As a guy who likes to design kayaks and tends to have an engineering bent, I place some value on the stability curve. But I don't feel I really know how a kayak handles until I've paddled it for a while. I don't think anyone should let a stability curve convince them to buy a boat they otherwise don't feel comfortable in or scare them away from a boat that they really like. If a lumberjack can stand up and run around on a half submerged log, most people should be able learn to stay upright in just about any kayak built. One value of knowing how to read a stability curve for the layman is to protect themselves from salesmen who hide behind simple, logical sounding phrases like: "This boat is wider than that one so is more stable." or "Because this boat is hard chined it has very good secondary stability." Just knowing that stability is more complicated than width or chine shape will go a long way to making a more informed buyer. And maybe having the idea in the back of their mind that there may be a point in the stability where it changes from getting stiffer to getting looser, will make the buyer try to look for that point when they try a boat. They may or may not like the feeling, but at least they might think to look for it and form an opinion. This knowledge can also help organize their thoughts about what it is they like about the boat. Instead of just "I like this boat and it is hard chined, therefore I like hard chined boats." it can be "I like the way this boat gets harder to tip before it goes all the way over." and look for boats which respond the same instead of just looking the same. This could all be learned without ever looking at a stability curve, but learning about the curve can help understanding the factors involved. Nick At 9:45 PM -0800 11/20/00, Harvey Golden wrote: > <snip> > >A stability curve does say a lot-- certainly more than the holy but >insignificant measurement of "beam" does. (I have a 19" wide kayak that's >tippier than my 15-1/4" wide kayak. [Heresy!]) As Nick said, there is no >substitution to trying the kayak yourself. He also says that it takes >effort and knowledge to use the curves. I personally think that for the >average paddler-non-naval-architect, that the kayak could be paddled >extensively before the curves for the particular design can begin to make >practical sense. (Lest we presume to understand the "curve" before we >really understand the kayak.) > Harvey Golden > www.pacifier.com/~qayaq -- Nick Schade Guillemot Kayaks 824 Thompson St, Suite I Glastonbury, CT 06033 (860) 659-8847 Schade_at_guillemot-kayaks.com http://www.guillemot-kayaks.com/ >>>>"It's not just Art, It's a Craft!"<<<< *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - Any opinions or suggestions expressed here are solely those of the writer(s). You must assume the entire responsibility for reliance upon them. All postings copyright the author. Submissions: PaddleWise_at_PaddleWise.net Subscriptions: PaddleWise-request_at_PaddleWise.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************Received on Tue Nov 21 2000 - 07:30:45 PST
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