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From: Matt Broze <mkayaks_at_oz.net>
subject: Re: [Paddlewise] Rocker: too many sea kayaks
Date: Sun, 3 Oct 1999 04:34:31 -0700
Matt Broze
http://www.marinerkayaks.com
-----Original Message-----
From: Dan Hagen <dan_at_hagen.net>


SNIP>
>All of this certainly makes sense (at least to my feeble mind). Doesn't
>this also imply that hulls with a single hard chine may have an
>advantage in such circumstances, since they tend to be more resistant to
>"side-slipping", thereby reducing leeway? Has anyone tested the
>resistance of different hull designs to slide-slipping?

I timed myself over a short distance while skulling various kayaks sideways
as fast as I could (for 20 to 30 seconds). I think your guess is correct
about hard chines, the sides are more vertical and if you lean the kayak you
dig the chine in deeper increasing the size of the underwater profile. I
tried long boats and short boats, hard chined and round bilge boats, narrow
and wide boats. My goal was to beat Olympic gold medalist Greg Barton in a
short fun race at the Port Townsend symposium that had a backwards and
sideways leg.
If you want to go sideways faster go with round bilges and a wider kayak.
Length didn't seem to make much difference. The added length may be being
made up for the by the shallower draft at the same dispalcement. Most
important though is to find a kayak with the center of lateral resistance at
your side so the kayak will go straight sideways rather than yaw (so the bow
or stern takes the lead). Yawing in this situation is very hard to correct
for.

It would seem as
>though this may an important factor in "real-world" performance. As
>someone who paddles frequently in the wind, I do not spend much time
>traveling in the direction my boat is pointed. And yet the standard
>resistance formulas measure (or seek to measure) the resistance of a
>boat that is traveling straight ahead. It would be useful to know more
>about these other factors.
>
>Dan Hagen
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