Plumb Bow Kayaks vs Long extended nose kayaks

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Permalink Reply by Lance Pillsbury on November 5, 2009 at 8:47am

Thats really interesting. Around here I haven't even seen a plumb bow style. Question is, what are the disadvantages ?

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Permalink Reply by Willi H2O on November 5, 2009 at 9:14am

Depends on who you ask pertaining to disadvantages.

Some might say--harder to steer with long waterline & little rocker - I say learn to use your boat properly.
By leaning a bit , thereby getting front and rear out of the water slightly AND using the rudder (SmartTrack)
I can turn my 18 foot long Epic Endurance quite well.

http://bit.ly/KayakFootPegs

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Permalink Reply by Rick K. on November 5, 2009 at 9:18am

They do offer the advantage of speed. I think it's a case of different boats for different purposes. A "greenland" style kayak generally has a lot better rocker. That's why you don't see a whole lot of "plumb bow" kayaks in the surf.

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Permalink Reply by Willi H2O on November 5, 2009 at 10:20am

Rocker smocker - it's a load of crap for most people.
Unless you're constantly turning hard at 60 + degrees to sightsee stuff on both banks of a large river , why bother with rocker ?

Watch the video
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9svtYPVmbo8

Paddling a ancient Greenland kayak aka ancient Model T car is really no match for a Plumb Bow kayak aka Porsche.

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Permalink Reply by Rick K. on November 5, 2009 at 3:20pm

Watched the video. Going out through the waves isn't the problem. Coming back in is. Kayaks with no rocker make it a lot easier to faceplant in the surf. I agree that something with no rocker will be faster. Kayaks with no rocker have a longer water line than those with rocker. That makes for increased speed.

If you're interested in this, read Nick Schade's book, "The Strip Built Kayak". It goes into some of the engineering and physics of kayak design and is pretty interesting.

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Permalink Reply by Willi H2O on November 5, 2009 at 4:05pm

My original post link included pictures of a strip built Guillemot Great Auk with a plumb bow.

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Permalink Reply by Geoff Jennings on November 5, 2009 at 3:47pm

That's a bit of an oversimplification. For those of us who's sea kayaking involves ocean paddling in rough conditions, Greenland style boats work awesome. I rarely paddle lakes or calm water, I paddle on the ocean, and in rough conditions, I bet I can hang easily with a boat like the epic in a boat like a Wilderness Systems Tempest.

And I land and launch through the surf on nearly every paddle. And I like to play in rock gardens and sea caves.

That "Porsche" might be fun on the autobahn or a racetrack, but I'll take a Range Rover any day. Far more versatile, will hang with the Porsche in most real world conditions, and can handle some rough stuff.

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Permalink Reply by Willi H2O on November 5, 2009 at 4:18pm

Geoff,

I'm all for supplying people with options - many haven't seen or paddled a plumb bow.
There are many other kayak designs that are quite sea worthy,i.e some Tsunami Rangers used Sit-On-Tops.

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Permalink Reply by Geoff Jennings on November 5, 2009 at 5:33pm

I think boats like the Epic are sweet. I'd love to have one in the fleet. I just disagree with statement

"Rocker smocker - it's a load of crap for most people.
Unless you're constantly turning hard at 60 + degrees to sightsee stuff on both banks of a large river , why bother with rocker ?"

I'd argue that for many folks, a boat that handles well in a wide variety of conditions might be as or more important than speed.

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