Internationally recognized kayak and small boat designer Nick Schade, owner of Guillemot Kayaks, has teamed up with the largest producer of kit boats in the country, Chesapeake Light Craft, to create high quality boat kits based on Schade’s designs. With customers in over 60 countries Guillemot Kayaks has earned worldwide respect as a source of beautiful, high performance boat designs. Since 1993 do-it-yourself builders have used Schade’s plans and instructions to craft their own small boats at home. Chesapeake Light Craft (CLC), established in 1991, is a boat kits-and-materials specialist, with broad experience in kit fabrication and distribution.
“This is an exciting partnership,” says Schade. “I can expand my business and reach a broader market, and CLC’s manufacturing expertise and customer-centered approach will be a huge benefit to my builders.” With his 1998 book “The Strip-Built Sea Kayak” Schade established Guillemot Kayaks as one of the foremost authorities in the “strip-built” boatbuilding process. This technique utilizes thin strips of lightweight wood encapsulated in fiberglass, and has gained a reputation as a straightforward way for builders to assemble an ultralight boat.
“I’ve always been a huge fan of Nick’s work,” says John C. Harris, president and CEO of Chesapeake Light Craft. “He’s a sculptor in wood and one of the best small boat designers on the scene, and he’s a perfect fit for CLC’s stable of cool boats for the do-it-yourself crowd.” CLC ships thousands of boat kits each year and has carved out a niche as a primary source for amateur boatbuilders. CLC uses computerized machinery and a large staff of skilled craftsman to prepare boat kits for their own large line of kayaks and smallcraft, as well as for other boat design emporiums including WoodenBoat Magazine.
Guillemot Kayaks offers both plywood “stitch and glue” boat kits and cedar strip boat kits. CLC will be supplying computer-cut plywood parts, pre-milled cove and bead cedar strips, and precision-cut building forms along with the requisite fiberglass and epoxy supplies for Guillemot’s full range of boats.
