The Kayak Forum is Sponsored By
|
|
|
| |
Kayak and Canoe Design Bulletin Board
Anthropomorphic measurement of drafts
Posted By: Paul Jacobson In Response To: Re: Eskimo rules for design. (John Winters)
Date: Monday, 24 May 1999, at 12:32 a.m.
> (SNIP)
> . . . The biggest variation has to
> do with weight which does not scale well with height or other body
> dimensions. . .> Building boats using the anthropometric measure system may or may not
> produce a useful boat and so may not produce a lot of information. Clearly
> the Inuit (even within a particular region) used no fixed set of ratios. . .> . . .John Brand, who made
> some replicas concluded that "the succesful adaptation of the
> Greenland kayaks (was) impossible". I don't fully agree with that
> since the poor results may have stemmed from the use of anthropometric
> sizing rather than the proper method of creating a geosim. I am incluidng
> the proper method in my book which should help builders of replicas.> I have finished the studies of the boats I planned on putting in my book
> but the temptation to add more nags me.> Cheers, John Winters
From personal observation, it appears that the body measurement which most directly predicts displacement is waistline girth. The classic beer belly seems to indicate not only displacement, but total volume -- which is often referred to as a subject's ``capacity''.
These personal observations have led to the conclusion that consumption of several `drafts' over the course of an evening will subsequently increase the subject's draft should they be placed in a small craft once they sober up.
I personally have no intention of publishing my correlations to these observations, but since you say that you are tempted to continue your research, I offer this invitation: Next time you are in the Chicago area look me up and I shall be happy to buy you a drink at one or more of my favorite observation sites, where you can probably pursue your temptations, if not your research.
As for the history of anthropomorphic measurements, biblical scholars suggest that one early boat builder, a chap named Noah, used a measurement known as a `cubit', which they define as the length from the outer elbow to the tip of the middle finger.
As there is no word to the contrary, it is presumed that Noah had full use of both arms, and could therefore measure with either. Since the human body is rarely perfectly symmetrical it can further be presumed that Noah would have introduced some measurement error in shifting from arm to arm. Considering the crude bronze and stone tools he had to work with, this would be particularly important in cutting pieces to an exact size. I hold the belief that Noah, as the premier boat builder of his day, would have recognized these potential problems, and rectified things by measuring with BOTH arms -- first one, and then the other -- and checking the results. If this theory should ever be proven correct this would undoubtedly be the origin of the well known maxim: ``Measure twice, cut once''
Submitted in good humor for your enjoyment.
Paul Jacobson
| |
Kayak and Canoe Design Bulletin Board is maintained by Nick Schade - Guillemot Kayaks with WebBBS 5.12.
|
Boat Design |
|
|
|
