Back when I attended the University
of Kansas,in Lawrence, I worked at the Stokely Van Camps factory. we didn’t do the beanie weenies but we did do the pork and beans. We were a distributor for the area though so we had tons of cases of the stuff (beanie weenies, gatorade etc) and used to pop the tops and put them on the manifolds of the forklifts to warm them up and eat cans and cans of the stuff.
I am surprised we did that because I saw how they made them and you don’t want to know.
Paul
tommorow the skin on frame Hunter
going to try and do the same run and clock the speed.
Next day the Night Heron.
Maybe I will be stronger by then.
Paul
"6.5 MPH in a plastic yak…"
for 8 to 15 miles !
Holy cow, you must be talking about Greg!
Cheers,
JackL
wow
you got me beat. going empty i can hold 5 for a couple miles, loaded,over 10-15 miles my average seems around 3-3.5, that’s with the breaks counted in,without breaks my happy touring pace seems about 4.2-3.7 . i paddle a scratched up plastic elaho. empty i can top out at 7mph,loaded around 6. with a small euro blade paddle.
Not Many Lakes In My Area
It is rare to go out for a paddle and not have a major factor of wind and current so averages become difficult.
Wrightsville Beach has two races each year. A Spring offshore race and a Fall inshore race. Each course is six miles and has stayed the same for the past several years. The Fall race seems to have 50-70 boats and the Spring race 20-30 boats each year. Middle of the pack on the inshore race is about 5mph. The faster kayaks average 6 and sometimes a bit better. The skis a little faster yet. A P.Net paddler from NC and past National Champion came in first last year paddling a kayak even besting a couple of skis, I believe he was in the high 7’s. JackL always finishes at or near the front of the pack and turns in times near 6mph+/-. So, averaging in the mid 5’s seems fast enough to me, even if you were huffing and puffing.
Happy Paddling,
Mark
always felt the OI was a slow boat
just teasing—relax Impex fans, just digging at BrazilBrazil
Those speeds are crazy fast
My favorite boat only wants to go 4 mph and if I really push it will go almost five and leave a big wake.
I’ve never done better than 3 mph all day long, many days I’ve gone 8 hours and only made 10 miles.
5 mph is 40 miles in an eight hour day, I bet there are only a couple of people on the planet that really go that fast, and I’d like to see them paddle!
In Wrightsville Beach there are a couple of fellas on surf skis that will blow right by most folks like they are standing still. I love to see fast paddlers!
Out-and-back MPH and distances…
on slow-flowing, flat rivers, all from my kayaking log, and measured with a GPS. My Garmin GPS III stops logging if I stop for more than several seconds. And I’m sure I’m older (63) than average in this group?
Date Miles MPH
8/11 9.36 4.3
8/3 10.3 4.7
7/29 10.5 4.6
7/22 10.2 4.7
7/21 8.51 4.9
BTW, all done in a plastic Tempest 165.
That is not me I am talking about.
It is Greg, Greg, Greg!
They usualy have to leave the lights on for me when I race!
Cheers,
JackL
Canunut is national champion again
this year.
I just got a e-mail on it yesterday.
Cheers,
JackL
Kayak speed
I’d say you are at that practical limit for a quick sea kayak and non wing paddle. Going to a faster boat like an Epic Endurance/18x or CD Stratus would get you probably 5-6%, and a wing at least another 5%. Getting a rudder will pick speed up because one is not doing corrective strokes. A rudder might use 2-5% of your paddling energy, but that is more than made up on putting all your effort into forward propulsion.
Measuring distances over water courses is problematic, and a GPS with good maps is best. Also, a course should be an out and back type path, so that current and such is averaged out.
Water depth, water temp (yes, water temp), and other pretty obvious factors all interact with the boat and make for faster or slower conditions. I like to keep a good log of course, conditions, and other data. Collecting this over time gives good insights into what works for and against you in terms of speed.
Hope this helps.
Greg
sound rowers results
The results from the various Sound Rowers (Seattle) kayak races are a very good source for kayak speed data, for many different kinds of boats, in many different conditions. If you look at the “lake” races, those are generally the least affected by wind and currents. They break them down by classes and have the data for several years. There are MPH calculators available online that will allow you to easily take the time and distance numbers and convert them to speed.
My most recent timed piece where I was pushing reasonably hard was on Devil’s Track Lake, MN, no current, no wind, flat conditions, deep lake- 10.0 statute miles in 1:24 (6.7-6.8 mph) using a Mako 6 surfski and an Epic mid wing.
