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A baidarka stern is not flat like a modern transomed boat. It is sharp and it is vertical and it changes the body shape from a rounded hull to a bluff stern very quickly. The fabrics take on a very concave form here as well. This type of stern gives good lift and directional stability in following waves.

The open jawed bifid bow was found mainly around the Aleutian Island chain while the upswept lower jaw was found along the Alaska Peninsula and further east. The ocean is much more ice free here than along the Aleutians so ice may not have been the cause of upwept lower jaw. The open jawed boat frequently had sticks in the open part to keep from collecting seaweed and the normal progression over time could have produced the upswept bow. (Some of this is conjecture on my part)

Another thought, wood was usually in short supply for many of the northern natives. They got a boat who's waterline length is equal to the boat length, a gain of 3 to 4 feet over a traditional Greenland style boat.

> The bow is a clever answer to a problem of not being able to easily make a
> concave curve at the bow with stretched skin. The lower part of the bow is
> thin, extending the waterline of the kayak, whereas the top part provides
> more volume causing the bow to lift as it hits oncoming waves, and
> preventing spearing into the wave itself.

> I have heard that the stern is shaped as it is (rather blunt) so that
> waves push the back of the kayak and help its speed. I don't know for
> sure. There is a baidarka page somewhere that discusses the advantages of
> the baidarka (Spiritline kayaks?). (What are we to do without Mark K.
> finding kayak links for us?)