ummm…
Is it possible that your wife is a stronger paddler than you? It’s not really a big deal if she is. Of course it probably is easier for your wife to maintain that low cruising speed but your kayak probably can maintain higher crusing speeds easier. The Currituck is plenty fast for paddling 3-4 mph and I would suggest simply spending time working on your technique rather than buying a different kayak. Of course if you were racing and were looking to cruse at 6-8 mph, that would be a different story.
As for the Tempest D3 outfitting, it is mighty nice.
most likely
– Last Updated: Sep-19-05 8:21 AM EST –
her technique is better, you'll always be slower than somebody,,or faster, it shouldn't be a race if you're paddling together. Have you taken a stroke clinic or rented one of the stroke videos?
One of the paradoxes in paddling is that having free torso/hip movement is a learned body movement that goes against ones natural reflexes sitting in a wobbly little boat. Most folks who first get in a kayak will want to keep their eyes,head and shoulders oriented straight ahead with the stroke defined by arm strength. When the average person is given a pole that they have to express effort through it'll be some kind of even weighting with a rigid torso hips lined up. Weight lifting, shoveling, etc. I've seen people who are fairly strong and paddle reasonably fast relying on slight torso movement and lots of arm movement with the blade close to their hips through the stroke.
What length of paddle are you using?
Going back to your comment that you have to increase your cadence to keep up with her,,when I took a stroke clinic the instructor said that's what most people do to go faster,,the same poor technique at a higher rate so you can tire out more quickly. Focus more on making ONE stroke perfect instead of lining up multiple marginal strokes.
what I said…
two boats ‘exactly the same’ except lets just remove a little bow forefoot or ‘chin’ and a little stern ‘skeg’ and it will go faster. the wl will stay the same there will just be less drag. it also will not track as good.
Tempest proto-type hull # 2 has 3/4" removed bow and stern.(read- more rocker) It’s faster, glides better and doesn’t track very well.
steve
actually…
take a GPS AND heart monitor. you need the HM to really calibrate the energy used to travel at speed.
we have done a buttload of boats here for Confluence R&D. amazing what some folks call fast boats and what some call slugs. strap on a timex body link and REALLY find out what speed/ effeciency is.
steve
fast boats
Steve:
With all due respect to your experience, it doesn’t really seem to bear out that boats with lots of rocker are fast. Narrow boats with lots of waterline and minimal rocker are fast, in most people’s experience. If you look at pretty much any race in the US, the winning sea kayaks are almost always EFT’s, Epic 18’s, Q700’s, and Seda Gliders, all boats with long waterlines and relatively minimal rocker. Similarly, in surfski races, boats like the Mako, the S1X and the V10 dominate over boats with more rocker, like spec skis or the Mark 1 (which I have). In unlimited class kayak, the Tbolt seems without peer at the moment.
So, can you explain a bit more about how additional rocker makes a boat faster, in your opinion?
Andrew
Aren’t you just…
… removing “deadwood” then? Not quite the same as “rocker”. They could overlap.
Displacement difference too?
Maybe you’re simply pushing more water than she is?
arguablly the same
rocker and removing deadwood can seriously overlap in explanation but end result IMO is a boat with less deadwood will indeed have more rocker. more rocker = ez to turn and less ws = theroretically faster.
steve
didn’t say that!
boats with alot of rocker are faster.
see above with ‘exactly the same except’ being the focus.
steve
ok
thanks
af
definition of rocker
sounds like a generalized defintion that describes rocker as the curve in a two dimensional structure loses some accuracy when what’s being removed is non-bouyant surface area of a three dimensional shape with an overal reduction in drag.
And you’ll be publishing these
numbers…when? 
This topic needs some new blood.
Mike
I’ve assumed
block coefficient and prismatic coefficient are the means to quantify rocker more rigorously. But probably they don’t completely cover it either.
Mike
paddle stroke technique
thanks again for your reply,I will work on
my paddle stroke technique and let you know later
if I can keep up with my wife!
Dan
Relatively speaking
not as much rocker as a touring kayak. These boats are designed for straight ahead speed with max waterline, and round cross sections. My guess is that people are defining things a bit differently here. BTW, a Tempest 170 has less rocker than several of it’s competitors.
husband/wife
Dan, I had a couple in a class where the 6’4" husband was looking for a faster kayak, faster paddle, etc. because HIS wife was faster. Basically all he knew was that the blade would go on either side of the kayak,and he’d been paddling for a year. Changing his stroke would be like rubbing head/patting belly. It’s possible but it takes actual effort,not sweat and calories but turning off muscles that are fighting the right muscles so the blade can work in the right place with the right posture.
Make ONE stroke the best one,just one. Then make another one,just one. repeat…with only ONE stroke on either side moving the kayak, not a whole bunch of strokes whacking away.
In that stroke clinic the instructor paddled used a SLOW cadence and a thrashing cadence on purpose to show that a SLOW stroke with proper technique can be faster than a fast stroke with bad technique. That your blade could be immersed doesn’t necessarily mean it’s being applied efficiently.
Imagine an engine with the valve timing out of whack trying to go at 3,000rpm and everything just right going at 2,500 rpm. The same engine will have more usable power when everythings running right. An engine with poor tuning will stumble when a load is applied.
Yeah
I injured my rotator cuff last year. I told my orthopedic surgeon that the injury helped me put more torso in my paddle stroke. He said sometimes women are better paddlers because they don’t focus on arm/shoulder strength like a man does.
Let’s answer his question, campers…
He wants to know if the T-170 glass is ALMOST the fastest 17-footer. I would submit that of functional kayaks that you can actually take on an expedition (none of the girly-man surf skis or racing boats), this boat is right up there. Yeah, it has some rocker that might slow you down on a calm surface. But in big water you want this boat in a big way, not to mention all of the crap you can put in the hatches.
So what you’re saying is…
“The Tempest is pretty fast for how fast it is.” Somehow that doesn’t seem all that useful. And some of the boat-to-boat comparisons you’re looking for have been made above.
BTW, some time when you’re bored, take your Tempest out and race a couple of competent surfski paddlers in any conditions you can paddle in. Then you can come back and tell us all about girly men.
If you want speed,
why limit yourself to 17 feet? Is this a garage or basement storage problem? To me, most 17 foot boats (Olympic boats being the exception, since the rules require them to be short), are simply not designed for speed. The Mariner Express, for example, paddles great at 4 and a bit knots, but won’t go much faster–but it has fantastic handling capabilities that make the loss of speed an acceptable compromise. The same could be said of most of the other boats mentioned here–they’re going to carry a week’s worth of gear, or handle well in a rock garden, or surf well–but not go fast straight.
The fastest 17-18 foot touring-style kayak I know of it the Nigel Foster Vyneck, which is not in production–no rocker, 20 inches wide–and faster than any other boat mentioned here. But with that boat you give up maneuverability and stability–it’s far less stable than the average sea kayak.
Sanjay