John Winters wrote: > > Peter wrote; > > >I've read that if foldables or hardshells are partially filled with water > >then the sponsons make the foldable more stable. > > Only if the hard-shell does not have reserve buoyancy or a pod or sea sock. > The flotation in concert with the shape provides stability. So far I have > seen no support for the argument stability have seen a number of studies on > this topic and performed some myself with no suggestion that the hull > materials have any unique properties. I am not sure I agree. I have paddled hardshells that were half filled with water in the cockpit area while having bulkheads and waterproof compartments on the ends fore and aft. The boats felt real unstable...that is one of the reasons why there is such a rush to pump a kayak out and why after a capsize in a hardshell with that configuration, paddlers often are prone to capsize again (although certainly nervousness, fatigue, fear, etc. stiffens the person up and contributes to the re-capsizing). In a folding kayak, with its flotation along its perimeter along the sides, does not seem to feel at all unstable under the same circumstances. It is critical however in a folding kayak, to have air bags in the end of the boat as well in order to reduce the amount of water that enters, which is true of any hardshell without bulkheads or plastic kayaks whose bulkheads generally are susceptible to leakage and blowout. Which bring me to something, John, that you said in your early posting, the one I kidded you were using to press you shameless attack on wearing life jackets (when not killing babies or signing suicide pacts) :-). You said "Many paddlers achieve this result by packing their boats with waterproof bags along the interior sides of their rigid boats." I have never seen anyone do that in a hardshell. Normally you have no way to tie in waterproof bags around you or along the sides on the insides. That would require tie-in points. I have never seen a production kayak come so equipped except one make...Bavaria brand hardshells made of fiberglass. They have or did have sponsons tied on the inside along the sides. The company glassed in little pieces of nylon twine to tie in the sponsons. These sponsons ran most of the length of the sides inside and were supplied by the same company that made them for Klepper, which is not surprising as both kayak companies are located in Rosenheim, Germany. I have never seen any other hardshell so equipped. Have you really? Is anyone on this list who paddles a hardshell jamming drybags bags around them on the inside along the sides? ralph diaz -- ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Ralph Diaz . . . Folding Kayaker newsletter PO Box 0754, New York, NY 10024 Tel: 212-724-5069; E-mail: rdiaz_at_ix.netcom.com "Where's your sea kayak?"----"It's in the bag." ----------------------------------------------------------------------- *************************************************************************** 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 Apr 11 1999 - 11:39:11 PDT
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