-----Original Message----- From: dmccarty_at_us.ibm.com <dmccarty_at_us.ibm.com> I wrote: >|Putting weight forward will tend to aggravate the most common difficult >|handling situations. It may help some in headwinds but that is not a >|condition people generally have difficulty with. Be sure to try the dive >|belt in the stern though, it should reduce weatherhelm and broaching >|tendencies.. > >Hmmm. I thought I already had enough weight in my stern! 8-) > >The reason I was thinking putting the dive belt forward was to balance the load >in the kayak. Lately I've been carrying a heavy load of camera equipment in the >stern. So I figured the belt might help up front. I guess I"ll find out. I >just want to see if I can ease any tendency for the Looksha to turn into the >wind. It might help top speed to keep a level trim but more weight forward will agravate an already existing weatherhelm. If you want to cut weatherhelm put more weight in the back and less in the front. Even to keep a level (usually the fastest) trim you must be careful to not put too much weight forward. Imagine you're balancing a teeter-toter with your center of gravity (groin) over the axis (while facing one end). Any weight you put in front of your feet is a much further from the axis than what you put right behind you, so you must put a lot more weight behind you to compensate for the length of your legs to remain in balance. Matt Broze http://www.marinerkayaks.com *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List Submissions: paddlewise_at_lists.intelenet.net Subscriptions: paddlewise-request_at_lists.intelenet.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************
This archive was generated by hypermail 2.4.0 : Thu Aug 21 2025 - 16:33:03 PDT