Re: [Paddlewise] FW: Why does rocker and carving work?

----- Original Message -----
From: "Alder Creek Kayak & Canoe" <aldercreek_at_qwest.net>
To: <rebyl_kayak_at_iprimus.com.au>; "Paddlewise (E-mail)"
<paddlewise_at_paddlewise.net>
Sent: Monday, December 03, 2001 2:52 PM
Subject: Re: [Paddlewise] FW: Why does rocker and carving work?


>
> Where's Mr. Broze?
>

I agree... I hope Matt will lend his authoritative voice, even if he has to
make it up on the spot... ;)

>
> According to Matt, Mariner kayaks turn by being edged alone.  No
initiation
> required. Something about the asymmetric shape of the hull.  Tilt right
and
> the hull turns left and visa versa.  Most boats I have paddled are more or
> less neutral when edged and need some sort of persuasion or initiation to
> turn.

My Pygmy Arctic Tern will initiate its own carve, provided that I lean
forward. I have found carving turns to be quite sensitive to forward/back
leans.  Sitting in the nuetral position, it needs "help" to initiate the
turn.  Still, the Tern responds very quick once the turn is initiated and
carves beautifully.



> Once initiated the hull will build up spin momentum as the water
> pressure balance changes.  Tilt the hull either to the outside or the
inside
> of the turn and it will carve and turn faster. We call it YAWHOO, but
that's
> another story altogether.
>

So what is YAWHOO?? I have seen this mentioned on your website, but with no
explanation.  Some kind of mnemonic for kayaking skills, perhaps?

> I would think that a neutral hull would be better, so when doing a peel
out
> into current, a downstream tilt would allow the hull to freely turn
> downstream, instead of trying to turn the hull up against the current.
>

I just don't understand what you mean here.  How can the subtle hull design
differences that account for the characteristics of a leaned turn have
anything to do with eddy turns? If sea kayaking in a place with current, and
you happen to cross an eddyline, the only kind of hull that will "freely"
turn upstream is one that is not contacting the opposing current. In other
words, the hull needs to be completely out of the water. Get ready for a
peel-out as soon as the bow touches the oncoming current, unless your angle
w.r.t. the eddyline is exceedingly small (at least for sea kayaks... short
flat rodeo boats are more forgiving). The drag of the current against the
hull will completely dominate over the edged-turn characteristics in calm
water.

Cheers,
kevin


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