Gerald wrote; >You paddle rudderless boats, Blue and Red, on a flat water demo day. Blue >is easily turned, while you have to lean and sweep hard to get Red to turn. >You conclude Red tracks better than Blue. > Compare the conclusion given with this; You conclude that Red responds less to turning moments than blue in a wave and wind free environment. One conclusion can deceive the paddler the other enlightens him and directs him to the boat that suits his needs. The word "better" may cause the confusion. If one doesn't want or need a boat that tracks perfectly straight then Red may not be viewed as "better" >You paddle both again in an enclosed bay, with the wind howling at 20 to 30 >knots, but only 1 foot wind chop because of the protection. Now you have to >work like hell to keep Red from weathercocking (or lee cocking). Blue is >easy to hold on any heading with a few easy leans and sweeps. You conclude >Blue tracks better than Red. Compare the conclusion with this; Red has greater response to leeway induced turning moments and less response to paddle induced turning moments than Blue in a choppy windy environment. Similar thoughts apply to the conclusions as in the first example. . > >You paddle both again in 10 knots of wind but in confused following seas due >to tidal current and a moderate rip. Every shift in wave direction rotates >Blue back and forth through 45 deg. You have to be instantaneously on top >of your leans and sweeps to keep on top of direction holding. But it is >fairly easy to quickly get back on course. Red requires much less attention >but when it does get knocked off course it is much harder to get it >corrected. You don't know what the heck to conclude about tracking. Compare with this; Blue requires constant paddler response in confused conditions etc. but responds even after a lapse in timing. Red responds more slowly to external turning moments and requires less attention to keep on course unless ones attention lapses beyond a certain point in which case it requires greater effort to get back on course. In every case, proper conclusions reveal the reality of the boat and guide in how one reacts to the boat. One should asses ones ability and objectives and match them to the boat. Paddlers appear to expect perfection in their boats while the reality has more to do with suiting the boat to the skills and objectives of the paddler which means rather simply that perfection for all paddlers in one boat will not likely happen in this world. Jerry's examples reflect the challenges for both buyers and builders. The resulting boat characteristics must reflect decisions about the control feedback loop time (varies with paddler), the paddler objectives and paddling environment. Cheers, John Winters Redwing Designs Specialists in Human Powered Watercraft http://home.ican.net/~735769/ *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List Submissions: paddlewise_at_lists.intelenet.net Subscriptions: paddlewise-request_at_lists.intelenet.net Website: http://www.gasp-seakayak.net/paddlewise/ ***************************************************************************Received on Sun Jan 17 1999 - 07:43:18 PST
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