The nature of speed.

[Idiot Savant]

On Sunday, I went paddling, in my crossover kayak, for the first time.
I know this is a canoe forum, but bear with me for a minute.
I've known for a while now that the boat with the highest top speed isn't necessarily the boat that takes the least amount of effort to maintain an easy cruising speed.
I think this has a lot to do with wetted surface area. A long boat has a higher theoretical tops speed, but it might take more effort to paddle at a slower speed due to having more surface area.
But my experience on Sunday makes me think the boat that takes the least amount of effort, to paddle at an easy cruising speed, might be a lot shorter than I thought.
My crossover kayak is ten feet long and 31 inches wide, yet I was leaving most of the other boats in my wake. I'm sure all my training this year is bearing fruit and I was paddling with other old farts and couples with their dogs, but it still seemed surprising.
My impression was that my boat didn't have a high top speed but accelerating to a cruising speed didn't take much effort.
To add to that, a couple weeks ago I was paddling with a lady in a very small Swift cruiser, less than 13 ft., and it seemed pretty darn quick.
I guess what I'm saying is I'd consider buying a shorter canoe than I would have before.

 

[MyKneesHurt]

I've paddled enough boats to know my knowledge of hydraulics as they apply to hull design is whimsical at best, but isn't the whole rationale behind Canadian-style paddling that you're heeling the boat to reduce surface area in the water and thus hull drag?
Short canoes are just fun. I bought a little OT Pack this year and it's remarkably easy to pull around a pond, despite everyone and their mother saying I'm wasting energy on guide strokes. I've also built a 17+foot Greenland k***k that moves forward if you sneeze in the right direction.

 

[Alan Gage]

I used to be a (bad) canoe racer and spent a lot of time in different boats recording my speed and heart rate to compare hulls. I also designed some canoes for myself and spent a lot of time looking at resistance graphs. That doesn't make me an expert by any means. If anything it helped show me how much I don't know.

My take on it is that while it does seem to be true that a shorter boat will have less resistance at low speeds the amount of effort it takes to sustain those low speeds, in any hull, is so low that I don't think it really matters. And the benefit of lower resistance at higher speeds, should I choose to push it a bit, more than offsets any marginal gains at low speeds.

I've had 21' kayaks and 18.5' solo canoes and to paddle them at 3mph took virtually no effort. I don't doubt that a shorter boat might have been more efficient at those speeds but I don't know that it's a difference I could have felt.

Alan

 

[Marten]

I picked up a used Northstar 12 foot ADK because it would fit inside an Otter float plane but figured it would be yawing all over on the water. On the first upstream paddle I was happy to see how well it tracked and stayed right with my friend paddling the Prism 17 solo. Checking my speed with a GPS on a lake showed it liked 3.8 mph. My Prism always liked 3.3 and these results really surprised me. On a group base camp trip this summer the ADK 12 was favored by all that tried it, all using a double blade.

 

[Idiot Savant]

The reason they lean the boat, for more traditional paddling, has to do with reaching the water and easy turning, not speed. At least that's my take.
I own a Northstar North Wind, but I've had my eye on a Northstar Magic. It is Northstar's "fastest" solo canoe. Being six inches longer has something to do with it, but I think more importantly it is an inch narrower, has a more favorable prismatic coefficient (pointier ends) and less rocker. What makes a boat feel faster has to do with a number of factors. I think length becomes more important the faster you want to go. If you are more into taking it easy, I think you will cover as much or more ground in a shorter boat.
A longer boat tracks better, which can be good and bad. I like a longer boat for paddling sit-n-switch and for the extra room for gear.
On the other hand, a smaller boat is just easier to deal with, off the water, and handles small twisty stuff a lot better.
I guess this is just an excuse to buy more boats.

 

[Steve in Idaho]

Healing a big tandem shortens the waterline and reduces the theoretical hull speed, but it also narrows the waterline and reduces wetted surface. So the boat may be slower, but it takes less effort to keep it going and may also have more glide..... until the wind comes up anyway. If the paddler isn't capable of making hull speed when paddled flat anyway, there may not be any difference in speed with it heeled - or it may even be faster.... again, until the wind.

 

[Idiot Savant]

Healing a big tandem shortens the waterline and reduces the theoretical hull speed, but it also narrows the waterline and reduces wetted surface. So the boat may be slower, but it takes less effort to keep it going and may also have more glide..... until the wind comes up anyway. If the paddler isn't capable of making hull speed when paddled flat anyway, there may not be any difference in speed with it heeled - or it may even be faster.... again, until the wind.

I have to say I'm skeptical. If boats were faster healed over then racers would paddle them that way and they don't.
A healed over canoe is like a canoe with rocker and rocker is slow. In the case of paddling a tandem solo from the middle position, you might need to heal it over to get a more powerful and efficient stroke, which might be the fast way to go. My thought on it anyway.

