Oci-One Kanubi wrote:

Peter typed:


Oci-One Kanubi wrote:

Peter typed:

I don't think it's careless at all. My "Standard College Dictionary" gives
as the third definition of sponson "An air tank built into the sides of a
canoe to improve stability and prevent sinking." The air tanks under the
seats of the dinghies I sailed were "built into the sides of those boats to
improve stability and prevent sinking" and on that basis I asserted that
they acted as internal sponsons.

There can
be NO SUCH THING as an "internal sponson".

That doesn't seem to be the view of my dictionary, nor is it the view of
Klepper, Folbot, or Feathercraft, which all refer to the air chambers
located inside the hulls of their boats as sponsons.
....

All I am trying to do is get you to understand that you ruin any
attempt to honestly debate the utility of sponsons (Ingram's
inflatable ones or any others) when you use the word "sponson" to
describe something else. You even admit that "...it is located near
the side of the vessel rather than in the middle or at the bow or
stern. This is the important functional characteristic...", which
clearly precludes the inclusion of yer underseat floatation chambers,
which is all I was trying to say in the first place.

No, the seats in typical sailing dinghies are built into the sides of the
hull. One generally sits on the windward side facing the lee side of the
boat. The main flotation chambers in these craft are under the seats and
therefore also right along the side of the hull where they provide
considerable stability when the boat is swamped. Their placement is
entirely consistent with the dictionary definition stating "An air tank
built into the sides of a [canoe] to improve stability and prevent
sinking." Functionally this placement of the flotation chambers in sailing
dinghies provides sufficient stability of the swamped boat so that the user
is able to reenter it fairly easily, bail it out, and then continue on.
That was also the primary function of the external sponsons demonstrated in
the kayak self-rescue class that I attended.

All you seem to want to do is to debate the etymology of the word, which
seems to have originated in connection with gun platforms mounted at the
sides of boats, then applied to flotation placed in a similar position on
the outside of the hull, and is now used by many, including kayak
manufacturers, to include flotation in a similar position but inside the
hull. You clearly vehemently object to this last migration in usage.
Frankly I have no desire to further debate the etymology.