» A Short Folding Boat History

On the cover of Life magazine in 1957 for his epic unassisted crossing of the Atlantic in a Klepper folding kayak in 1956, Dr. Hannes Lindemann drew worldwide attention to the modern-day rigid kayak's precursor, the folding kayak. Before Dr. Lindemann's crossing was Capt. William A. Andrews' July through November 1892 singlehanded, trans-Atlantic voyage in a 14 1/2 foot folding Klepper named "Sapolio" chronicled in "Columbus Outdone! Capt. Andrews' Cruise in the Sapolio", edited by Artemas Ward.

Folding boat history goes back to the mid 1800's, including use during the American Civil War in 1863-64. Commercial production in Europe commenced in 1907, however, and is attributed to German tailor Johann Klepper who was approached by a Munich architect that had designed a folding kayak and needed someone to sew a skin to cover it. The original "Klepper" folding kayak design was based on the idea of a skin and frame Eskimo kayak for seaworthiness but with a larger body for roominess. The boat's shape was a cross between a kayak and canoe, folding by means of ingenious fastenings in several sections.

What set this design apart from its predecessors was the principle that the framework be pushed into a ready-made hull or kayak skin, whereas most previous attempts were limited to attaching canvas in one form or another to the outside of a framework. The new "Kleppers" were also designed to be carried easily in bags and allow their users to journey by train. And so the folding kayak was born. To this day many folding kayaks still share some of these basic design and assembly features and are still carried in bags or backpacks, some weighing less than 20 lbs. The above picture with bikers carrying their folding Klepper kayaks was captured on film in 1910, in Europe.

The folding kayak or "foldboating" sport grew rapidly from 1920 to 1930 in Europe with thousands of Clubs organized all over Central Europe. In 1934, foldboating was elevated to the Olympic Convention in Athens, Greece. On this Olympic history page you can see the double Swedish team winners in their Klepper double (text in German). Left is a 1938 flyer from Klepper summing-up the 1936 Olympic winners, all with Klepper folding kayaks. Literally hundreds of folding kayak manufacturers produced folding boats through the years leading to WWII. Fast forward one hundred years and a bit and foldboating remains solidly entrenched in European tradition and folding kayak clubs still abound, especially in Germany and Switzerland.

During WWII, 'Folboats' or folding boats were used in British X24 submarines. They were rolled into a cigar shape and stowed in the forward torpedo compartment (the forends) in place of reload torpedoes. Launching was via the forward torpedo loading hatch. The picture on the right features the final assembly of the folding kayak on the submarine deck. Klepper folding kayaks are still produced in Rosenheim, Bavaria, Germany. Following a devastating fire, the Klepper Museum and Manufacturing facilities had to be re-built. Thanks to the generosity of paddlers, the museum once again displays Kleppers dating back to the first folding kayaks produced in 1907.

Today's Folding Kayak Market
Only a handful of folding kayak companies survived beyond World War II and the advent of fiberglass and plastic kayaks. Today, four major folding kayak manufacturers rule the waters, Klepper in Germany (who sell to military forces worldwide), Feathercraft in Canada, Nautiraid based in France and Folbot in the US.

With an increase in sea kayaking and touring worldwide, the rise of the folding kayak is a natural given its inherent and proven seaworthiness. Ralph Diaz, author of what is considered as the folding kayak bible Complete Folding Kayaker, now in its second edition (Ragged Mountain Press, 2003), has witnessed the steady growing trend in folding kayaks worldwide. He explains, "more and more people live in condos or places where they have limited access to storage space sizable enough for a hardshell kayak. Also, as paddlers are realizing they get absorbed by the passion for kayaking they want to go to other places where they can paddle. All too often, however, they cannot find kayaks for rent or the choices of rentals are not good in quality. Bringing their own kayaks, with which they are familiar, is better and safer because they know its traits and limitations."

Easy assembly of modern folding kayaks, which can take as little as 10-15 minutes, coupled with their lightweight portability in cars, planes or on yachts, are making the sport even more accessible. In his book, Diaz describes the eight factors in evaluating which foldable kayak is right for you: assembly and portability, stability and seaworthiness, tracking, maneuverability, speed and efficiency, versatility and access, quality and durability and cost and depreciation.

Mr. Diaz has also noticed innovation in the folding kayak field with manufacturers creating up to eight methods of assembly versus the original two in place when he initially got involved in folding kayaks twelve years ago.

Environmental Perspective
Folding kayaks made of quality workmanship and that are well maintained can last upwards of 50 years, and can usually be fixed fairly easily (including with duct tape...). These qualities make them an ecologically sound choice for Canadians.

A Few Famous Klepper Folding Kayak Owners and Adventurers
1909 C.E. Layton · Paddled across the English Channel
1923 Karl Schott · Seakayaking from Germany to India
1926 Roald Amundsen · North Pole Expedition
1928 Admiral Byrd · South Pole Expedition
1928 Capt. Roemer · Crossed the Atlantic Ocean
1928 Sven Hedin · Asian Explorations
1935 Dr. Sorge · Spitzbergen Expedition
1954 H. Rittlinger · Upper Nile and Sudan
1955 Hans Ertl · Anden-Amazon Expedition
1956 Dr. Lindemann · Sailed across Atlantic Ocean (see photo at top)
1970 John Dowd · Seakayaking Singapore-Australia
1978 K. Gallei · East Coast of Greenland
1979 Charles Porter · Sculled around Cape Horn
1983 Kimmich & Eckstein · Maranon Expedition
1984 Fuchs & Neuber · Winter trip Cape Horn
1985 Fuchs & Porter · Magnetic North Pole
1987 Lindenkamp & Meyer · Tibet Expedition
1989 Howard Rice · Sailed around Cape Horn solo
1991 Gail Ferris · Pt. Barrow Alaska Arctic Ocean
1992 Stiller & Brown · Attempted Semi-circumnavigation of Australia (see their photo below at the start of their journey. You can also read their book "Keep Australia on Your Left".)

Visit the history page on Expeditionkayak.com and see photos and read descriptions for several of these famous Klepper folding kayak adventures.

Water, Water everywhere...
Folding kayaks are proven reliable seaworthy vessels that have crossed oceans, have been sailed on rivers, lakes and seas spanning the globe and have paddled their way into the hearts of millions of foldboaters worldwide. A love story renewed with a classic kayak!

Information Sources
Research and historical documents from Wayne Wegner's private collection
Complete Folding Kayaker, Ralph Diaz, Ragged Mountain Press, 2nd Edition, 2003
Klepper photos from Klepper Faltboote

For more on folding kayaks in English, an EXCELLENT source of information: Folding Kayaks.org by Michael Edelman. If you can read in German, there are plenty of German wesites and folding kayak forums with links from Michael's site.

www.klepper.ca/foldinghistory.htm