Re: [Paddlewise] Evolution Kayaks

> As in most things there is little that is new in boat design.
> Thousands of years have been given to the evolution of boat and ship
> designs of all types and in the process just about everything has been
> tried.  Some fairly reliable generalizations about what makes a boat
> perform well have been arrived at.

The craft historically called the kayak has been limited by materials to
certain shapes. Fiberglass or molded plastics do not have these
restrictions. It is thus quite possible that there are superior designs for
various niches of "kayaking" out there.

Witness the evolution of the river kayak.

I think that there are likely designs out there that are superior to those
that the Intuits evolved.  Particularly for purposes and environments that
these people had no contact with.

______

"Thousands of years have been given to the evolution of boat and ship
designs of all types"

But interestingly, the Europeans or Chinese never came up with a craft much
like the kayak despite all those thousands of years.

Lots of things go into evolution. One is the willingness to embrace new
ideas.

_______

I am eager to "try out" an Evolution. On the other hand, I think that
aesthetics are a value that might be reasonably sought by the kayak owner.
Especially since you spend so much time looking at the front of the boat.

For different people different "strokes". But I think that the sea kayaking
community is overly conservative with a huge family of designs varying
little from one another and remarkably little exploration of new ideas.

But many "new" ideas have popped up just over the last few decades. Some are
the surf kayak, the windsurfer, the short sea kayak, the Hobie propulsion
system.
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