MICRONAUTICAL BOAT DESIGN

Some fly anglers practice sight fishing: They paddle their kayak standing up, and scout for big fish. They prefer to to stand as high as possible, because it expands their range of vision. Once they spot a fish, they cast a fly at it as fast as they can.
Many fly kayak anglers and reel anglers sight fish while standing comfortably in their W kayaks. However, Ted, the kayak fly fisherman seen in these pictures, wants to stand higher, so he can look further.
Unlike Kevin, another fly fisherman who fishes the flats standing on top of his W kayak saddle without using outriggers, Ted added both a pair of outriggers and a frame to his fishing kayak. This setup puts him about 15″ higher than he would have been if he stood on the bottom of his W fishing kayak hulls, and this way he’s perfectly stable.
The drawback of paddling from such a high level is that you lose some leverage on the paddle, so you can’t go very fast. However, if the water is shallow enough, you can push pole – It’s slow, but what’s the rush?

This setup calls for an electric trolling motor, or an outboard gas engine, but those are not allowed in some areas, which leaves stand up paddling and push poling as the only solutions for propulsion.

Safety Concerns, and Solutions:

Standing as high on top of such a tiny vessel as a kayak means that sooner or later, the fly fisherman is going to lose their footing, or lose balance, or both – It’s a statistical fact, and every experienced angler, paddler, surfer or sailor knows that “Stuff Happens” is the rule on the water.
So the real question is not “What if” but “What happens when” –
When you stand up on top of a conventional fishing kayak (SOT, sit-in, or ‘hybrid’), you need to somehow manage to fall on your knees, or on your behind, and regain your balance immediately. It’s almost impossible, and although it doesn’t hurt to try, you’re more likely to find yourself swimming.
However, things are considerably different when you’re standing high on top of a W fishing kayak, as Ted does: He can drop on his kayak’s saddle, with a leg in each hull, and stabilize himself while he’s in the ergonomic kayak paddling posture known as Riding, which is similar to riding a jet-ski, a snowmobile, an All Terrain Vehicle (ATV) – or a pony. In other words, it’s the most stable, and most powerful position you can hope to be in when you’re trying to regain balance and control in your kayak. When Ted wants to switch from standing to sitting, it’s just a matter of hopping down –

The pictures in this article were contributed by Ted Stevens, courtesy of Gene Andrews, W fishing kayaks dealer in Palm Coast, Florida.

Design isn’t just about aesthetics. It’s first and foremost about solving problems.
Yes, this is not a mistake – I wrote SOLVING problems, and not addressing problems, or ‘tackling’ problems, which are expressions that are commonly found in marketing hype for all kayak types, including fishing kayaks.

And that makes a fundamental difference, because when you tackle, or address a problem, it’s still there after you’re done – You may have created a design that emphasizes stability a little more, but its users will have to pay a price in reduced speed and worse tracking, and still not paddle a kayak that’s sufficiently stable…
But when you solve a problem, it’s gone: It’s no more a problem.
Similarly, you may ‘tackle’ the problem of kayak back pain (a.k.a. ‘Yak Back’), or ‘address’ this problem by various means ranging from stuffing more foam in the kayak’s seat, or gel, or replacing the stuffed seat by a beach seat, or stadium seat adapted to kayaks, and yet, the problem of poor ergonomics will still be there, and this is bound to make the kayaker’s life miserable.

These examples illustrate the issue called the ‘envelope’ of a boat concept. In this case, it’s the broad boat concept called ‘mono-hull kayak’, or ‘single hull kayak’, and the families of solutions found within its envelope are generally described as Sit-In Kayak (SIK), Sit-On-Top Kayak, and Hybrid Kayak.

Being an extreme concept by nature (small size, narrow beam for paddling, light weight for carrying, etc.) this concept is most restrictive, which is why the serious problems it presents can be addressed and tackled, but no solved.

