RE: [Paddlewise] Instability of folding kayaks (was Re: Rolling a K-lite)

Hi John and All,



> -----Original Message-----
> From: owner-paddlewise_at_paddlewise.net
> [mailto:owner-paddlewise_at_paddlewise.net]On Behalf Of 735769
>
>
> Rob wrote (or was it Kevin?) :

It was me.  Thought this might draw you out-always a good thing. ;)

>
> (SNIP)
>
> >
> > I guess there could be a point where too much stability becomes
> a problem,
> > it's just that I have never witnessed it.  I have lead people in double
> > Folbots in conditions that I never would have taken them in in even
> > moderately beamy singles.  Stability can be an advantage.
> >
>
> The point where form stability (wide and shallow  vs narrow and deep)
> becomes a liability occurs in breaking beam seas. My web site has a
> rudimentary discussion of this and you can get the full lowdown
> in Marchaj's
> "Seaworthiness: The Forgotten factor". The form stability increases the
> capsizing moment in breaking seas and can overpower the ability of the
> paddler to counteract it.

I have no doubt that this holds true in theory.  It is just that I have
never witnessed it in kayaking.  The only reason I mention it at all is I
have heard members of the cult of the skinny boat tell new paddlers that a
skinny tippy boat is much more seaworthy than one that is more stable.  I
just haven't seen a case where a kayaker was in a boat with such high form
stability that they could not lean it far enough into a breaking wave to
prevent capsize.  Doesn't mean it doesn't happen, I just haven't seen it.




>
> I would guess that most capsizes of folding boats occur during attention
> lapses. When paddling canoes (36" wide) in the open ocean I never once had
> even a mild concern. Mind, we had fairly heavy loads but the conditions
> reached the "impossible to make headway level".

Attention lapse or worse yet-incorrect response to a given condition, e.g..
leaning away from the wave while doing a high air-brace.

<SNIP>

> This of course, does  not mean that narrow boats work a whole lot
> better in
> these conditions except in the hands of skilled paddlers.

Yup, that's all I'm saying.

Cheers,

--
Rob Cookson
"I like a little rebellion now and then. It is like a storm in the
Atmosphere." Thomas Jefferson in a letter to Abigail Adams, February 22,
1787.



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