From: "Kevin Whilden" <kevin_at_yourplanetearth.org> > Incidently, it is my theory that whitewater boats need wide flat hulls with > lots of wetted surface area because of the paddler's inability to hold a > boat perfectly flat to the wave's local surface. This is a crutch for > non-pro paddlers like me. A 23" wide flat bottom rodeo boat would spin just > as well a 26" boat if the paddler is good enough. However a wider boat is > probably an enhancement for balanced volume distribution during > cartwheeling, and hence we'll never see a supper skinny rodeo boat (only > squirt boats). Actually, long boats need higher speeds to plane. To plane in white water, you'd need a short boat. (I'm not going to partake in the debate over planing vs surfing anymore). Basically, to plane, you need to hit a speed/length ration of 1.5 or greater. The speed/length ratio is the speed divided by the square root of the length. This is familiar, as hull speed is defined as a speed/length ratio of 1.34. So you have to go at least 12% above hull speed to plane (ICF racers in kayaks excede this without planing - not a planing hull). A long, wide WW kayak will be a displacement kayak unless you get into some really scary water velocities. A short narrow kayak will sink :-) Mike *************************************************************************** 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 Thu Jan 17 2002 - 14:27:31 PST
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