They Were In A Race!
And the shortest distance between two points is a straight line. So you go straight. But if you mean the canoes? Of course they turn, for they were designed to be paddled without a rudder and with a single bladed canoe paddle.
Clyde - rudderless outriggers
Are they generally thought to be “Tahitian” outriggers, more suited for protected water than ruddered “Hawaiian” open ocean boats?
I can easily see a 21’-22’ hull being paddled rudderless if it doesn’t have much rocker and/or has a sort of molded in stern skeg. My highly rockered Huki works in quiet water without a rudder, but the ruddered me would demolish the rudderless me in a race.
Do rudderless va’as race against ruddered ones?
Perhaps 20 Years Ago
The modern sit inside Tahitian V-1 or Vaa is designed to track straight ahead with a long chine that runs from the back of the cockpit to the tail. I’m quite impressed with the way these craft can handle the rebounding (clapotis) waves along the sea clifts, and are almost as fast as the ruddered OC-1 (depending on who’s paddling). Also, unlike the old “lagoon” canoes, that you were probably thinking of, are designed to be surfed like your OC-1 in open ocean conditions. I don’t own any yet, but when I paddle them, I only paddle on one side.
ps: I belive there’s one for sale now in Florida that’s hardly been used?
you feel the water’s density, to any
– Last Updated: Jul-25-12 11:11 PM EST –
extent..sideways...you're creating a little bit of drag, but so does a rudder create drag. It all depends on the size/density of the hull vs the rudder's. A rudder and the two-bladed-thing = let's just say it's for some people. Just my $.1..but a concave blade buys you nothing. Probably buys a beginner something because their catch is so horrible = they're simply pull THE BLADE through the water without any respect to the hull. The Wing is rather old-physics in comparison to a flat but bent(forward) blade..and its shape is beavertail...imho. Just my crazy $.01 but when the $$$ gets out of the way you'll see more ottertail-forward-bend.
Boats and paddles evolving
Finally watched all the videos.
Those V-1s have less rocker and a long low profile tail. Must be fast in calm water. Looks like they might even be fish form waterlines, with the paddler in front of center, which would aid directional stability. No rudders, so I did see a couple of paddlers actually using stern rudder with the paddle and even one guy trying a bow draw.
Don’t understand the purpose of the cockpit. It must fill up when when you go huli, and then you’re sunk. I saw one guy bailing. A strong reason I went to the SOT OC1 was to stop worrying about taking on water after huli. Just hop back on and let it drain out the footwells. No 35 different rolls mumbo jumbo.
When I bought my Huki in California in 2004, I don’t think I saw anyone using a double bend paddle or a curved or lipped blade in a race. All I saw were single bend wood paddles with flat faces and T-grips. I had the impression that the outrigger paddlers were behind the marathon canoe racers in paddle sophistication. Now, in those videos, I saw a lot of carbon, double bends and curved power faces.
Lots of doubts, but I’d like to see …
… someone make a single wing.
Maybe I can just borrow a double wing for a while from a kayaker next time I see one. Once I figure out how to use a double wing, I don’t think it would take me long messing with the blade on one side to see if it would work.