Melissa Reese wrote: > > Hi Joan, > > There's a review of the Ellesmere in the Feb. 2000 Sea Kayaker, and > there, you can see the "inverse" chines. It's an interesting looking > chine arrangement. It has a second, "upper chine" that curves down > at either end. It also has a rounded hull instead of a shallow V. I > haven't paddled one yet, but I'm very interested in trying it. I > have no idea of the "notchiness factor" of this boaty. In a sense, the chines on all folding kayaks are "inverse." All folding kayaks, by definition, are hard-chined because of their use of longitudinal stringers running the length of the boats. The inverse factor is apparent if you sit in a folding kayak on the water and look down inside with the clearest example being Feathercrafts. Water pressure pushes up against the skin between between the keel bar and stringers on each side. Looking at just one side, you will see an elongated concave pocket (or convex, depending on how you view it) created between the keel bar and the chine bar and another similar pocket between the chine bar and the gunwale. Now switch to a straight-on profile look at the boat. These concave (or convex) pockets, in effect, invert the chine as they curve inward above and below the chine. That feeling of notchiness that has been described here is nothing new to a folding kayaker. When you tip a foldable to one side, you most definitely feel the notches or inversion of the chines. It is more noticable in slimmer folding kayaks like those from Feathercraft which are easier to dip to one side than broader ones. Also, Feathercraft seems to cut their hulls a bit looser than other manufacturers (or they appear that way) and that makes those concave pockets more pronounced. I see the difference is quite significant when I compare what the pocket appears like in my Nautiraid single as opposed to my Feathercraft K-Light. The indent of the pocket on the Nautiraid is much more shallow than the one of the K-Light. ralph diaz -- ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Ralph Diaz . . . Folding Kayaker newsletter PO Box 0754, New York, NY 10024 Tel: 212-724-5069; E-mail: rdiaz_at_ix.netcom.com "Where's your sea kayak?"----"It's in the bag." ----------------------------------------------------------------------- *************************************************************************** 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 Wed Nov 22 2000 - 09:32:28 PST
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