MICRONAUTICAL BOAT DESIGN

This short review of recent kayak design articles highlights some aspects of the common fishing kayak.

The first, and probably most striking thing about the typical SOT, sit-in or hybrid fishing kayak that’s offered in stores or online is its size – It is huge, and consequently heavy and hard for one person to carry and car top, as well as hard to paddle, especially in wind and current.
Those kayaks seem to have crossed the line between a kayak and a boat, or a skiff, since practically speaking they require transportation by trailer. And indeed, some manufacturers already refer to their larger fishing kayak models as boats, not because of their performance or some additional functionality, but due to their size.
Needless to say that this fact alone is evidence that such kayaks defy the purpose of kayak fishing.

The second most striking aspect of those large-size fishing kayaks is the dysfunctional clutter in their cockpit and deck that seem so crowded with fishing accessories and just ‘stuff’ that the angler sitting or attempting to stand in them literally has no room to do so. These objects range in size, from small cup holders to large size lean bars, and their presence in the kayak’s cockpit is not only unnecessary to the angler, it is clearly counterproductive.

The third interesting thing about these larger than life (I.E. too large for real people to fish from in real life) kayaks is the absence of hydrodynamic design in them: They are not even close to conform to basic boat design standards or even to common sense: Not only are they much too wide for their length, which slows them down and makes them track poorly and require a cumbersome rudder – their underside features a variety of design elements that are extremely counterproductive as fare as speed is concerned. Such elements can be multiple scupper holes and molded-in channels, fins, and even a skeg.

Ironically, none of these accessories, systems and design elements offers a real solution to the fundamental problems that the average angler experiences when using them –

These unsolved problems in these common fishing kayaks are:

1.  Poor ergonomics, meaning mainly lack of comfort, early fatigue and back pain, as well as bad bio-mechanical design, which the angler feels as a restricted range of motion in both paddling and fishing. The new beach seat style kayak seats are obviously a botched attempt to address this issue, as foam filled seats failed to do so in the past.

2.  Insufficient stability albeit the fact that these fishing kayaks are extremely wide.

3.  Wetness as a result of the kayak offering too little or no free board, and scupper holes that conduct water upward onto the deck and cockpit, a problem annoying to a point that  manufacturers have to offer scupper plugs…

4.  These kayaks are as wide as canoes and as as sluggish and unfit for paddling in strong wind, waves and other real world factors.

5.  With all the stuff tucked on board a typical SOT, sit-in or hybrid fishing kayak, such craft still scores very low in terms of storage, as one or more hatches address neither the need for enough storage space nor for adequate accessibility to the gear stored inside.

In contrast, the Wavewalk 500 series of twin hull kayaks offers a high level of fishability in all these factors.

References –

More is less in your fishing kayak’s cockpit – Too much stuff and too little fishability

The secrets of the SOT kayak’s underside

THE BARGE – A NEW CLASS OF FISHING KAYAKS

A kayak’s deck and cockpit are its most visible parts, and few people bother to look under a kayak, although there are some interesting things to discover there –

The kayak’s underside is its part that comes in contact with water, and as such its design affects the kayaks speed and directional stability. SOT kayaks used for fishing are notoriously sluggish, and they’re also known to track poorly.

This new article entitled The secrets of the SOT kayak’s underside talks about two characteristic features of SOT kayaks, which are scupper holes and longitudinal tunnels, it analyzes the effect these elements have on the kayak’s performance, and most interestingly, it explains the real reasons why these elements came into being and became standard in SOT kayaks.

Some kayak manufacturers claim that certain kayak models they offer are suitable for photography (I.E. wildlife photography).  While it’s possible to shoot pictures out of such kayaks, categorizing them them as suitable for wildlife photography is more wishful thinking than solid reality, regardless of such kayaks being sit-in, SOT, or hybrid canoe-kayaks.
Some fishing kayak models are very wide, and as such they offer a higher degree of lateral stability than similar designs that are just Touring or Recreational kayaks, but other than that, such ultra-wide kayaks fail to provide wildlife photographers with what we consider to be a basic package of services.
Such basic package includes adequate stability, of course, and the ability to paddle standing and shoot photos while standing with no ifs and buts. Needless to say that photographers who spend long hours (and sometimes days) paddling their kayaks and shooting from them cannot enjoy doing so if they use a kayak that forces them to be seated in the non-ergonomic L position, which is the traditional kayaking position in which the kayaker’s legs are awkwardly stretched in front on them, and the lower part of their body is encased between a set of footrests and a backrest that compresses their lumbar spine in a horizontal direction.

