A very heavy friend demanded a kayak that would be more stable than the ones available. He kept capsizing. We fixed his kayak and tested it with interesting results that can be seen in http://community.webshots.com/user/cayucochief in the first album. We added two outrigger type floats 40 inches appart, placed on a fiberglass tube, that can be fixed to the back deck of the kayak with two butterfly ss nuts. Our calculations suggested that widening the hull would not give as much flotation torque as placing the small floats farther appart. Each has 9 kilo flotation giving a strong restoring force. We had to test the solution for ruggedness, maneuverability, sculling and rolling. A bet was placed. Jose Luis assumed that since it has so much floating support it would be very hard to roll. A beer was the price. I could lean hard and it would not capsize, I could paddle without affecting the stroke if proper torso rotation was done. Drag was much less than expected compared to the benefit of balance. I rolled it three times and earned my bear. Once upside down it is hard to start turning the boat, but once the float passes under, it starts helping in the rotation. Advantages: My friend will be able to use it and remove it when he reaches confidence and hip control. Very useful for long cruising when you must sleep on the boat. Less tiring on long trips since no hip motion is needed to keep balance. Disadvantages: Some what slower. Could not make it to change course by leaning or edging More sweep correcting strokes to keep course. Best Regards, Rafael el cayucochief www.mayanseas.com MEXICO *************************************************************************** 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 May 12 2004 - 21:00:07 PDT
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