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Re: Strip: strip for petit *PIC*
By:anewhouse
Date: 10/2/2017, 2:56 am
In Response To: Strip: strip for petit (howard)

It can be difficult to find a design suitable for smaller paddlers. My solution was to design my own.
Most serious kayaks are too big in all three dimensions: length, width and height.
Few paddlers, particularly smaller paddlers gain any benefit from having a waterline length greater than 15 ft or 4.57 metres. For recreational use at cruising speeds extra length just means increased wetted area and more drag.
A 5' 2" woman doesn't need as much stability as a 6' 2" man. Her centre of gravity is lower. A more extreme example how narrow a kayak can be for a light padler is the kayak I built for my granddaughter. Because she is so short and light, she looks at least as stable in her 45 cm wide kayak as I am in my 55cm kayak.
A high deck can make it awkward to paddle and more susceptible to the effect of wind. When my 5' wife paddled an old touring kayak I owned, she was blown around by the wind and hated it. The 15' sea kayak I designed for her is much lower and is hardly affected by the wind and she loves it.
That 45cm low profile kayak is manageable for a 4 year old, but is still quite suitable for a tall 10 year old girl as shown in this image. My wife's kayak is of course a bit bigger than that. :)
As you may have already noticed, most kayaks will be wider than your wife needs and high enough that with her light weight, she will risk being blown around by the wind. Too often people focus only on the length of the kayak. Those other two dimensions are both important and may turn out to be the hardest to get right.
Good luck with your search.

Messages In This Thread

Strip: strip for petit
howard -- 10/1/2017, 9:34 pm
Re: Strip: strip for petit
JohnAbercrombie -- 10/1/2017, 10:33 pm
Re: Strip: strip for petit
howard -- 10/1/2017, 10:52 pm
Re: Strip: strip for petit
JohnAbercrombie -- 10/1/2017, 11:21 pm
Re: Strip: strip for petit
Bill Hamm -- 10/2/2017, 12:29 am
Re: Strip: strip for petit *PIC*
anewhouse -- 10/2/2017, 2:56 am
Re: Strip: strip for petit
Etienne Muller -- 10/2/2017, 5:46 am
Re: Strip: strip for petit
anewhouse -- 10/2/2017, 6:54 am
Re: Strip: strip for petit
Mark N -- 10/2/2017, 9:11 am
Re: Strip: strip for petit
JohnAbercrombie -- 10/2/2017, 11:38 am
Re: Strip: strip for petit
Bill Hamm -- 10/10/2017, 2:42 am
Re: Strip: strip for petit
Jay babina -- 10/3/2017, 11:30 am
Re: Strip: strip for petit *PIC*
JohnAbercrombie -- 10/3/2017, 12:14 pm