Re: [Paddlewise] speed with versus against the current

On Thu, 28 May 1998, John Winters wrote:

> >Could someone explain what would make one hull faster, than the other
> >with the current versus against it.
> 
> I would suspect that both of you were actually working harder against the
> current in whihc case your speed through the water was greater and the boat
> with the higher prismatic coefficient had lower wave making resistance at
> the higher speed.

During a short race (an hour or less) I like to think my power output is 
steady/constant.  I know it isn't, just humor me.  I'm not sure where
the higher speed was.  Are you saying that upstream we were going at
a higher speed than downstream?  In both cases the first half of the
race, downstream, we were dead even with other boat, within 50 yards
of encountering a change in the direction of the current one of the
boats pulled away.  The first time it happened we were competing
against other people of similar experience and fitness/training.

One problem with the recent example was the Seda Glider 
(versus the nordkapp hm) fell back, and I believe the glider has the higher 
prismatic coefficient.  

> Always a dangerous assumption :-) The psychology of the race has a huge
> impact. Some people feel defeated when paddling against the current and
> others feel challenged.

;-)  Psychology was likely a factor in the most recent case.  The person 
in the glider fell back about 15 seconds after I commented that we
would have a headwind and quartering waves for the second half of
the race too.  

> >The first time I experienced this was against a marathon flatwater canoe.
> >I attributed the difference to their boat slicing through the water as
> >the water was displaced and ours riding up onto the water as it displaced
> >the water.  This time it was a Seda Glider versus a VCP Nordkapp.
> 
> This is not likley a factor since canoes and kayaks don't plane in the
> hydrodynamic meaning of the word.

I didn't mean planing.  I meant that the recreational canoe hull was more
likely to ride up onto the water and have more of a downward force as the
water was displaced, versus the marathon boat forcing the water more outward
than down.
 
> The Glider should be faster than the Nordkapp in racing conditions and at
> racing effort.

So a simple psych-out is the answer? ;-)
Maybe in the more recent case.

kirk
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