Timeline for Are longer kayaks faster than shorter ones?
Current License: CC BY-SA 4.0
9 events
| when toggle format | what | by | license | comment | |
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| Oct 27, 2023 at 4:42 | comment | added | Dave X | The oneoceankayaks.com/kayakpro/kayakgrid.htm specs compare full displacement friction with 140# for the Storm SLT versus the 277# for the Expedition HV. If you put a 180# paddler in both, the Storm SLT will be riding lower in the water with more (28% more? 15%?) wetted surface area relative to spec, and the Expedition HV would ride higher on the water with less (38% less?) wetted surface. With the same load, if overloading the short one causes only 15% more friction, and underloading the long boat causes only 15% less, the Expedition HV would beat the Storm SLT in viscous drag. | |
| Sep 19, 2023 at 14:49 | comment | added | Separatrix | You can't ignore form drag the way you are, basic physics still applies. I could be charitable and suggest that perhaps you haven't realised kayak lengths range from sub 6ft boats that are massively slower, but the edit your last comment prevents that. | |
| Sep 15, 2023 at 16:25 | comment | added | parajared | "Drag from wetted surfaces does not trump benefits from length." That's wrong. See the chart titled "total resistance" for comparative drag coefficients oneoceankayaks.com/kayakpro/kayakgrid.htm The key takeaway showing an 18ft touring kayak generating 1.97 lbs of resistance at 3 knots vs a 14 foot kayak generating 1.52. Edit: also get wrecked nerds! | |
| Sep 15, 2023 at 6:52 | comment | added | Max | Why would the hull speed not apply to kayaks? It's a hull. In water. Hence, it has a hull speed. Or do the laws of physics not apply here? | |
| Sep 14, 2023 at 16:51 | comment | added | Rory Alsop♦ | There is much in this post that is simply false, starting with that initial claim. We know that longer boats are faster than short ones. That's just basic physics, and has been proven mathematically and experimentally. Drag from wetted surfaces does not trump benefits from length. | |
| Sep 14, 2023 at 2:05 | comment | added | bob1 | This simply isn't true - the answers already given with maths stack up as being true. I trust many generations of engineers wouldn't get it wrong. I've personally paddled boats of both forms and very similar widths, and the long ones are easier to paddle and significantly faster, though take more effort to get up to "cruise speed". Your comparison of a 100 vs 200 lb person is flawed in that they displace different amounts of water and 200 lb is significantly more to move with the same arm strength. | |
| Sep 13, 2023 at 23:01 | review | Late answers | |||
| Sep 15, 2023 at 9:09 | |||||
| S Sep 13, 2023 at 22:41 | review | First answers | |||
| Sep 13, 2023 at 23:56 | |||||
| S Sep 13, 2023 at 22:41 | history | answered | parajared | CC BY-SA 4.0 |