I know where Mike is coming from and it is splitting hairs. The
Eddyline Night Hawk for example drops fron the bow to the water line
very quickly and the stern is rather abrupt too. This makes it faster
than the over all length would indicate . The Old Chinook is a little
faster than most would think because of the same design feature. Most
boats have however a gracefull drop into and exit from the water
sometimes 2 feet from the tip if the bow. An old Seaward Quest is a
case in point. That said the Quest is a rocket.
Water line length has a large effect on speed, other design
charictaristics do as well. Sealution from Teiken / Wildernes Systems
for example is long but broad at the centre line. This boat enters the
water at the bow cutting nicely then fattens up like a barge a few feet
back giving in effect a second bow wave in stead of gently parting and
uniformly pushing the water out of her way. The lines to the stern
cause a drag that slows the boat down more as they are abrupt and don't
allow a smooth flow .
They are a great beginner boat but these are design realities.. The bow
also overhang the water line by about 16 inches at least.
The boats I preffer are not the fastest on the water but rather the
more gracefull. NDK Explored and Capella. Not that fast but nice boats.
Some boats break these simple rules because they can plane and get the
known water lines right up out od the way. This you will se if you surf
with WW boats.
There is all kinds of cool math on this but most of it is common sense
and theoretical math can be blown away because rules are narrow and
often just accepted theorys.
Normally an 18 foot long touring kayak will be much faster than a 14
foot boat. I have a friend in a 14' 6" boat that I van hardly keep up
with in my Explorer: But she is a bit of a race horse.
Allow another variable here. I cary 20 or 30 pounds of safety gear for
out trips, She carries a bottle of water and weighs 125 lbs. The boat
displaces less water and as it is short has little or no rocker.
Again variables.
Anything you put on the water will be fun.
If you want to paddle with Linda though , best trade the Lendal for a
Honda.
Alex