"Brian Nystrom" wrote in message
news:1MARe.47543$j41.21902@trndny05...
PG wrote:
"Jaakko" wrote in message
...

stuff deleted

Since the bow of my kayak is curved rather strongly (I guess to allow it
to go over waves), I get a nice bow wave appearing once I get to about 4
mph. As I go faster, the wave gets bigger. The bow does go up on the
wave as I go faster, but what I find most noticeable is the size of the
wave. Lately, I've been using that as the indicator of speed and every
time the wave starts going down from its "usual" height, I know I'm
slacking off.

It also means that you're near the maximum hull speed for your boat and
that you're probably wasting energy trying to push past it. It's a very
inefficient way to paddle, as once you reach this point, the energy
requirements to increase your speed go up exponentially. Here's a link to
an explanation and a calculator:

http://www.cncphotoalbum.com/technic.../hullspeed.htm

There is some debate at to whether the formula is accurate for kayaks,
since racers routinely exceed the theoretical maximum speed for their
boats, but fundamental premise is still applicable.

It sounds like you need a higher performance boat that's better suited to
your paddling style. Worrying about the most efficient cadence is rather
pointless when you're throwing away massive amounts of energy due to an
inefficient boat. It's the functional equivalent of riding a bike while
towing a parachute. "Penny wise and pound foolish", so to speak. The most
efficient way to paddle your Squall is to slow down to below the maximum
hull speed where the wavemaking drag on the boat is dramatically lower.

Don't get me wrong, the Squall is a fine boat for what it is, it's just
not what you want if you're serious about efficiency and going fast. You
should be looking at racing boats or "race-inspired" touring boats.

Thank you Brian, for your comments and the link. According to the formula
the max hull speed for my boat is 5.31 knots or 6.1 mph. I've already
noticed that at 5 mph I'm pushing fairly hard, and trying to get above that
seemed like I was hitting a wall. I'll have to pay attention to the quarter
wave to see if it is there at the end of the boat when I am going my
fastest. But your point is taken - probably the optimal cruising speed for
me in the Squall is around 4.2-4.5 mph. I'm not sure that I've outgrown the
boat yet, as there are still a bunch of skills I need to acquire (rolling,
edging, getting a decent high brace...).

While I got your attention, there's another question that's been bothering
me. Somewhere I have read that a good paddler should be able to go backward
in a straight line almost as fast as going forward. When I try to do that,
I find that at slow speed I can maintain a straight line, but at higher
speeds there is a pronounced turn to the right, which I cannot compensate
for with sweep strokes. My rudder is always up so I can't blame it. I
thought perhaps I was doing an inadvertent edge, but doing a deliberate edge
in either direction still gave more or less the same result. Do you think
there is something assymetric in my technique, or is it inherent in the
boat?

Paul