I’m considered a decent ski paddler, nowhere near the elite level, but always in the top 3 or 4 in regional races. So, if your numbers in a less performance oriented boat are pretty close, you are either 1) a damn good paddler, or 2) perhaps miscalculating the times, distances, or current.
Andrew
yes!
That was exactly my point. some of these numbers seemed pretty far fetched to me. I am 52, have been paddling for a couple of years and have reasonably fast boats such as the Outer island or the Night Heron and now my sof. Nowhere near a surfski with a wing paddle for capability.
what i am doing now is trying to build up my endurance and doing very hard short bursts of speed in between normal/fast paddles. I figure in about 6 months I may be able to claim better consistent times.
Also learning (not easy) to let the core muscles do most of the work.
I am using a gp with a 3.5 inch blade.
Paul
Speed is redudant for me
It’s always an interesting topic but, for paddlers like me, it’s a bit like talking about tortises and hares. With the evolution of racing kayak design, the discussion is really about the physical power, stamina and skill of the paddler. Lacking the aforementioned requisites, I found myself out of palce in even a QCC 700 and totally mismatched with an Epic V-10 [though the latter was pure fun to paddle, even for a tortise]
The Caribou suits me very well. A 15 foot boat in a 17 3/4 foot hull, she is not fast but moves along easily, hour after hour, at a respectable 4 plus MPH. And if conditions deteriorate, the Bou will slog home quite comfortably in just about any gnarly stuff I’ve yet to experience. She’s also very pretty and that counts for something, too. John
3.5 to 4.1
For easy all day paddling in my Cayuga 146 I find I am going about 3.2 to 3.7. This pace is what I would do if I were just out paddling, not trying to set records. Just stroking along. A pleasure paddle I would call it. I am 53, 210 lbs, workout in the gym regularly. I paddle 1 to 3 days a week. Sadly, I have no remarkable family genetics. I am probably in better shape than most couch potatos but certainly not the marathon or picture muscles type. I have 10 years paddling experience in various craft. Never raced and won’t.
If I concentrate a little on form and use some effort so that I might raise a slight sweat in about 20 minutes, I go about 3.8 to 4.1. All speeds measured on the GPS on calm lakes and no wind. I doubt I could maintain that pace for more than about 2 hours. Probably one hour is more like it.
I use a Manta Ray Touring carbon paddle from AquaBound. So, I am catching a good chunk of water.
To go beyond 4.1 in that craft really kicks up a bow splash and at about 5 you can here the slosh at the stern as the wake builds up. I could probably maintain 5 for about 20 minutes and then I would rest for at lest 5 minutes. Fastest peak speed I ever recorded in that boat so far was 6.3mph. (on the flat) That was with concentrated effort for probably a half mile. And then get the oxygen tanks please.
Carolina 14.5 Speed
Considering there is a 7.2mi race coming up that I’m thinking about entering in, I decided to do my own “time trials” today. The course is the Red Lake River in MN… relatively slow current with plenty of bends. Boat was a Carolina 14.5 w/o rudder.
Leg 1 (strong tailwind, against weak current)
3.6mi- 43 min - 5mph
Leg 2 (strong headwind, with current)
3.6mi - 49min - 4.4mph
Total Time: 92min - Avg mph - 4.7mph
This was at my “I’m in a race” speed mode, although I didn’t sprint that often. With the Carolina 14.5 there is defintely a threshold where you put in way more work for a bit more speed. The bow loves to gurgle, so I can’t foresee trying to race at much stronger pace than what I did. That said…
I’m 5’11 and ~230lb. I think I’m in decent shape considering my BMI is considered obese. I’m defintely overweight, but I have no problem doing physical activities. It’s possible that lighter weight individuals could get the boat to go significantly faster than I can.
spare the petroleum-based vitamins
get your micro-nutrients from natural sources (kale, wakame, dulse, etc.) instead, and paddle up to 8 knots per hour!
I hate to be picky but…
8 knots per hour is the same as 8 nautical miles per hour per hour which is actually a very slow value of acceleration, not speed. It technically means that if you start from a standstill, that you’ll be up to a speed of 8 knots after one hour, 16 knots after two hours, etc.
As I said, I hate to be picky…
eat kale
and you’ll be up to 16 knots per hour in just two hours!
You heard it from harvey first
Just wait for this weekend BrazilBrasil
When you hear that banjo music Saturday you will be pushing 7+ for as long as necessary. :-0 LOL I have no idea how fast I avg. Whatever Tripp is paddling when he paddles his Q usually. Haven’t paddled with him since he finished the hunter. Maybe we will push a little Saturday messing around and see. I hear you can really move. I usually stay near sandyacker as I know where my fine dining is located and make sure nothing goes wrong with him. See you Friday.
Seatec