I would like to see 9 mph in a kayak.
I have made 9 mph in a canoe, with about a 6 mph current, and a tail wind with a bed sheet for a sail.
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For distances under 6 miles I can average slightly over 6 MPH
Under 6-10 miles Iām closer to 5.5 mph
10-15 miles I go closer to 5.0
I dont paddle over 15 miles often. Most of the time I am paddling for pleasure or fitness in a 20ā x 17.7" Fenn Swordfish S with a carbon wing paddle, but Iām not breathing hard unless Iām chasing a wave (which can vary from constantly or rarely depending on conditions)
If canoe tripping, we average closer to 4mph if conditions are good.
In a light headwind (10-15mph) its closer to 3.5-4mph
in a strong headwind (20-25mph) Im lucky to maintain 2.5mph. The last raging day we had this spring I was paddling straight into a 28mph wind and averaged 2.0 mph and I think I had a little current pushing me too.
I can easily sprint to 9+mph for 10-20 seconds in my boat, and have hit 11mph in an elite boat (43cm beam ski).
Hey Jack! Good to hear from you. I hope you are both doing well.
And then realized this thread is 10 yr old.
I used to sustain 3 mph about the time this was started in a Tarpon 160. Yes, things do slow a bit when weāre in our 70s.
A number of posts seem to be reporting on surf skis vs sea kayaks. Apples and oranges.
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All in mph.
Tandem CD Libra XT we average 3.25 22ā x 32" sprint I think 4.5
CD Solstice GT 3.5 -3.75
17ā7 x 24-1/4"
CD Expedition I just started using 4.0 - 4.25 do not have that many miles on it. Top speed no wind or current 7.5 sprint. Fast boat. 18ā-10" x 21-1/4
CD Nomad / Extreme 3.75 - 4.0
18ā10" x 21-1/4" top speed 6.99 sprint.
Data is from Endomondo
I use a WernerIkelos .
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Routinely do it in Mayport Fl during an outgoing tide. Have ādriftedā past the ferry landing at 8 mph indicated on the gps.
10 is easy just need the right wind and current for a lift! Lol I have seen some numbers I know are tide current and wind.
I am talking about 9 knots unaided by wind and tides.
9 knots the the hull speed of a 60 foot sailboat. You would need to get a kayak out of displacement mode and into planing mode or hydrofoils to pull it off.
So its not a question of what paddle you useā¦
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It all depends on the boat and the paddler. My kayak is 18ā3" long and 21" wide. I am a strong paddler and always carry a GPS to monitor my speed. I can paddle all day at 4 mph, with occasional spurts to 4.5 mph. I have hit 6.5 mph on a sprint.
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It does matter.
Wing paddles are more efficient than others.
for example, my 18X stats:
caveat: Iām not a āfastā paddler (do not use the 18X as it āshouldā be paddled), so, taking in mind this is ācasualā paddling:
EPIC 18X:
Using wing paddle (Epic MidWing)
4813 miles, avg 9.72 milesPerTrip, avg: 4.27mph
NOT using wing (misc others: Werner Cyprus, Lendal Storm)
687 miles, avg 9.68 milesPerTrip, avg: 3.99mph
I use wing paddles exclusively.
Everything matters paddle, kayak, your weight, technique, conditionsā¦
Two times I have experienced a situation where I made my 19ā-2" NC Expedition release from the displacement mode to a level planing mode. It required very special conditions; about a 12" chop on otherwise flat water (no swells). Because of an approaching very large motor yacht, I needed to kick it up to a sprint to get clear of his course. To my great surprise and delight, the boat jumped up on top of the chop and accelerated to what I would estimate to be double what itās top displacement speed is calculated. I was only good for about a hundred feet. I thought I would give it another shot just to see if I could repeat it. I was able to do another hundred feet, or so. I decided to call it quits before I hurt myself.
Menās record for 1 km in K1 is 3:21.89. That is 9.63 knots. Max. allowed length for a K1 is 5.2 meter which is slightly more than 17 foot.
As far as I know, a K1 is not in planing mode and has no hydrofoils.
The usual explanation for boats exceeding their hull speed without planing is that their hull is designed to be āwave-piercingā. I suppose that is the case for the K1. And I have often wondered if the same is the case for some sea kayaks.
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Thereās a brief paragraph on the Wikipedia page on hull speed that summarizes what Allan is talking about, emphasis added (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hull_speed):
> Hull design implications
> Wave-making resistance depends on the proportions and shape of the hull: many modern displacement designs can exceed their hull speed even without planing. These include hulls with very fine ends, long hulls with relatively narrow beam and wave-piercing designs. Such hull forms are commonly used by canoes, competitive rowing boats, catamarans, fast ferries. For example, racing kayaks can exceed hull speed by more than 100% even though they do not plane.
For a displacement hull, hull speed is generally considered to be when the Froude number reaches 0.4. This is a non-dimensional speed measure Fr = V/sqrt(g*L). Effectively it is boat speed divided by a wave speed. As Froude number increases, so does wave-making resistance, with 0.4 being a somewhat arbitrary (and coarse) measure of where power requirements become unreasonable. Somewhere above that value, some hulls can be brought up on plane and power requirements decrease.
Anyway, the hull speed of a 5.2 m K1 is calculated as 2.86 m/s. The record-setting run Allan mentions comes out to 4.95 m/s. This is way above hull speed, but less than twice as much, so is consistent with the quote. The Froude number is 0.69, which is certainly higher than 0.4, but the design of the hull has clearly extended the range that can be considered hull speed for a racing boat. The comment above that comparing kayaks and skis (and other racing boats) is an apples and oranges comparison certainly seems correct.
Magoochās story of riding on wave crests is an interesting phenomenon. It sounds like the reduced wetted surface in that situation reduced drag to an extent that he could speed up significantly - maybe you could consider it micro-planing on top of the chop, Iād like to try thatā¦
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I was with a group of paddlers on the lower Edisto when 3 gators burst out of the sawgrass aimed at our strongest paddler in a Tempest 180.
For the burst of speed as a result, his GPS registered a bit over 8 mph. The burst was only for a short distance. The water was deep enough for the gators to go under his boat.