What’s different about our materials and construction?

Tiderace sea kayaks have:

• The best construction technology
• Easy repair features
• Advanced deck and hull joins
• Tiderace Core Technology (TCT)
• A range of construction types

The best construction technology

A Tiderace seakayak uses the best construction technology that is currently available. The composite material used in manufacture include woven and directional glass fibre carbon/kevlar combination and woven carbon fibre. Highest quality epoxy resin is used in every laminate and the high bond Ampreg Tie Coat ensures maximum adhesion to the gelcoat. The composite laminates are either moulded by hand or by vacuum depending on the construction type.

Easy repair

Advanced deck and hull joins

The deck / hull join consists of a quadruple layer overlap join – the deck moulding overlaps the hull, and both inner and outer surfaces are then covered with a glass fibre and epoxy seam. The outer seam is also gelcoated and polished for an immaculate finish.

Tiderace Core Technology (TCT)

All Tiderace constructions employ a lightweight resin filled core material into the middle of the laminate, making a sandwich. This middle core keeps the surfaces apart making the laminate stiff – the outer skin is made robust enough to withstand puncturing and the core sufficiently dense enough to withstand crushing. A core laminate gives the best combination of weight and stiffness.

Construction types and materials

1. Layer	Material
   1	Gel Coat
   2	Glass cloth s-lite
   3	Glass cloth lite
   4	Glass cloth medium
   5	Glass cloth heavy
   6	Glass cloth s-heavy
   7	Glass biaxial lite
   8	Glass biaxial medium
   9	Glass biaxial heavy
   10	Resin Supported Core
   11	Carbon Kevlar cloth
   12	Carbon cloth

Classic

Wet laminate deck and hull. The most affordable of the Tiderace constructions, the Classic employs multiple layers of woven glass hand laid with epoxy resin and incorporates a core in the flatter hull and deck sections. Extra localised reinforcing is employed in high stress areas, including around the cockpit and at the ends. Composite glass bulkheads are bonded and laminated into place, ensuring a flexible yet secure fixing.

G-Core

Wet Laminate deck, Vacuum hull. The G-Core builds on the Classic by employing a biaxial glass cloth within the heart of the laminate, encapsulating the core material. Biaxial cloths have straight running fibres running in two diagonal directions – these dense straight fibres increase the fibre to resin ratio and increase the stiffness of the laminate.

G-Core lite

Vacuum, full core deck and hull. Exclusive to the Pace model, the G-Core Lite employs a full light-weight core throughout both hull and deck. Fewer glass layers can be used which reduces weight while stiffness is maintained by the core. This laminate is the least robust of the Tiderace range, but it stiffness and lightweight are ideal for racing or light fast touring.

Hardcore

Vacuum deck and hull. The toughest and most durable of the Tiderace constructions. Multiple layers are employed giving a penetration resistant glass skin outside the core. Employing only glass on the outside of the laminate makes for easy repairs. Inside, a high tensile layer of carbon / kevlar resists deformation and absorbs heavy impacts – as with all constructions, this is covered with a fine glass cloth to resist foot abrasion inside the cockpit.

Carbon Pro

Vacuum deck and hull. A light high-tech expedition layup, the Carbon-Pro employs an inner layer of pure carbon cloth. This cloth is the stiffest of all cloths employed in Tiderace construction and has a high visual appeal for the discerning paddler. Employing glass outer layers makes this laminate easy repairable.

Download Constructions PDF (3mb)