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Fiberglass vs plastic
On 8-Jun-2004, (William R. Watt) wrote:
sorry? you claimed the opposite. that was the difference on which this
discussion is founded.
Then what are you saying? I paddle both hard and soft chine kayaks and
can't find any noticable difference that I could attribute to the
chines. The effects of chine shape on kayak performance are negligible
for most kayaks and are highly overstated by folks like you.
how anyone can disagree that the circumference of a cirle encloses the
largest area for the least perimeter, but actual kayak hulls aren't built
that way due to other considerations such as stability, draft, and
tracking.
Most recreational hulls are built for stability, but advanced hulls are
made with rounded, or nearly rounded, bottoms.
My Ellesmere has a nearly rounded hull section. It feels fairly tippy
and most beginners describe it as very tippy. However, at larger angles
of heel, the hull is extremely stable. In calm water it feels tender,
but in rough water it is very solid.
Racing kayaks and canoes are built with very tippy hulls - they cannot
sit upright when empty. They have a negative righting moment at zero
degrees of heel. Yet the paddler can relatively easily keep the craft
upright when paddling. The LOA and LWL are almost equal and they
track quite stiffly.
There are good reasons for making a rounded hull. There are many
examples of hulls with rounded sections that work well. Your examples
of tubular hulls are irrelevant, since that's not the shape given
to canoes and kayaks. The shape above the water line is not round
and the secondary stability can be significant. If you talk to advanced
paddlers, you'll quickly find that they discount the primary stability
as a factor in design. As long as you have good secondary stability,
you can paddle the vessel just fine.
Mike
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