Does it mean such major cannot be solved? Not necessarily, but in order to solve them, the designer has to work within another paradigm, or boat concept, and explore a range of solutions available within its envelope. In the case of kayaks, such alternative concept exists, and it is known as W Kayak.
If you’re interested to know more more about how the major problems of fishing kayaks got solved, and not just addressed, or tackled, learn about W Fishing Kayaks >>

-“Steering a kayak with a rudder?!?”
If you told an Inuit that you need a rudder to steer your kayak, they’d be very surprised, since aboriginal kayaks did not feature such accessories.
Rudders were introduced to modern kayaks by designers and manufacturers who feared their clients wouldn’t be able to go where they needed, because their kayaks don’t track well, especially in strong wind.
This is not a mere matter of convenience, but of safety as well: A kayak that doesn’t track well isn’t safe, since it’s hard to paddle, and might prevent its user from getting back to shore.
Why are conventional modern kayaks, and especially fishing kayaks so hard paddle effectively without a rudder? The answer is simple: These SOT, sit-in, and ‘hybrid’ kayaks are ‘barges”, namely too wide and slow to go in a straight line, and they don’t react well to wind. They are designed to offer stability, within the limited capabilities of the mono-hull design, and the only way this is possible is by making the kayak too wide to track effectively, or be paddled efficiently.

The problem of tracking in strong wind and other adverse conditions is solved perfectly in the W kayak design, due to the combination of two factors:

1. The two thin, parallel hulls make the W kayak track well to begin with, and –
2. The paddler can relocate at will fore and aft, along the longitudinal seat named saddle. By doing so, they change the location of the vessel’s center of gravity, and can make it point at will either into the wind, or outward

Here is how this tracking and steering by relocation is done:

More info on rudders in fishing kayaks >>

More info on fishing kayaks’ steering and tracking in strong wind >>

For some, a lawn chair epitomizes outdoors comfort. It is indeed a comfortable seat, and the question is can it be incorporated into a fishing kayak?
The answer is yes –

The fly fisherman demonstrating the seat and the kayak is Craig Masterman, from Massachusetts.
Craig shows that although this seat setup isn’t ideal for seated paddling, because of the huge armrests, it’s still OK when you’re paddling standing. The seat certainly provides maximum comfort, and when it comes to kayak fishing standing, or seated – no problem whatsoever.

And this is the movie where these shots were taken from:

Conceptually, kayak fishing is a great idea, but in reality, this relatively new sport is facing serious hurdles that impede its growth. These are technical problems related to performance and user-experience, and they can be solved only by a major shift from traditional designs such as sit-in kayak, sit-on-top kayak, and hybrid kayak (a small, flat canoe), to W kayaks – a patented twin hulled design.

From a new article about kayak fishing:

“Kayak fishing ceased to be a novelty, and it’s safe to say there’s hardly anyone in America who fishes that hasn’t been exposed to the notion of fishing out of kayaks, one way or another.
Still, for the huge majority of American anglers, the notion of fishing from a kayak is by far more appalling than appealing, and those who fish from shore and from all other watercraft outnumber kayak anglers by a thousand to one ratio -“

The numbers presented in this article are interesting, especially in view of the fact that kayak fishing is at least a decade old, in its modern form, which is heavily promoted by the kayak industry.

The article presents the major, unsolved problems that have dogged kayak fishing as a recreational activity and sport since its inception. These problems both limit the number of people who join the sport, as well as cause many participants to drop out of it. The problems are, in order of importance: Unacceptably poor ergonomics, lack of adequate stability, poor tracking, limited range of travel, limited storage space, restricted mobility.

More interesting are the conclusions, which stem from comparing the effect these problems have on the sport to the performance of the W kayak class relatively to the other common kayaks used for fishing:

“Does kayak fishing have a long term future?
We think it does, but only as a sensible sport and outdoor activity that would attract many more anglers, and not as the kind of unrewarding experience it currently is, which repels new participants while expelling existing ones.
The only venue is through an increase in use of W fishing kayaks rather than SOT, sit-in and hybrid kayaks. This is because W kayaks offer the solutions to all the problems discussed in this article, and some others, and these are the problems that make kayak fishing that marginal activity it has been so far in the much broader world of fishing.
Simply, as soon as realize that they can fish out of a watercraft that’s as small, nimble and lightweight as a regular kayak (not even a huge ‘barge’ fishing kayak..), and yet is as stable, dry and comfortable as a regular motorboat, and even has a similar travel range as a motorboat – they would adopt kayak fishing in growing numbers, and stick with the sport. The watercraft that combines the advantages of kayaks and motorboats, while offering better mobility than both, is the W kayak.”

So basically, the article presents an optimistic view for the future, when many anglers who are displeased both with other kayaks and small motorboats would benefit from the advantages offered by W kayaks – both human powered and motorized.