RE: [Paddlewise] "Secondary stability"

John Winters wrote:

>>>>>Matt asks where the term comes from and when.

I can remember a sales person from a caaone shop in Ontario talking about
secondary stability back around 1979. He sold Sawyer Canoes . I suspect the
term just evolved as a sales device.<<<<<<

Canoes, Sawyer, & creative advertising B.S. This reinforces my suspicion
that Harry Roberts may have had something to do with inventing this term.
I looked for old Wilderness Camping and Canoe magazines that I might still
have. I found and April-May 1978 Wilderness Camping. Harry's article in it
didn't talk about that kind of stability but the following are some quotes
from and article in that issue by Mike Galt.

 "Yes the narrowest of solo canoes should have stability. Not the dreary,
raft like stability of the flat-bottomed standard canoe, but the lively
dynamic stability of a living thing. Firm final stability however is
absolutely essential in a touring boat. This is the feature that permits the
canoe to roll through its arc, begin firming up and then STOP before the
rail goes under. Final stability is the result of hull design and has
nothing to do with width. Many racing canoes utilize excessive tumblehome
for paddling convenience, sacrificing reserve and final stability."

So in that partial paragraph Mike used "firm final stability" and "reserve
stability" rather than "secondary stability" to describe essentially the
same thing. His use of dynamic stability seems to be different than what I
meant by it (which was a stable, secure  feel in rough conditions--and both
are quite different from the Naval Architecture definition).

In the 1981 Canoe Buyer's Guide (from the fall of 1980) a Sawyer Canoe ad,
that reads like Harry wrote it, says: "The Cruiser's freeboard flares
outward, for a final stability and seaworthiness unmatched by any other fast
cruising canoe."

John are you sure the salesman used the actual term "secondary stability"
rather than describing the same concept using other terms such as maybe
"reserve" or "final" stability?

Matt Broze
www.marinerkayaks.com
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