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On 6-Aug-2003, (William R. Watt) wrote:

longer canoes are faster.

Self taught in canoe performance too? Here's a _free_ lesson and it's not from a
professional:

(from a previous post on r.b.p.t)

This statement about length is not completely true. The longer kayak/canoe will have a
greater wetted surface than the smaller for the same displacement. Hence, it will have
_more_ resistance at low speeds than the smaller one. If you take a person who is
inherently slow and put them in a longer kayak/canoe, they will likely slow even more.

If you take two kayaks/canoes and plot their speed vs resistance curves, you'll see that the
longer one will have its sharp rise in resistance occur at a higher speed than the shorter.
However, the shorter one's resistance at low speeds will be below the longer one's. If
you routinely paddle at a speed below where the two kayaks'/canoes' curves cross, you should
use the shorter. Otherwise, get the longer. (this data is published with kayak reviews
in Sea Kayaker).

Another way to look at it - for every paddling speed and displacement, there is an
optimal length of kayak/canoe. Shorter or longer than this will take more effort at that
speed.

Longer kayaks/canoes have a higher potential speed, but you have to work for it. Only when
you are comparing powerful paddlers who always go fast is the length statement above true.

Mike