Design
17' 4" Trekker
Designed by Hans Friedel
A 17 ft 4 in hard-chine touring kayak by Hans Friedel, sold by Newfound Woodworks as a hybrid kit only: a stitch and glue plywood hull under a cedar-strip deck. It is close to the Navigator but a little longer and wider at 24-3/8 in, with raised ends and more rocker, so it turns more readily where the Navigator holds a line. About 45 lb, for paddlers of roughly 180 to 290 lb with gear.
The pre-cut okoume hull panels stitch up fast, and the strip deck is where the time and the creative freedom go. No plans-only option exists. As a rule of thumb, budget 130 to 210 hours. Measured medians from build logs appear below.
What building a 17' 4" Trekker actually takes
Medians from the build logs kept on this site, not the designer’s estimate. Nobody has logged this boat here yet, so they are empty until the first builder does.
Those medians firm up as more people log this boat.
Builds of this boat
Nobody has logged a 17' 4" Trekker here yet.
If you are building one, yours becomes the reference: the page the next person building this boat finds when they search for it. One photo and one line is a valid first entry.
Start the first log of this boatBoats like this one
Same type, closest in length.
| Design | Plans from | LOA | Logs |
|---|---|---|---|
| 17' Kanu | Boatkits | 5.28 m (17′ 4″) | 0 |
| 17' 2" Navigator | Newfound Woodworks | 17′ 2″ (5.23 m) | 0 |
| Coho | Pygmy Boats | 17′ 6″ (5.33 m) | 0 |
| Grand Diva Kayak | B&B Yacht Designs | 17′ 6″ (5.33 m) | 0 |
| microBootlegger | Chesapeake Light Craft | 17′ 6″ (5.33 m) | 0 |
| Mystic River Canoe | Chesapeake Light Craft | 17′ 2″ (5.23 m) | 0 |