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Kayak and Canoe Design Bulletin Board
Re: racing kayaks
Posted By: Jan Gunnar Moe In Response To: racing kayaks (Berkeley C.)
Date: Saturday, 10 July 1999, at 6:57 a.m.
Hull speed is not very interesting. What is interesting is what speed is paid back as a result of the power I am able to generate over the time period I am to paddle.
I am slower in my 5.5 m long and 0.5 m wide Kirton Inuk than in a shorter kayak, at the same time Inuk has been used to win ocean races where the shorter kayak mentioned would not have a chance at all. Paddlers winning are able to paddle at a speed where the Inuk is at advantage because of length/width (and...), while I paddle at a speed where low wetted surface is the major thing to consider. (I love the Inuk for other reasons: look, sleek feeling while paddling..)
The following info is not for person starting this thread, but for less informed readers, I elaborate on what he did write:
Now the Tracer is no flat water racer, it is a training class kayak, produced to give people like me a feeling of paddling a racer without tipping all the time. It is however, designed at Struer in Denmark, and these people are good at designing fast kayaks.
Olympic class racers consider the Traver, although looking like a racer, to be a "stable ferry": There are racers at several stability levels from the Tracer to the kayaks used today for flat water racing. Kirton has elaborated a numbering system for stability levels, I believe that the Tracer (made by Struer) is not even a member of the kayaks included in this numbering scheme. A Tracer may be paddled by a good ordinary kayak paddler after only a few days of training. A Olympic class racing kayak is something I (at 52 years) am told that I will probably never have a chance to get comfortable in.
For kayaks used for open water racing, you may have a look at the Kirton page, where you will find a bit of info on the Kirton Inuk. At the P&H page you will find info on Spitzbergen, 52 cm wide, 5.80m long, having won the Arctic Sea Kayak Race several of the last years.
Now, did this large kayak win? I am not quite sure of that. THe Spitzbergen has sides dropping vertical down into the water, its bottom is close to perfectly flat, the hard chines beeing as low as the middle of the kayak bottom. Spring? There is no spring. Balance? The Spitzbergen is said to be difficult to paddle. I believe that the Arctic Sea kayak race was won these years by the tall, heavy, well trained world class (K1 sprint kayak) athlete sitting in it.
I believe that hull design is more important than length of boat, and I believe that optimization is something to do relative to the person to paddle the boat. I believe that this is what John Winter is trying to do with his short kayaks, although not made for racing: (Caspian Sea, Tasman Sea, North Sea, have a look at Green Valley Boatworks.)
Jan Gunnar
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> I'm building a CLC Patuxent 19.5 for open water racing primarily, but I
> also paddle a Valhala racing surf-ski, a Pygmy Osprey, and occasionally a
> Tracer flat-water racing kayak. I'm trying to figure out the various
> dynamics that go into speed. One thing that I'm unclear on is the concept
> of hull speed. As I understand it, hull speed is directly relative to
> waterline length. The Tracer is the shortest of the boats I paddle,
> accelerates the fastest and has similar top speed characteristics to the
> much longer Valhala. Why is that? Or am I not yet a strong enough paddler
> to realize the speed potential of the Valhala?
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