Re: Cambered Decks, Winda

Posted by Kurt Maurer on Oct 2, 2004

Dave,

Agreed, regarding strength issues. The (cedar strip) rear deck on my Cormorant (hybrid) is an ultra-low camber, almost flat affair, glassed topsides and underneath with standard 6 oz cloth. There is a butt-sized area of white speckledy stress marks just aft of the hatch from doing the Hi-Yo Silver reentry thing. I never worried about the deck failing entirely, but still, I most assuredly see the validity of what you say. :-)

I wonder whether your comments regarding windage are theoretical or empirical, since you have built only two kayaks and one canoe (whereas I have essentially built one canoe and one kayak (the Mill Creek 13 being more of a solo canoe than a kayak IMO)). Again, I do not mean to second-guess you, but rather, to learn about all this stuff myself. At any rate, I suppose your comments make perfect sense; my Mill Creek 13 leecocks bigtime. It also sports lotsa bow volume above, and little below, the waterline. The paddler's position is fixed decidely too far aft, and so the stern is more in, that out of, the water. But I wonder just exactly where the volume must exist, and how much is required, in the front-end in order to allow the bow to ride over waves instead of punching into them. Can it be in the extreme, upturned end, as in the Guillemot, and still be just as effective?

The bow of my Cormorant looks (to me) pretty low in volume, and yet it flatly refuses to become a submarine, whether punching through the breakers or surfing them back in. Whew!

Well, well... this post has certainly accomplished nothing, but at least I got to think out loud for a bit. Thanks for posting your thoughts - they definitely help relieve the constipation in mine somehow.

Cheers! Kurt

In Response to: Cambered Decks, Windage by Dave Houser on Oct 2, 2004

Replies:

• Re: Cambered Decks, Winda by Dave Houser on Oct 4, 2004