Check out http://surfpics.freeservers.com/images/surf4.jpg. This was picked a random off a website devoted to surfing photographs, mostly in New Zealand. From the look of this photo, I would say surfers can plane, by anyone's definition. Looks to me like he has a rooster-tail, he is trimmed up at the bow slightly, I would guess his CG has risen considerably, as the board doesn't look big enough to keep his ankles dry in flat water. Tough to estimate his speed, but I bet his V/root L is pretty high, given the waterline length is only about 6 feet. Driving power was gravity, on the slope of the wave, now it is mostly momentum near the bottom. Mostly, though, surfing kayaks don't go anywhere near this fast, I would bet. A couple of knots kick at best is more like it, which wouldn't count as planing. But it sure is fun! Rob. *************************************************************************** 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/ ***************************************************************************
Rob, I'll take that bet. How much you got to lose? 'Cause you are wrong, wrong, wrong on this one... Shortboards like the one in your photo are the slowest of the slow. They are short (obviously) and have very low flotation. If the surfer doesn't keep them in the pocket or turning constantly, they slow and sink. A surfkayak or longboard is much faster but they have their own set of limitations. My problem when surfing is that my kayak is too damn fast. I keep outrunning the pocket and am sometimes not able to execute well enough to stay there. Just for a little photographic confirmation here's a link of a picture of a fellow surfing a glass surfkayak in Indonesia: http://www.playboating.com/ Like my good friend Kevin said, a little more practical experimentation might serve you guys a little better than all this ASCII speculation. Here's the kind of kayak people use to surf ocean waves these days: http://www.mega-kayaks.co.uk/ufo.html Wow, they have "planing hulls". If planing isn't the correct term then someone needs to tell every single whitewater and surf kayak manufacturer. They sure don't refer to their designs as a "Something That May Be Surfing/Planing Depending On What Part Of The Wave You're On Hull". Regards, Thomas At 03:11 PM 1/18/2002 -0800, Rob MacDonald wrote: >Check out http://surfpics.freeservers.com/images/surf4.jpg. > > >Mostly, though, surfing kayaks don't go anywhere near this fast, I would >bet. A couple of knots kick at best is more like it, which wouldn't count >as planing. But it sure is fun! > >Rob. *************************************************************************** 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/ ***************************************************************************
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