Re: Chesapeake or North B

Posted by LeeG on Aug 24, 2004

http://www.paddling.net/Reviews/showReviews.html?prod=543

This is one of those confusing things. The Northbay actually doesn't weathercock that severely, compared to the NBxl for example,,nor does the Chesapeake. But it's the lack of response to leaning to compensate for the weathercocking that makes the Arctic Hawk more attractive. As you can see in the above reviews weathercocking is normal for the AH (as it is for nearly all maneuverable kayaks) This is one of those things I spent a lot of time looking at after I made a Ch16, NB then designed my own version of a "long skinny hard-chine kayak" with the 16,NB,NBxl,Arctic Hawk and my s&g all layed out upside down. The Hawk, Northbay and Chesapeakes don't have much rocker. What's different about the AH is the significant amount of flare through the length of the side panels which has a similar effect as rocker when leaned in that the keel/entry angle softens and the wider flare in the midsection unweights the ends.

There's another production kayak based on an original plywood construction called the Caribou,Current Designs, it has more rocker than the Hawk with slab sides like the Chesapeakes/Northbay but the ends are totally different so it also responds well to sweep strokes/turning.

In Response to: Re: Chesapeake or North B by FrankP on Aug 24, 2004

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