And finally, only a few millennia later… modern kayaks were born. It might have taken us a while – but at least we got there eventually, am I right?
All jokes aside, the evolution of kayaks that occurred during that time was insane.
Nowadays, kayaks are constructed using a wide range of materials, most commonly rotomolded PE, thermoplastic, and composite materials (fiberglass and Carbon fiber, for example).
That wasn’t always the case, though.
In fact, fiberglass kayaks weren’t introduced until the 1950s. They remained the golden standard of manufacturing ‘yaks until plastic – or, more specifically, polyethylene – took over in the 1980s.
However, the most significant moment was, hands down, the invention of the sit-on-top kayak a decade earlier:
This ground-breaking moment can be attributed to Tim Niemier – a teenager who created a SOT kayak in the 1970s by modifying a surfboard. He then founded Ocean Kayak, one of the biggest kayak brands today – and the rest is history.
To say that, these days, kayaks come in a variety of “flavors” would be an understatement. Here are the different types of kayaks you’ll see today:
- Touring and sea kayaks – specialized boats with long, sleek hulls designed for navigating open waters and long-distance travel
- Whitewater kayaks designed for tackling whitewater rapids
- Surf kayaks, designed for catching waves and playing in the ocean surf
- Racing kayaks, also known as performance kayaks, designed for speed and efficiency
- Inflatable kayaks, designed to be lightweight and portable
- Folding kayaks designed to bridge the gap between inflatables and hard-shells
That’s quite a variety, isn’t it?
Then again, we have had thousands of years of collective knowledge to get to that point; I would be disappointed if we somehow failed to introduce these innovations.
