[Paddlewise] Aleut superior designs

From: E. Sullivan <sullivaned_at_pop.mts.kpnw.org>
Date: Thu, 09 Dec 1999 09:10:38 -0800
Kev wrote:


If this is true, then why did the Aleut Eskimos build boats
with
multi-chine hulls? I would suggest they may have thought
multi-chine hulls
were better than rounded hulls, and I don't believe for a
second that they
didn't have the technology to build a smoothly rounded hull.
I am of the
opinion that they arrived on their classic baidairka design
after
centuries of rigorous testing that would rival anything that
we do today.
Note that I am not saying necessarily that multi-chine hulls
are more
efficient than rounded hulls, but I am saying that they
might  be better
in an overall sense. <unsnip>

I'm not sure how valuable centuries of rigorous testing are
when results are passed from generation to generation
verbally, and accurate means of measurement are lacking.
Seems to me the tendency would be not to fiddle for minor
changes in performance if you had something that worked
well. They had to paddle to eat, unlike the boatwrights on
this list who are fabulously wealthy and can afford to
tinker.



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Received on Thu Dec 09 1999 - 10:10:15 PST

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