kayak design
 

Been browsing diffrent kayaks and found that the design changes for diffrent areas. Some of the very good looking ones are from South Africa. It also seems that here in the USA people like the kayaks wider and add alot of electronics and lets say alot of accesories. As someone who never been to South Africa i wonder are the seas over there are so diffrent that they need a totaly diffrent design for a kayak.. How hard is it to make the plastic kayak smooth on the bottom so there would be less friction with the water?? just wondering......

Sasha

I believe their kayaks are more geared towards bigger surf conditions, we have it easy here.

Plus, I doubt they need as many gadgets that we have, lots of fish out there, just gotta watch the elements and keep an eye out for the man in the grey suit...

Bigger water there for sure, so a more narrow design makes sense. Maybe they feel safer in a hard shell kayak if the tax man decides to take a nip?

You can smooth out your kayak bottom, any material... just give it a good wash, razor off any gouges sticking out, and put something like UV protector on it which is sort of waxy. It won't make much difference though!

Plastic is much better for mass production and market appeal. They are lots cheaper and more durable. There are plenty of US roto-molded kayak MFG's here in USA so its no wonder they are popular here.