Re: [Paddlewise] Feed the Need

Steve Holtzman wrote:
>>>>.The softer chined boats like the Capella and the Gulfstream, do not have
that solid secondary stability that the chine provides. It just takes a
while to get used to a boat that will edge by just thinking of edging a
boat.<<<<<

A chine provides very little static stability. Given the same width a chine
boat may even be tippier because the flatter area above the chine means the
kayak isn't as wide near the waterline. Solid secondary stability is usually
the result of the flair of the hull between the chines and the gunnels and to
some extent the height of the gunnels. An initially unstable kayak makes the
stability increase the flair provides as the kayak is leaned all that more
obvious. Why the Shadow feels so much more comfortable than the Legend is the
extra inch or so of width at the gunnels (due to the added flair of the hull
from the chines to achieve that extra width). When you have good secondary
stability you soon learn not to worry much about the lack of initial
stability. You learn to trust that the kayak will pick up more stability as it
leans more and that the kayak will pretty take care of itself if you keep your
body above it.

I like a lot of the handling characteristics of Nigel Foster's kayaks but the
Shadow is my favorite. What the hard chines do for his kayaks is to give them
an edge (the chine) in the water when you are upright and quartering accross
the face of a following wave you are surfing on. This helps prevent the skid
into a broach that is common in that condition with wider , more rounded and
flatter bottomed kayaks. In steep side waves a hard chine also minimizes the
side to side motion of the kayak (out from under you first one way and then
the other) caused by sliding some down the wave faces. The hard chine kayak
stays under you better in steep waves without you having to think about it.
Also hard chines provide a curved keel when you lean the kayak and unless
there is too much keel this makes for a kayak that carves a precise turn
rather than just skids the stern around the turn. The Shadow excels at carving
turns and is a lot sportier than most other British sea kayaks. I know Doug
cut much of the stern keel/skeg off of his Nordkapp HM but to my mind it could
hardly be considered a playboat because it wasn't very manueaverable and got
especially locked into a long slow broach in following seas. Even the HS model
Nordkapp was too hard to turn for wave surfing for my tastes. The Shadow
seemed to have a good balance between tracking and turning. It tracked
extremely well in difficult wave and wind conditions but still retained a
sportiness that helped improve ones control and allowed quick adjustments to
help get back on course when the forces that be are making directional control
difficult.

Putting a rudder on a Mariner. Nearly as many folks have taken them off later
as have had them put on in the first place. If you get footpedals that will
stay solid under the balls of your feet so you don't lose leg power in your
stroke, a rudder blade that can be stored so it doesn't add windage to your
stern (creating the weathercocking it was needed to compensate for--by adding
drag I may add), and a rudder and cables that also stay out of the way so it
doesn't cut you up if you tangle with it on land or sea, then I might start to
think the few advantages a rudder provides might start to balance out all the
disadvantages they add to a kayak. At least to a kayak that has little need
for a rudder to control weathercocking and broaching in the first place.
Speaking of broaching, while you're at it can you mount the rudder further
forward under the hull like an adjustable skeg so it will stay in the water
when your stern is hanging in the air as you are starting to surf on a wave
and the kayak is at greatest risk of broaching (rather than just waving around
in the air at that critical time).
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