Re: [Paddlewise] Mariner Kayaks

Mike wrote:
>No discredit to the great folks at Mariner, but I'm a tad amazed that 
>this seems to be a unique feature.  Many kayaks do this, including my
>Solstice GTH,  the Swift North Sea (JW design),  Pintail and many
more.

I haven't paddled any of those designs...other than the CD Storm/Squall
which are similar to the GTH, but I didn't notice exceptional carving.
I'll have to try 'em again!!  I too use that factor as a means to
evaluate different designs.

Rafael wrote:
>I think the phenomenon is general and not particular for any specific 
>type of hull shape.

I don't think it's that general.  As everyone has pointed out, it's not
as uncommon as I implied in my earlier post, but it's far from being a
"standard" feature of every design.

Steve wrote:
>That is a neat effect, but it's not limited to Mariners. I paddle my
>Dagger Meridien through twisting marsh creeks by paddling straight 
>ahead and lifting my knees to turn. Works a treat. I find it helps to 
>look ahead through the turn, but that may be superstitious ;)

First, I'm not a Mariner owner, but the Mariners carve a turn better
than any boat I've ever paddled.  A lot of boats do it to some degree,
but the Mariner does it very, very well.

>What do you mean about the asymmetric shape of the hull? Almost every
>kayak I've ever seen is asymmetric front-to-back and top-to-bottom.
Are
>Mariners asymmetric side-to-side?

*grin* I hypothesized it was due to the radical Swedeform with hard
chines aft only.  Pure guess on my part.  A lot of boats are
more-or-less asymmetric front-to-back, but not THAT MUCH!

Shawn

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