Re: Sheer Clamp Wood Type

Posted by Scot on Mar 26, 2005

Well, we'd better call MIT! Seriously, I well understand LWL, coming from a sailing and boat building background. I am assuming very little. No. Two boats sitting on their LWL will not handle the same or "best". How is the weight distributed? Is it the paddler and his water bottles or two pounds of epoxy end pours? Building and paddling many different kayaks has taught me much regarding the intricacies of naval architecture as it peratins to low powered vessels - far more than the NA books on my shelf. Lighter is lighter, and the size of our bellies often make up the difference! Furthermore the boats we are talking about have way too much volume for recreational paddling (yes, I'm stating an opinion). That's why I have different boats for different missions. If my boat has hatches it's used for overnight trips. For day paddling I want a low volume, low initial stability, easy rolling kayak. I want it to come off the car rack easily and quickly. I want it light AND low in the water! The LWL will primarily affect water line length and thus top speed, but I've found through a great deal of kayaking that wetted surface is the number to look at for most paddlers. The "fastest" kayak (based on WL and WL beam) often is not when compared with another lower wetted surface kayak paddled at less than racing pace. Why? Wetted surface: drag. Ballasted boats with varying crew and gear weights are very different, and there your argument has some foundation. Lowell North apparently flooded his bilges when racing his 6 meter in certain conditions. A friend who raced his Catalina 30 claimed it was faster when he moved aboard with all his crap! So, I well understand you point regarding DWL. Neither North or my friend would claim their boats handled better that way! Getting back on track, weight in ends, which DIRECTLY pertains to handling, is the point. Now, rotomolded kayaks at 55-65lbs. are well designed and have a calculated DWL right? And would anyone claim they handle like a light S&G? My kayaks usually come a pound or two (or three) below the published weight, and there IS a difference in handling.

In Response to: Re: Sheer Clamp Wood Type by Mark Camp on Mar 26, 2005

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