Re: [Paddlewise] Feed the Need

Matt,
The Legend is still a nice open water cruiser with the speed it can deliver.

On a bit of a different note, what gives a kayak good glide? Some boats I've 
had great expectations for are dissapointing when I paddle them; they have 
what appears to be good speed and efficiecy energy expenditure at first, but 
whenever you stop paddling the kayak comes to a quick stop.Seems it is more 
with kayaks that carry their width further forward that the ones with fatter 
sterns.

Doug Lloyd




> 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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