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Re: The Long Boat Myth
By:Bill Hamm
Date: 6/11/2009, 9:50 am
In Response To: Re: The Long Boat Myth *Pic* (Allan)

: 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.

Yes a smaller kayak has less drag at slower speeds than a longer one, to a point, but you're only adjusting waterline length. There's usually no reason to have the same waterline beam with a longer waterline, so that needs adjusted too.

There is a difference, it's not as much as some would have you believe.

Bill H.

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
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
Bill Hamm -- 6/11/2009, 1:26 pm
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
West -- 6/11/2009, 4:23 am
Re: The Long Boat Myth
Allan -- 6/11/2009, 7:45 am
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
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
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: 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: 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: 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
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