 

[Glenn MacGrady]

The only part of this post I'm positive of is that the verb is "heel" not "heal".

I'm not sure what the difference is between solo paddling a big honker tandem heeled or unheeled for straight ahead speed and efficiency. You are shortening the waterline by heeling, thereby decreasing some water friction, and you are increasing your ability to paddle efficiently on one side. However, you are increasing rocker and almost completely disabling your ability to paddle with cross strokes. Moreover, by heeling you are paddling on a Frankenstein waterline shape that looks more like an asymmetrical slice of watermelon () than the symmetrical water-parting shapes that all boat designers consider optimal.

If you paddle a tandem from behind the center of balance with the bow protruding in the air, you will be paddling on a different sort of undesigned Frankenstein waterline shape with a bulbous "bow" end. Inefficient, but perhaps acceptable for some paddlers. (Poling a tandem may have different trim considerations, a good idea for a thread topic.)

Heeling a big and deep tandem also worsens the ability to control the canoe in wind by increasing "sail area" as well as turnability.

While I did heel my 16' MR Explorer (my 1st canoe) and 17' OT Otca (my 3rd) for solo day paddles, mainly so I could reach the water better and for turnability, I'd never consider paddling that way for an extended wilderness trip. Not my cup of tea. That's why dedicated solo canoes were invented, and why I own 10 of them. For straight ahead speed and efficiency, canoes are meant to be paddled on the design waterline—i.e., unheeled and trimmed.

Heeling is a very important skill that will dramatically enhance the turning of any canoe—a skill that is critical for effective paddling in whitewater, including moves such as eddy turns, peel outs, ferries, braces, rolls, and running big wave trains quartered or sideways. And also for flat water freestyle moves.

 

[Steve in Idaho]

I have to say I'm skeptical. If boats were faster healed over then racers would paddle them that way and they don't.
A healed over canoe is like a canoe with rocker and rocker is slow. In the case of paddling a tandem solo from the middle position, you might need to heal it over to get a more powerful and efficient stroke, which might be the fast way to go. My thought on it anyway.

I think you skipped right over this part...

" If the paddler isn't capable of making hull speed when paddled flat anyway..."

And there's a significant application of "may" in that post. It's more about the paddler than the canoe. And probably not applicable to all or even most canoes. It was my experience while paddling the 16' Royalex Prospector, which is already not a fast canoe even when trimmed properly. It's already bulbous either way. It already has moderate rocker. Making the waterline narrower and getting the rail closer to the water for a more vertical paddle does make a difference if you're not a strong paddler (as in - not a racer). And now that it's shorter, it may be easier to approach hull speed (adjusted for new waterline length) - which may still be faster than the paddler can push the longer waterline in that boat.

It's not in any way comparable to paddling a reasonably efficient solo canoe.....which is why I started paddling solos in the first place.

And Glenn - correction strokes are a given when paddling such a beast solo, regardless of the waterline shape. Add a little wind or some decent waves, and heeling gets dicey. I think I implied that.

 

[Glenn MacGrady]

I'd like to make clear that if I had to solo day paddle a tandem canoe on flat water, my preferences in order would be:

1. Heeled from the center, "Canadian style". It's not ideal. for reasons stated, but better for me than the next two alternatives.
2. From the bow seat backwards with artificial ballast in the bow, unheeled or slightly heeled.
3. From the stern with even more artificial bow ballast, unheeled.

If I were overnight tripping with natural gear ballast, I'd choose option 2 on flat water.

In whitewater, I must be able to use stern strokes, bow strokes and cross strokes, and be able to heel to either side instantaneously. So, even in a wide tandem, my default posture would be centralized and unheeled with thigh straps.

 

[Erica]

When I was paddling the 15 ft tandem Mohawk backwards, it was easier to paddle heeled over than flat.

 

[Steve in Idaho]

When I had that Prospector, I removed the thwart between the stern seat and the yoke and replaced it with a kneeling thwart. On the occasions when I was not poling, I always paddled from that station. It was ideal for me because I preferred poling whenever it was possible, but I could drop to my knees and paddle whenever I desired without having to redistribute ballast or go out of trim. While on flat water, I found it relaxing to paddle heeled on one side or the other (sliding across the thwart if needed), but if things got rough I'd be in the middle with a long paddle... unless I stood up with the pole.

I did lots of day trips that way and several multi-day river trips in up to class 2+ before I ever sat in a solo canoe. I actually never got to where I could paddle it solo better than I could pole it, even on technical C2+. Leverage rules! One thing for sure - and this applies to every canoe I can stand in so far - I made that canoe (trimmed flat) go faster with a pole than I ever could paddling. (Whew! Thought I'd never circle back to speed...) Come to think of it, the same applies to the Clipper Solitude. Although that is strictly a flatwater proposition.

 

[Gamma1214]

(Whew! Thought I'd never circle back to speed...)

nicely done