: Every SOF I've seen doesn't seem to be moving very quickly
: Featherlight's are slow,because it's more important that they're
: portable. Paul Theroux took a folder all over Polynesia and
: wrote a fun book.

: I quit making references to Dyson because nobody ever seems to get
: past the mentioning Captain Cook's logbook where two Aleuts in
: baidarkas were clocked at 10 knots.
: (According to Dyson, actually it's Billings who reported this,
: assistant astronomer on Cook's third voyage Dyson p30-31)
: "In calm weather they can paddle ten sea miles an hour
: (Translated into Russian and then back into English)
: About speed Dyson riffs on the flexible seal skins, Aleut
: experience, and the possible limitations of marine architecture
: (hull speed).

: So how fast do modern SOF baidarkas move? Anyone have an average
: moving speed? Are baidarkas indeed the fastest SOFs?

: I first read George Dyson's writing about kayaks and baidarkas in
: Scientific American in about 1992 and never forgot. 10 knot
: kayaks--wow!
: Surf skis are fast, racing yaks can do about 12 knots over 1000 or
: 2000 meters.

: Will

From the pictures I've seen it seems many of the baidarkas were multihole craft, having more the one paddler and having a really long waterline would make a huge difference in the possible speeds obtained.

Bill H.