> I don't want to start a debate about speed but ...

> August 1998, Sea Kayaker magazine page 43 indicates that to reach
> 5.5 knots requires a top recreational racer in a very long (19') narrow
> (22") kayak and is maintainable for only a mile.

Check out humbers by yourself: on 1 kilometer course, gold medalist in latest olimpics was doing just a tad more than 10 (ten) knots...

I have paddled with several friends at little more than 4 knots for the Vogalonga in Venice, three times this year, and it is a 32 miles course. Newcomers were able to do the same.

I'm quite happy with sea kayaker magazine, but I speak out of my own experience. I have found out that the average formula for displacement hulls , that is speed in knots= 1.34 * square root of lwl in feet, does not apply to kayaks, just as much as it does not apply to catamarans or other slender hulls in which finesse coefficient is close to 1:10. IN kayaking, the constant 1.34 is more likely to be 1.38, according to my measurements.

However, the patuxent is sold for a 6 knots speed, that is why I came in with my comment.

These numbers
> agree with data in "Bicycling Science" so your numbers may
> (like everyone elses claims and my claims) be in error.

I do not bike, neither I see the link in between.

> In any case, I took a 30 mile day trip with 6 other paddlers
> including a woman with low power output and her husband who had a
> bad shoulder. We regrouped every 60-90 minutes and we all paddled
> from 9:30am until 5:30pm. Speed matters very little unless your group
> hates you.

Speed and hate do not matter to me. Curiosity, experience and direct verification of claims do.

Regards, Stefano