Date: 6/11/2009, 3:54 am
I have long believed that while longer kayaks certainly have their uses in the hands of serious paddlers, a lot of social paddlers have unnecessarily long kayaks. Many of them suffer all the disadvantages of the increased length but never get to experience the advantages.
Seat of the pants testing suggested that at the speed most casual paddlers travel. 15 ft or 4.5 metres is long enough.
I had often played around with the length of kayaks on Kayak Foundry and it seemed to confirm that below about 4 to 4.5 knots, a 15 ft kayak has less drag than than an 18 ft.
Previously I had just done what Kudzu did and changed the length and kept everything else the same.
The questions his post provoked prompted me to try a slightly more sophisticated comparison.
This time I decided that as well as keeping the displacement the same, I would keep the stability the same. I think there is actually a very good argument that stability is the thing a lot of paddlers would want to stay the same.
I picked a 15 ft kayak at random and stretched it to 18 ft then 21 ft and made the beam narrower so that the stability stayed the same.
The results change the figures a bit of course but don't change the fact that below 4 to 4.5 knots on flat water there is no advantage in going from a 15 ft to an 18 ft or a 21 ft kayak.
Messages In This Thread
- Skin-on-Frame: Fast, Playful SOF *Pic*
Michael Collins -- 6/8/2009, 11:10 pm- Re: Skin-on-Frame: Fast, Playful SOF
Aaron H -- 6/9/2009, 3:36 pm- Re: Skin-on-Frame: Fast, Playful SOF
Michael Collins -- 6/9/2009, 10:39 pm- Re: Skin-on-Frame: Fast, Playful SOF
Aaron H -- 6/10/2009, 6:11 pm- Re: Skin-on-Frame: Fast, Playful SOF
Brian Scaborough -- 6/10/2009, 10:21 am- Re: Skin-on-Frame: Fast, Playful SOF
John D. -- 6/10/2009, 3:02 pm
- Re: Skin-on-Frame: Fast, Playful SOF
- The Long Boat Myth *LINK* *Pic*
Kudzu -- 6/9/2009, 7:43 pm- Re: The Long Boat Myth
Mike Savage -- 6/11/2009, 7:01 pm- Re: The Long Boat Myth
Johne -- 6/11/2009, 12:08 pm- Re: The Long Boat Myth
Michael -- 6/11/2009, 10:23 am- Re: The Long Boat Myth *Pic*
Allan -- 6/11/2009, 3:54 am- Re: The Long Boat Myth
Bill Hamm -- 6/11/2009, 9:50 am- Re: The Long Boat Myth
Kudzu -- 6/11/2009, 11:56 am- Re: The Long Boat Myth
Michael Collins -- 6/11/2009, 1:58 pm- Re: The Long Boat Myth
Kudzu -- 6/11/2009, 5:33 pm- Re: The Long Boat Myth
Bill Hamm -- 6/13/2009, 1:23 am- Re: The Long Boat Myth
Terry Haines -- 6/18/2009, 11:45 pm- Re: The Long Boat Myth
Bill Hamm -- 6/19/2009, 11:39 am- Re: The Long Boat Myth
John F Monroe -- 6/24/2009, 5:42 am- Re: The Long Boat Myth
Terry Haines -- 6/19/2009, 6:33 pm - Re: The Long Boat Myth
- Re: The Long Boat Myth
- Re: The Long Boat Myth
- Re: The Long Boat Myth
- Re: The Long Boat Myth
- Re: The Long Boat Myth
Bill Hamm -- 6/11/2009, 1:26 pm - Re: The Long Boat Myth
- Re: The Long Boat Myth
- Re: The Long Boat Myth
Kudzu -- 6/11/2009, 7:42 am- Re: The Long Boat Myth
Allan -- 6/11/2009, 8:02 am- Re: The Long Boat Myth
Kudzu -- 6/11/2009, 9:19 am
- Re: The Long Boat Myth
- Re: The Long Boat Myth
West -- 6/11/2009, 4:23 am- Re: The Long Boat Myth
Allan -- 6/11/2009, 7:45 am
- Re: The Long Boat Myth
- Re: The Long Boat Myth
Ken Brunton -- 6/10/2009, 11:13 am- Re: The Long Boat Myth
Kudzu -- 6/10/2009, 1:40 pm- Re: The Long Boat Myth
Michael Collins -- 6/10/2009, 2:16 pm- Re: The Long Boat Myth
Kudzu -- 6/10/2009, 7:52 pm- Re: The Long Boat Myth
Bill Hamm -- 6/10/2009, 3:44 pm - Re: The Long Boat Myth
- Re: The Long Boat Myth
- Re: The Long Boat Myth
- Re: The Long Boat Myth
Michael Collins -- 6/9/2009, 10:26 pm- Re: The Long Boat Myth
Kudzu -- 6/10/2009, 8:33 am- Re: The Long Boat Myth
Nick Schade - Guillemot Kayaks -- 6/10/2009, 8:49 am- Re: The Long Boat Myth
Kudzu -- 6/10/2009, 1:08 pm- Re: The Long Boat Myth
Nick Schade - Guillemot Kayaks -- 6/11/2009, 10:35 am- Hey Nick
Kudzu -- 6/12/2009, 10:18 am- Single change??
