Stowaway K2 - History

The K2 History

K2 on a car roof rack

Folding boats have been in existence for many years – some were even successfully deployed from the sinking Titanic!

The original concept from which K2 has evolved is the Seahopper design developed by an Englishman, Geoff Lennard, in the mid 70’s. Up until the late 90’s these were no more than 8 feet (2.4 metres) in length as this was the largest size of marine ply commercially available. However, with the introduction of 10 foot x 5 foot (3m x 1.5m) ply in 1997/8 it was possible to ”go larger” and so the 3 metre version, the Kontender - so called as we saw it as a worthy rival to the Mirror dinghy - was developed.

This received rave reviews in the boating press (notably Watercraft and Practical Boat Owner) as a true family sailing dinghy that could easily be transported on a car roof rack, launched without a trolley, and stored like a ladder or windsurfer on a shed or garage wall.

Alice Driscoll, who reviewed the Kontender for Watercraft, was extremely complementary about its performance on the water, which was particularly welcome from a former world Enterprise champion.

However, it became apparent after a few years of production that, although popular as a DIY project, wooden boats, including the Mirror, have nearly all been replaced by fibreglass or rotor moulded plastic.

At Stowaway Boats we decided to take the plunge and bring the Kontender into the 21^st century. With the technical help of Robin Brunt at EPS Logistics at Sittingbourne, over a 3 year period of research and development, we managed to overcome all of the challenges that we encountered on the way.

Our first prototype used a similar hinge system to the Kontender, but the edges of the fibreglass were considered too exposed and prone to damage; a trial with polyprolyne as a hinge encountered the usual difficulties of adhesion which, although potentially surmountable, also exposed its restricted flexibility, when creating the multifaceted curve on the hull.

Eventually we decided on a neoprene hinge system which would solve the two previously encountered problems and had a track record of use in a marine environment, albeit vulcanised onto metal. Having made up some neoprene hinge and applied it to prototype number 3 we discovered that we had made it so robust that it added 18 kilos to the hull weight!

There followed a long period of weight reduction! Not only did we reduce the weight of the hinge, we also scrutinised the structure of each component panel with a view to losing an ounce here and half a kilo there. We set ourselves the target that the boat, complete with sail gear, could be put on a roof rack (usual max is 75 kilos) and that the heaviest single piece, i.e. the folding hull, should be under 40 kilos to make it possible for 2 people to lift it onto a car roof rack. We managed to just slip under this target at 39 kilos!

The Weight watcher challenge had beneficial results. We realised that hand laying the hull panels produced a ten percent variance in weight but, by using vacuum moulds, that we could achieve a constant weight. Adding special foam sheet also reduced the amount of resin needed and increased the hull’s rigidity. The added benefit of using moulds was a smooth finish to both sides of the hull and the ability to create a non slip profile to the floor of the hull.

Rigidity and strength were a key attribute and each section was carefully designed to achieve this using various materials and shape to optimise this. A second benefit of our weight reduction exercise was to introduce a more aesthetically pleasing shape to the overall boat, particularly to the thwarts and seats.

Not surprisingly early trials by ourselves and pathfinder customers revealed a couple of other areas for improvement. On a 3 day camping trip down the Thames (see the News section) we found that there was nowhere to brace one’s feet when pulling on the oars, so we introduced a lateral brace which also served to significantly stiffen the hull where the boat folds along the keel - so much so that we introduced another brace just aft of the dagger box; we found this was not so much an issue in the front half of the boat particularly with the mast in place which keeps the bottom of the boat stiff.

Practice in capsizing and righting the boat single-handed for the RCD accreditation highlighted the benefit of an extra buoyancy bag in the stern - something we were unable to do properly on the wooden Kontender because of the knee supporting the aft thwart. Naturally when boarding the stern of a previously capsized boat, the water is likely to keep flooding in unless the stern is kept buoyant. For the record, we managed to right the K2 in under a minute for the RYA examiner - well within the time allowed - just as well as it was a very cold November morning on the Solent.

We are sure that other improvements will come about over the course of its life which we will strive to incorporate at the earliest opportunity. Naturally people often ask us why we are not getting it made outside the UK. One of the reasons is that this is a niche product which is unlikely to sell in thousands each year. We think that what is more important is that we can be sure that what is actually quite a complicated boat to produce is in the reliable hands of people who are well versed in glass fibre, waterproof adhesives etc and who, as suppliers to the MOD, place a great importance on quality control. Instead of looking to the Far East, we have forsaken some profit margin for the security of carefully monitored high quality production in the UK, and priced the K2 to compete well with its rigid counterparts such as the new Mirror Weekender.