: Respected sir,
: we are having a in-house sort of rowing boat race. The type of boat and
: specifications all have to be decided, designed, fabricated and rowed (by
: two paddlers) by the team themselves.The course of river is downstream and
: has waves with 8-10m depth..confused between kayak and rowing
: shell...could you help me out with the design parameters..and simple tools
: to develop it..and also with lines plan.
When you row, you can get much greater force into the water since you can use your legs and back. So a rowing shell is faster than a kayak, not due to the design, but due to the propulsion.
To reduce resistance the key factors are wetted surface, form drag and wavemaking drag. So as stated earlier by someone else, generally long, narrow hulls with rounded sections are the best. The boat needs to as stiff as possible and as light as it can be made.
Have fun.