Subject: RE: [baidarka] Back to skegs for a minute
From: Thomas Mitchell (mitchell@nwlink.com)
Date: Sat Oct 20 2001 - 12:20:12 EDT
No, I don't think so.
Pure planing hull and all that aside, the fins on a board are to help you do
just the opposite of what you note below. The fins enable to stay sideways
and travel 'down the line' on a steep wave. If you didn't have a fin, when
making a bottom turn on a steep wave, you would just slide sideways into the
trough and eat it. Even if you were good enough to use the hard rails to
really gouge into the wave face and hold your line, you'd scrub off so much
speed you'd still get worked. The twin/tri fin set ups do the same thing
but increase the maneuverability by providing a better pivot point at the
back of the board. The now ubiquitous tri-fin 'thruster' setup is also
said to increase speed but I've haven't seen hard data on this effect.
The above is why most of the modern surf-specific kayaks come with pure
planing hulls, hard rails and fin boxes. When I'm sitting in my boat I have
a outward flaring rail that is about 3" below water and a tri-fin set of fin
boxes, same as a surfboard. The main difference is the fins are just aft of
my seat rather than in the tail.
Best,
Thomas
-----Original Message-----
From: owner-baidarka@paddlewise.net
[mailto:owner-baidarka@paddlewise.net]On Behalf Of Phil Ellis
Sent: Saturday, October 20, 2001 5:56 AM
To: baidarka@paddlewise.net
Subject: [baidarka] Back to skegs for a minute
Brian,
<snip> And wouldn't it tend to prevent broaching on a following wave? Isn't
that what the skegs are for on
surfboards?
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