On Wed, 11 May 2005 12:07:38 GMT, Brian Nystrom
wrote:
As to safety, I don't know which would be safer; an
experience kayaker who has trained to roll himself back upright might
be safer than a weekend warrior trying to get back into an open design
like the W-boat.
I would suggest the former, but I'm biased because I fit into that
category. I've also seen exactly how quickly inexperienced/unprpared
kayakers and other boaters can get into serious trouble. The claims
I have seen stats reported for injuries in watercraft, with the
measurement being used stated as "deaths or injuries per mile" (or
some measure similar to that). Kayaks and canoes came out as the most
dangerous.
Anybody ... and I mean anybody ... can rent a blow molded polyurethane
kayak in our local waters and paddle around for an hour or two. They
generally can't get back on them after falling off, so they use the
kayak as a kickboard to get to someplace where they can get back on
top of it. I suspect that type of person would be in a very dangerous
situation in a traditional, sit inside kayak with a spray skirt.
I asked Yoav about getting back onto a W Boat, and he said it might be
a bit easier, but its still an issue (children can come up between the
sponsons and, if they have the body strength, pull themselves up.
Adults find it easier to grip the W Boat, but just like any other blow
molded kayak, its easy to push it away from you when you're trying to
get back up on it).
In any case, someone like Ookie who wants to experiment with the type
of design can get some free advice in building one.
Sure. If it suits your needs, build one. Just don't think that it's a
substitute for a kayak. It's simply too different and it has some
serious limitations.
Well, I'm actually thinking of something a little different. I'd like
to see if the W Boat design would lend itself to a low power runabout
type of thing ... a two-seater with a small outboard ... 5 hp? ...
that would get up to 7 - 10 knots. If it remains stable with the 40#
on the stern, then it might be a fun little boat.
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