Re: Weather Cocking Thoug

Posted by Dave Houser on Aug 3, 2006

Lee,

I like a kayak that tends to stay where you point it i.e. not turning into the wind or down wind. So I go for wind neutral.

When a kayak is on a concave upward surface (a wave) the bow and stern will be deeper in the water. And if you are traveling with the direction of the wave the stern will be higher than the bow and the kayak will be accelerating. When the bow keel is well embedded in the water and the water is moving past it quickly any slight turning of the kayak will cause the water parting at the bow will push on the side of the bow presented to the oncoming water causing the kayak to turn more and broach. Design features in a kayak to unhook the bow to prevent this broaching are, as you mentioned, front rocker and also a front chine near the water line and a maximum width at the waterline that is farther forward.

When a kayak is edged, a forward chine near the waterline will unhook on the inside of the turn and engage more on the outside of the turn and cause the kayak to carve away from the lean. When a kayak is edged with its maximum width forward of the CG the bow will rise lifting the keel at the bow.

So we have progressed from preventing weathercocking to preventing broaching. Design features indeed affect several handling traits of a kayak and compromise is always necessary. Weathercocking can be adjusted with minor kayak modifications (moving the seat, ballast, skeg, rudder). Reducing broaching will require a new kayak design.

In Response to: Re: Weather Cocking Thoug by LeeG on Jul 30, 2006

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