Re: [Paddlewise] limited ....

Mark wrote;


> I guess one trip I would like to try when I can arrange the time as sort
> of a shakedown would be North Carolina to Bermuda.  Around 600 miles.
> If I like that then longer trips.  I wouldn't do it as any type of
> record attempt, just personal satisfaction. Shorter trips like Florida
> to the Bahamas have been done many times by sailing kayak and I would
> think that would be nice. In good conditions in a sailing kayak loaded
> for touring I would think 8 knots average reaching would be doing well.
> Bear in mind that when I say sailing kayak, I mean one that can convert
> from sailing to paddling while on the water and stow the sail gear
> aboard.  I am not talking about kayak based performance sailboat.

An interesting aspect of Mark's project has to do with when a kayak with
auxiliary sail power becomes a sailboat with auxiliary paddle power. This
might seem like splitting hairs but it has a lot of importance from a design
standpoint.

Since I have designed sailboats and now design canoes and kayaks I face this
occasionally when customers ask for canoes or kayaks with sailing rigs.
Recently I did some free consultation for Hugh Horton who really enjoys his
sailing canoe designed by David Yost and hopes to perfect it. Meade Gougeon
of the West System  fame has built on and many other people are showing
renewed interest in sailing canoes. I believe Mark knows Hugh and may have
some familiarity with the boat.

Anyway, the problem a designer faces has to do with the fact that sails can
generate more power than a person paddling so one has to decide whether to
use a higher prismatic coefficient (Cp)  for the sailing or a lower Cp for
the paddling. Generally one also likes to use more fullness higher up
forward to reduce trim forward when running under sail while preferring a
finer entry on a kayak.  Next one has to face whether the boat must sail to
windward. Do you use a keel, lee boards, bilge boards, centerboard or what?
All affect the hull design  and impact on paddling.

So, the question surfaces. Does the customer want a sailboat with and
emphasis on sailing or a kayak with the emphasis on paddling. My experience
with this leads me to believe that those who do much sailing really want
sailboats. When I asked Hugh Horton this question he had no ready answer but
every picture of his boats showed them sailing and that, to me, suggested
the answer.

The pedants among us might suggest that kayaks that get sailed more than
paddled belong in the sailing mailing lists. :-)


No doubt Mark has thought his boat through carefully but, at the risk of
preaching to the converted, I think it worthwhile to mention that any boat
for a long open water voyage should have self bailing and self righting
ability. Most importantly the paddler/sailor should not depend upon  form
stability. A careful reading of Lindemann's "Alone at Sea" and Marchaj's
"Seaworthiness: the Forgotten Factor" will explain why.

Whether one considers a self righting and self bailing boat a sea kayak or
not should cause some debate to relieve our early winter ennui.

Cheers,

John Winters
Redwing Designs
Web site address, http://home.ican.net/~735769






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