Plentiful dry storage space is essential for outdoor photographers who go on a kayak photography trips since they  usually carry a lot of expensive photographic equipment with them, including cameras, tripods and lenses.

It goes without saying that being able to launch, travel and beach the kayak in aquatic environments that are not necessarily accessible due to shallow water, vegetation and all sorts of obstacles is a substantial advantage, because such environments tend to be rich in wildlife. This requirement means that heavy kayaks are out of the question, and this rules out most wide fishing kayak models, as well as other kayak models labeled as touring kayaks that fail to pass the mobility test phrased by Wavewalk as “launch, go and beach anywhere”.
Excessive size and weight make some kayaks irrelevant if only because they are so hard to car top and carry over long distances.

Taking into consideration all these technical requirements as well as others, the only kayak that can deliver an acceptable performance in terms of photography is Wavewalk’s W500.

Additional, in-depth insight about kayaks for photography >

A meager harvest when kayak anglers are concerned, and plenty of reasons for a good laugh 😀

2013 hasn’t been much different from previous years as far as fishing kayaks are concerned. The kayak obesity trend keeps being the main one, and it drives kayaks to reach titanic proportions. For example, kayaks that are 35 inches wide and weigh 80 lbs are almost typical, and a kayak that’s over 40 inches wide is no longer viewed as an aberration despite the fact that paddling such a kayak is quite a challenge, and almost impossible to do for medium and long distances. Leviathan barge kayaks weighing around 120 lbs are still considered as kayaks (at least by some) although even a seasoned weight lifter might find it hard to car top one, and people who buy them have to buy a trailer to go with them, which is yet another way to defy the purpose of kayak fishing.
The reason behind the persistence of this trend is the poor stability that fishing kayaks offer to their users, albeit the fact that kayak manufacturers insist that the kayaks they offer are very stable, enough to allow for kayak fishing standing… Go tell this to all those disappointed anglers who purchased such kayaks and found out that reality is different from bogus reviews and staged YouTube movies  🙁

Fishing kayak hulls keep featuring all sorts of weird longitudinal channels and vertical dimples that work perfectly to create more drag and by that further impede the kayaker and make it harder for them to paddle. The infamous scupper holes that were introduced as means to prevent the deck from collapsing but have since been hyped as drainage holes keep conducting water in both directions, which means they also drive water up and onto the deck, and into the paddler’s area.

In the twilight zone, kayaks with integrated outriggers are still being offered although the concept has proved to be rather useless in practical terms. It seems like the failure of the kayak industry to present kayaks that actually work for stand up kayak fishing drives more people to try outriggers.

New designs still appear on the scene, and they make one wonder if kayak designers have any ability to learn from others’ mistakes.

Pedal driven kayaks are still being promoted as the panacea, although reality has disproved most of their manufacturer’s claims as far as practical usefulness is concerned.

Kayak storage keeps relying on hatches, which are often inaccessible to the user while they’re out there in their kayak, trying to fish from it. Such hatches have an annoying tendency to fail to be waterproof, and that’s bad news for your sandwiches!

When ergonomic design is concerned, manufacturers seem to realize that the kayaks they offer are really uncomfortable, so they keep trying to come up with new ideas for seats, although it’s the seat itself together with the L sitting position that cause the back pain and leg numbness problems that so many anglers experience.

Motorizing… well, oddly enough, some kayak manufacturers tell their clients they can outfit their kayaks with powerful outboard gas motors. Naturally, not too many people buy into this nonsensical notion. The most ridiculous case in this regard is a kayak manufacturer who offers his clients to attach their outboard gas engine directly to the kayak’s transom, which like the rest of that kayak is made from a thin, rotationally molded plastic wall… It is only appropriate to apply Hanlon’s razor to this case, and say “Never attribute to malice that which is adequately explained by stupidity.” 😀

And last but not least, fishing kayak manufacturers keep competing with each other by offering an increasing range of useless accessories, from cup holders to stand-up metal frames and stand-up ropes and straps… The latter being pure exercises in futility, at least from the user’s standpoint.

No wonder the Wavewalk 500 keeps being the most loved fishing kayak out there!

I took it on Coniston water in the English lake district.
It is brilliant! The 43 year old Seagull 3 HP motor starts 2nd pull and has lots of compression. It’s very light and the perfect size for Banana Split (the boat). On my own it will do about 7 MPH, and in tandem with my wife Andrea it pulls 5 MPH.

I have made a centre board and am making a rudder, mast and sails as my next development. Sadly, the English winter is nearly upon us so I might not get the chance to test until the spring.

I have found a seaside boating lake that should be ideal for testing the sails.

Berny

United kingdom

More about motorized kayaks >