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From: Peter A. Chopelas <pac_at_premier1.net>
subject: RE: [Paddlewise] Hull speed and Olympic kayaks
Date: Thu, 28 Sep 2000 10:18:51 -0700
Mike Daly wrote:
> * I'm not exactly sure if this is the right length.

Good posting, I happen to catch the canoe and kayak trials and I noticed 
that the bow and stern had nearly vertical lines and I was wondering why. 
 If they limit the overall length then it would make sense that the 
designers would want to make the LOA the same as the water line length, to 
get the highest hull speed possible.

I was also wondering by how much they exceeded the hull speed, I could tell 
by the wake that they were easily overrunning their bow wake, indicated 
they were well above their hull speed.  I did not have a calculator handy 
and you just answered my question with your posting.

As far as the effort expended to do so, it looked quite painful, especially 
the canoe racers with the single paddles.

Peter



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From: Robert Lawson <lawson_at_unt.edu>
subject: RE: [Paddlewise] Hull speed and Olympic kayaks
Date: Fri, 29 Sep 2000 01:00:06 -0500
Peter

Tell me more about what you could tell from observing their wake. How
boes it look when the bow wake is over run?

Robert

Peter A. Chopelas wrote

I was also wondering by how much they exceeded the hull speed, I could
tell 
by the wake that they were easily overrunning their bow wake, indicated 
they were well above their hull speed.  I did not have a calculator
handy 
and you just answered my question with your posting.

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From: Peter A. Chopelas <pac_at_premier1.net>
subject: RE: [Paddlewise] Hull speed and Olympic kayaks
Date: Mon, 2 Oct 2000 19:43:39 -0700
>
Robert Lawson asks;
>
> Tell me more about what you could tell from observing their wake. How
> does it look when the bow wake is over run?
>

Reply:

Actually quite a lot of information could be gained from the wake.  If you 
could accurately measure the angle of the wake from a photo you could 
determine the boat's speed.  The size of the wake combined with the LWL 
would also tell you something about the boat's displacement (though I am 
afraid I am not smart enough to figure that one out, though it is possible 
I'm sure).

When a boat overrides it's bow wake the wake has a series of overlapping 
diamond shaped patterns as viewed from above.  This is a pretty well 
understood phenomenon with any fluid including air at supersonic speeds.  I 
learned this from doing aerodynamics research for a defense contractor in 
the early eighties, playing around with toys in the water you can see this 
at much lower speeds than is required for air.

and Patrick Maun ask:

> My question is: when did you manage to see kayaking?

Reply:

I mentioned I happen to "catch" it, it was luck.  The gym where I exercise 
at here in western Washington state has some kind of special sport cable 
service just for gyms and health clubs where they broadcast all kinds of 
sports all day long for the TVs that many gyms have hanging around now a 
days (I can do with out them personally).

It was I think last Wednesday morning about 9:30 am west coast time, I saw 
the qualifying trials for both canoe and kayaks, both men's and women's, 
both one and two person canoes and kayaks.  I do not know the final out 
come since I never saw the finals though the announcer said it was to 
happen the next day depending on the weather (the trials were delayed 
because of weather).  I think the station may have had something to do with 
CNN sports but I'm not sure if that is the case with the Olympic coverage. 
 I just got lucky it was on when I was there on a stationary bike, 
otherwise I do my best to ignore the TVs, I'd rather be reading, or 
re-reading an SK magazine.

Peter

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From: Matt Broze <mkayaks_at_oz.net>
subject: RE: [Paddlewise] Hull speed and Olympic kayaks
Date: Tue, 3 Oct 2000 22:49:46 -0700
>
Robert Lawson asks;
>
> Tell me more about what you could tell from observing their wake. How
> does it look when the bow wake is over run?
>

Peter A. Chopelas <pac_at_premier1.net> replied:

>>Actually quite a lot of information could be gained from the wake.  If you
could accurately measure the angle of the wake from a photo you could
determine the boat's speed.  The size of the wake combined with the LWL
would also tell you something about the boat's displacement (though I am
afraid I am not smart enough to figure that one out, though it is possible
I'm sure).<<

Actually in deep water the angle of the wake stays the same at all speeds,
38 degrees 56 minutes (at least until the wave barrier is broken and you
start to plane--and you don't do that in a human powered kayak). Therefore
knowing the angle won't tell you much about the speed of the kayak, but a
photo's measured angle might be able tell you about the depth of the water
(at least if the angle is greater than 38 deg 56' and you know some of the
other parameters in the picture).
The amplitude of the waves in the wake of a non-planing hull will be
determined by the boat's displacement and boat speed. Moving more water
aside more quickly stacks that moved water up higher and results in higher
waves. Energy equals mass times velocity squared. More energy imparted to
the water makes bigger waves.
At the racing speeds the faster kayak will be the one that has managed to
climb the furthest out of the hole it made in the water. If all the kayaks
were the same and the paddlers and kayaks all weighed the same measuring the
amount of the bow that hung out over the water before touching it would
probably be the best predictor (for an observe from the side) of the fastest
moving kayak at these sub-planing speeds. Measurements of the wave height
could also tell which of these identical boats was moving fastest since mass
would be controlled and speed would be the variable that created the
differing wave heights. The length of the transverse waves (the long ones
directly behind the kayak) in the photo will also tell you the speed of the
kayak. A wave moves (in knots) at 1.34 times the square root of the
wave-length (in feet). Or if you prefer dimensionless (pick your own units)
formulas: wavelength = .558 times velocity squared. If you know the length
of the kayak in the photo and with Olympic sprint kayaks we do, I believe
5.2 meters (about 17' 1") is the rule. You should be able to use the kayaks
known length to measure the wavelength of the long following waves and
therefore deduce that kayaks speed.

Matt Broze
http://www.marinerkayaks.com



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