – kayak community, which constantly invents and improves various techniques, I’ve updated myself to some newer self – rescue techniques which I consider to be critically important for long cruising trips.

My previous boat, Serene – 2 has some obvious shortcomings though: initial stability is still slightly problematic, especially for reentry; the electricity system, though working very well, is hard to repair or upgrade, this is due to my inexperience with electrical wiring. I would incorporate into this kayak design various small improves here and there: the storage compartments and hatches would be rearranged to better utilize the boat’s volume, a new rudder system with better responsiveness, etc…

For the last 2 months, most of my free times is directed toward working with FreeShip, the very helpful boat – designing software. Some design parameters: LOA: 5.2m (17′), Beam: 46 cm, Displacement: 120 kg, Cp (prismatic coefficient): 5.3, S (wetted surface): 1.95, Cb (block coefficient): 0.39, Cw (waterplane coefficient): 0.7… The most important change compared to Serene – 2 is a significant increase in rocker, the boat is now much curvy, having the mid section deeper seated in water.