Kayak and Canoe Design Bulletin Board

Effects of width/heigth scaling on hull qualities

Posted By: Jan Gunnar Moe
Date: Tuesday, 6 July 1999, at 7:11 a.m.

This question is based on curiosity, I make a concrete case to illustrate my point:

Let us assume that you want to stripbuild a kayak having the length of North Sea (a John Winter design, a result of hydrodynamic calculations and optimizations). Assume that you want this boat to be of lower volume, narrower, to be used by a not so heavy paddler without gear.

Let us assume that you scale the forms by 0.9, so that volume will be scaled by 0.81. Remember length stays unchanged, as you do want a sleeker, narrower kayak.

Question:

Will this procedure destroy the value of the hydrodynamical optimization made by John Winter for the original design? I understand very well that the "new" design will not be optimized for the same speed as the original. But will it be optimal or sensible for some higher speed? Or will it simply be a "not so good as it should be" design when it comes to how it will work in the water? That is: Should other changes have been made if performing such a scaling in two dimensions, should a completely new optimization using Kaper and Michelet and... have been done?

Or is this the kind of individual tailoring which one may do without worrying about beeing not so smart?

Jan Gunnar Moe

Messages In This Thread

Effects of width/heigth scaling on hull qualities
Jan Gunnar Moe -- Tuesday, 6 July 1999, at 7:11 a.m.

Re: Effects of width/heigth scaling on hull qualit
Nick Schade -- Tuesday, 6 July 1999, at 9:11 a.m.

Kayak and Canoe Design Bulletin Board is maintained by Nick Schade - Guillemot Kayaks with WebBBS 5.12.