Design
18' 4" North Star
Designed by Rob Macks
An 18 ft 4 in strip-built baidarka by Rob Macks of Laughing Loon, inspired by Aleut kayaks and the work of George Dyson, with kits from Newfound Woodworks. It is 22.5 in wide and about 40 lb. The first was built in 1993 and won a craftsmanship award at the 1994 WoodenBoat Show. It has the split bow, a truncated stern with fixed rudder, and very high volume for expeditions or large paddlers.
The longest kayak here and the most involved, with separately built bow and stern pieces; the designer offers a video on them. Best for a builder with some experience. As a rule of thumb, budget 260 to 380 hours. The medians below come from builders who logged this boat here.
What building a 18' 4" North Star 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 18' 4" North Star 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 18' 2" White Guide | Newfound Woodworks | 18′ 2″ (5.54 m) | 0 |
| Angler's Big Trip | Ashes Still Water Boats | 18′ 6″ (5.64 m) | 0 |
| Shearwater Double | Chesapeake Light Craft | 18′ 6″ (5.64 m) | 0 |
| Tandem Quick | Ashes Still Water Boats | 18′ 6″ (5.64 m) | 0 |
| Aleutesque | Chesapeake Light Craft | 18′ 0″ (5.49 m) | 0 |
| Chesapeake 18 | Chesapeake Light Craft | 18′ 0″ (5.49 m) | 0 |