I wrote: >When racing > regularly years ago I always hoped for rough water and waves to surf. In > conditions like that I could beat a lot of stronger paddlers who regularly > beat me in calmer conditions. Larry Bliven" <foxhill_at_shore.intercom.net> asked: >>what boat were you using in these conditions?<< Mostly I raced in an original Mariner (I) but have used several others as well. Larry wrote: >>one time I was in a Pachena and out running an artic hawk big time. it was short chop and I could surf, but the longer boat couldn't due to multiple waves under his hull.<< This is an example of what I mean when I say that we tend to take our limited experience and overgeneralize and then latch on to the first explanation we hear or theorize. How do you know the difference was due to multiple waves under the hull? Was there a study done to eliminate all the other possibilities? If so can you tell me which possibilities were controlled for and how that was done? If you had said "I suspect that was due to" or "my hypothesis is" I would accept that statement better. Either way, I doubt that is the reason. If the waves were just the right length for the Pachena to surf then they would also limit its speed to the speed of those waves. The Arctic Hawk (if it really had multiple waves under the hull--which I also doubt because even a 14' Pachena would surf a wave best that was long enough that there couldn't be more than 1.3 or 1.4 waves under the 18' Arctic Hawk) would be able to go faster than these waves. It is possible that the wavelength was such that the longer boat (also with a finer bow, which can also cause the following possibility) was burying its bow and being slowed that way (but it then should still be just as fast as the wave). More likely for some reason the other paddler was not able to catch waves to surf them. This could be a skill level or strength level difference, or a weight and acceleration difference, or a paddle blade difference--was the other guy using a "Greenland" style paddle? They cruise just fine but they don't get the boat up to speed as quickly when you floor the accelerator (sort of like a typical automatic transmission vs. a manual shift). Quick acceleration is important to catch a fast wave. Some other possibilities. You are a better paddler in those conditions. (if you tried both boats and timed them with the same results maybe you have more experience in the Pachena or are a rudder dependant paddler and the Pachena had a rudder. Maybe the Pachena is better handling in those conditions (but I have paddled an Arctic Hawk in those conditions and thought it did quite well, and don't recall it burying its bow much either--don't recall surfing the Pachena the times I paddled it but that was a long time ago when it first came out--probably did though as I wanted to compare it with our Coaster as the Pachena was the second short little sea kayak to hit the local market--it really wasn't in the same category and I didn't see it as real competition to the Coaster's niches in the market--several years ago I recommended a Pachena to an old customer of ours who retired in Florida with hip replacement surgery and couldn't get into his 35" x 15.75" Escape cockpit anymore and wanted a kayak he could poke around the mangroves with--Pachena's cockpit is 36" x 18" and a little deeper too--he sent me a dirty (not really but I can't spell riskay) postcard containing a nice "thank you" note after buying the Pachena and finding it suited his needs). Larry continued: >>so i wonder if you were out in deep water or working off of shallow water waves. i'm currious to know if shorter boats can out run longer boats in deep water. bye bye bliven<< Vast majority of the time in deep water. There is a lot more involved than just the length of the kayak. Some of these things are discussed in the FAQ section of my website. Some stuff in FAQ on stability too (for those interested in the stability thread that I don't have time to tackle today other than to say: "The size and weight distribution of the paddler has a lot to do with how wide the kayak needs to be for adequate stability and when one will be too wide and stable (novices have trouble with this "too stable" concept). Vince is most likely a small paddler and probably needs a kayak so narrow that a 250 lb. paddler couldn't keep it upright without great effort just to be able to lean it whenever he wants. Different strokes for different folks. Have never seen a "pure" style forward stroke (that I could recognize anyhow). Anyone care to fill me in on what this is? Matt Broze http://www.marinerkayaks.com *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - All postings copyright the author and not to be reproduced outside PaddleWise without author's permission Submissions: paddlewise_at_lists.intelenet.net Subscriptions: paddlewise-request_at_lists.intelenet.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************Received on Mon May 15 2000 - 01:59:48 PDT
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