Design
17' Spirit
Designed by Hans Friedel
A 17 ft cedar-strip touring kayak by Hans Friedel, described by Newfound Woodworks as the fastest kayak it sells. A 22 in beam and fine entry make it responsive, and although it keeps good stability, Newfound rates it best for intermediate to advanced paddlers. About 43 lb with 275 lb capacity. Available as plans or a kit.
A standard strip kayak build: hull and deck stripped over forms, glassed inside and out, then coaming, bulkheads, hatches and fittings. It suits a patient first-timer or a builder with a canoe done. As a rule of thumb, budget 220 to 320 hours. The medians below come from builders who logged this boat here.
What building a 17' Spirit 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' Spirit 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' Disko Bay | Newfound Woodworks | 17′ 0″ (5.18 m) | 0 |
| 17' Fire Star | Newfound Woodworks | 17′ 0″ (5.18 m) | 0 |
| 17' Lapstrake Canoe | Duck Trap Woodworking | 17′ 0″ (5.18 m) | 0 |
| 17' Sea Wolf | Newfound Woodworks | 17′ 0″ (5.18 m) | 0 |
| 17' Traveler | Newfound Woodworks | 17′ 0″ (5.18 m) | 0 |
| All Water Seventeen | Ashes Still Water Boats | 17′ 0″ (5.18 m) | 0 |