Allan -- 6/12/2009, 6:47 pm
- Re: The Long Boat Myth
Kudzu -- 6/11/2009, 12:04 pm - Single change??
- Hey Nick
- Re: The Long Boat Myth
- Re: The Long Boat Myth
- Re: The Long Boat Myth
- Re: The Long Boat Myth
Glen Smith -- 6/9/2009, 8:16 pm- Re: The Long Boat Myth
Kudzu -- 6/10/2009, 8:17 am- Re: The Long Boat Myth
Nick Schade - Guillemot Kayaks -- 6/10/2009, 8:57 am
- Re: The Long Boat Myth
- Re: The Long Boat Myth
- Re: Skin-on-Frame: Fast, Playful SOF
- Re: Skin-on-Frame: Fast, Playful SOF
Bill Hamm -- 6/9/2009, 1:15 am- Re: Skin-on-Frame: Fast, Playful SOF
Brian Scaborough -- 6/9/2009, 8:32 am- Re: Skin-on-Frame: Fast, Playful SOF
wwfloyd -- 6/10/2009, 7:47 pm- Re: Skin-on-Frame: Fast, Playful SOF
Bill Hamm -- 6/11/2009, 1:00 am
- Re: Skin-on-Frame: Fast, Playful SOF *LINK* *Pic*
Tom Yost -- 6/9/2009, 10:24 am- Re: Skin-on-Frame: Fast, Playful SOF
Bill Hamm -- 6/9/2009, 8:28 pm- Re: Skin-on-Frame: Fast, Playful SOF
Tom Yost -- 6/10/2009, 12:41 am
- LMAO!
Robert N Pruden -- 6/9/2009, 2:43 pm- Re: LMAO! *Pic*
Tom Yost -- 6/9/2009, 6:13 pm- Re: LMAO!
Bill Hamm -- 6/9/2009, 8:30 pm
- Re: LMAO!
- Re: Skin-on-Frame: Fast, Playful SOF
Brian Scaborough -- 6/9/2009, 10:40 am- Re: Skin-on-Frame: Fast, Playful SOF
Michael Collins -- 6/9/2009, 11:11 pm- Re: Skin-on-Frame: Fast, Playful SOF
Brian Scaborough -- 6/10/2009, 1:00 pm- Balancing Gear
Michael Collins -- 6/10/2009, 2:01 pm- Re: Balancing Gear
Bill Hamm -- 6/10/2009, 3:40 pm- Re: Balancing Gear *LINK*
Brian Scaborough -- 6/10/2009, 2:27 pm - Re: Balancing Gear *LINK*
- Re: Balancing Gear
- Balancing Gear
- Re: Skin-on-Frame: Fast, Playful SOF *Pic*
Tom Yost -- 6/9/2009, 11:01 am- I've done that, too, but only with the Guinness.
Robert N Pruden -- 6/9/2009, 2:46 pm
- Re: Skin-on-Frame: Fast, Playful SOF
- Re: Skin-on-Frame: Fast, Playful SOF
- Re: Skin-on-Frame: Fast, Playful SOF
- Re: Skin-on-Frame: Fast, Playful SOF
- Re: Skin-on-Frame: Fast, Playful SOF
Brian Scarborough -- 6/9/2009, 12:00 am- Rider, Ranger?
Michael Collins -- 6/9/2009, 11:07 pm- Re: Rider, Ranger?
Bill Hamm -- 6/10/2009, 2:27 am
- Re: Rider, Ranger?
- Re: Skin-on-Frame: Fast, Playful SOF
- Re: Skin-on-Frame: Fast, Playful SOF