In this video, I design and build Runner, the fastest and most specialized kayak I’ve ever made.
For nearly 15 years, I built kayaks almost exclusively for customers. My own boats were worn out, and it was time to build something new for myself. While many people know my work for its craftsmanship and visual appeal, my real focus has always been performance on the water. A kayak should look good, but more importantly, it should paddle well.
Still, a new boat is better advertising than an old one. So this project became an opportunity to design a kayak that was both visually striking and purpose-built for the conditions I paddle most.
A Kayak Designed for Downwind Surfing
I live at the eastern end of Long Island Sound, where strong west winds create steep, fast-moving waves. In the right conditions, a kayak can surf faster than it can be paddled. Most sea kayaks are designed for general rough water, but very few are optimized specifically for downwind speed and wave surfing.
That was the design goal for Runner:
A fast kayak that accelerates quickly, catches waves easily, and stays controllable at high speed.
Starting Point: The microBootlegger Sport
Runner evolved from my microBootlegger Sport design, which has an elegant rolled sheer inspired by 1920s mahogany runabouts and sporty handling. But I didn’t want to build the same kayak again. If I was going to build a boat for myself, it needed to be new and fill a niche that didn’t already exist.
The original microBootlegger Sport is about 15½ feet long and 22 inches wide. For Runner, I stretched and narrowed the hull to 17 feet long and 20 inches wide. Long and narrow means speed. I kept the transitional chine—soft forward and hard aft—because it provides lift and control while surfing.
Hull Shape and Performance Features
Every design decision was tied directly to performance:
- A cutaway foredeck allows a close paddle catch for efficient, high-cadence paddling.
- The stern is shaped to carry a rudder for control at speed.
- The bow was reshaped into a “hatchet” profile to balance the hull visually and functionally.
- Extra volume was added forward to prevent the bow from burying into waves and creating drag.
- The widest point of the hull was moved aft (a Swede-form hull) so lift is centered behind the cockpit while surfing.
After refining the volume distribution, the foredeck developed a Roman-nosed profile that reflects the kayak’s aggressive purpose. While Runner still shows its family resemblance to the microBootlegger Sport, it is sleeker, longer, and far more specialized.
There are many 17-foot sea kayaks on the market. There are none built quite like this one.
From Digital Design to Wooden Kayak
The design process took more than a year and nearly 80 hours of computer work before I ever cut wood. Once finalized, the hull shape was sliced into stations and CNC-machined to create building forms for strip-planking.
For materials, I used leftover mahogany from customer builds and Alaskan yellow cedar. Mahogany forms the topsides above the waterline, while thicker cedar strips form the bottom for added strength. The contrast between the woods also highlights the shape of the kayak.
Most of the boat was built stapless, using hot-melt glue to temporarily hold strips in place. Unlike cabinetmaking, nearly every piece of wood in a kayak must be shaped and fitted in place. Hard chines, like the one aft on Runner, require careful strip fitting and beveling to preserve the designed geometry. These details are invisible in the finished boat, but essential to how it paddles.
Lightweight Strength with Fiberglass and Carbon Fiber
Once stripped, the hull and deck were fiberglassed with epoxy resin. Wood alone would be too fragile; fiberglass gives the kayak durability and impact resistance. Inside, carbon fiber reinforces the areas that need stiffness, while fiberglass saves weight in less critical areas.
The interior was scraped and smoothed not for appearance, but for strength. Sudden steps between strips create stress risers. A fair, even surface makes the structure stronger and more reliable.
From there came the detailed work: hatch recesses, rudder controls, deck line fittings, and a custom-molded compass dome. After final bonding and extensive sanding, the kayak was sprayed with automotive clear coat and then fully outfitted with hatches, seat, foot braces, and rudder.
The Finished Kayak: Runner
Runner turned out exactly as intended. The mahogany topsides and light wood accents give it a distinctive look, but the real success is how it performs.
It is fast and efficient on flat water—I paddled it 54 miles around Mount Desert Island in one day—and in downwind conditions it excels. It accelerates quickly, catches waves easily, and is genuinely fun to paddle.
Runner fills a gap between traditional sea kayaks and surf-oriented craft. It is a wooden kayak designed specifically for speed and surfing in real coastal conditions.
Building plans and kits for Runner, along with many of my other kayak designs, are available through my website. The video below shows the full process of turning this kayak from a digital design into a finished boat.