My 2 cents
I didn’t notice this thread sooner so I hope it’s not to late to add an opinion.



I have had a Necky Manitou (12’7") now for over three years. I have no problem paddling this yak straight as an arrow from point to point. No zig. No zag. Even in windy conditions. Before I purchased my Manitou, I demoed quite a few “short” boats and it was readily apparent to met that you could keep some boats on course much easier than others. While I do not disagree with the general statement that longer boats are easier to paddle in a straight line than shorter boats, overall boat design can have almost as much impact as length. And, of course, there’s the experience level of the individual paddler to consider.

yep
Pungos and Tsunamis (all lengths) track way better than Tempests, and ‘most’ other popular sea boats.



Take 5 strokes, finish with a sweep and record the ‘turn’ that the boat accomplishes. Tempest always wins. Waaaay looser. length don’t really matter.



Even jackls famous Sea Lion/ Eclipse isn’t as good of a tracker as a Pungo…go figure. rudder not deployed.



fact of life. shorter boats ‘many times’ track better than long boats.



weird, eh?





steve

yep
my point exactly.



steve

I know a couple of Ying-Yangs. Does…
…that count? (Not to be confused with Riff-Raff).

Not in my book
Paddle on the left and the boat goes right. Paddle on the right and the boat goes left. That’s “zig-zagging”.

Paddle straight and let the boat coast. -Wind or current blows or pushes it one way or the other. -that’s “tracking”.



I realize you are the expert, so you must be right, but I’ll stick with my definations and paddle merrily on.



Cheers,

jackL

oops
I guess I have betrayed the fact that my facade of couture (two french words in the same sentence there, you’ll note) sometimes comes to me filtered through hip-hop - it’s the Ying-Yang Twins in hip-hop, although the chinese concept is indeed yin and yang, as you point out.

question
how do you paddle the boat ‘straight’?



every boat I ever paddle only goes straight by balancing out the L/R sequence and if I stop paddling my boat always turns away from that last stroke. NO wind, NO current.



boats are alway turning. Going from A to B in a yak we can only reach point “B” by balance. Balance in the YAW plane.



rudders and retractable skegs NOT deployed.



steve

So now we are adding “turning”

to the mix of "zig-zag" and "tracking"?

I just turn my motor the way I want the boat to go! -good enough?

You won't get a argument from me. Your the expert here

cheers,
JackL

yo flatpic
Isnt Tracking also based on relative FOWARD velocity. I mean i can float down river all day in a Pungo and think gee this is one swell tracking boat!! however point the nose UPSTREAM apply some thrust, and then tell me a Pungo tracks good? don’t get me wrong its a decent boat that doesn’t really do anything all that bad. I can and have pointed a Tempist up river and have no problems just sitting in the current, the Pungo OTOH wants to slide off to one side or the other.

that’s cuz
it tracks well (Pungo)



a good tracking boat has little ‘freedom to yaw’ and will go where it’s pointed in flatwater or in the case of current, where the current pushes it.



steve

could
lack of turning be called ‘good tracking’?



wow this boat turns EZ! poor tracking?

wow this boat is hard to turn! good tracking?

wow this boat is EZ to make go straight! good tracking?

wow this boat is hard to make go straight! poor tracking?



a nauseated steve

Check your hands!
I don’t think you’ve got them centered on the paddle



";.)

more confusion?
I’ll add my take on this just to confuse the OP a bit more. Naval Architects, including paddle hull designers often interchange the term “tracking” and “course keeping”. When designing hulls this term refers to the tendency to keep a straight line. In terms of a paddled displacement hull, in terms of physics, none go perfectly straight, so all are going to define a zig zag trail, but in some cases not visible to the human eye. In a paddled hull, a force applied away from the centerline will always result in some yaw, the only question is how much. We do everything possible to minimize yaw, unless turning is the goal. The main factors in determining yaw during forward travel is technique, hull design, and external conditions such as wind and current. Given that, if proportionately the same design, a longer hull will not necessarily track better than a shorter hull. The main tracking problem I observe is with technique. Paddlers in kayaks tend to do more sweeps than vertical forward strokes and end up traveling in a series of left then right tangents. Find a really good instructor and tell them your need. You’d be surprised how quickly you can improve your forward and fun at the same time.



Remember, any stroke taken in a displacement hull will result in some yaw, but that can be greatly mitigated by better technique and in general a fairer hull will track better ( but not always). That is “fairer” not necessarily just “longer”. CEW would refer you to the block coefficient comparison. If that is more than you want to learn, just know that it generally means a smaller waterline width to length ratio.

what
does Charlie KNOW???



=:-0)



thanks for the technical answer!



steve

actually
about now they’re covered in puke.



I’m going paddlin’ now and test these theories.



steve

weirdest thing happened
on the way to go paddlin today.



Me an’ Cindy headed on down to Cape D for a little rock garden and surf play and to check out how much our boats zigged and zagged.



I loaded up gear at home and have about 15 half AT paddles in all kinds of shapes/ lengths in a big bag to choose from. I grabbed my 215 solid shaft and 2 halfs for Cindy. Got to the put in and found out I had grabbed a 215 Oversized and a 220 regular sized blade…d’oh.



I let Cindy have nmy 215 and I paddled all day with a waaayyyy outta balance paddle. short/fat on one side and long/skinny on the other.



and guess what???



NO ZIG/ZAG… I still maintained a straight track if I wanted to. cool, eh?







btw- the surf was winky, the rocks were hard and the sky was blue. all in all a GEAT day to be on the salty water!



steve

Is that “yaw” or “yawn?”

The OP is starting out in an Airhead TK
inflatable, ferchisakes. I don't think
he has to hire or take lessons from anybody
in working at getting it to go fairly straight
sooner or later.

"block coefficient comparison???"

The hell you wanna do, drive the
poor guy off the water completely?

It's enough to make anyone capsize
in a narcoleptic seizure.

Glad you didn’t get sea sick
and puke !



Cheers,

jackL

says
something about the paddler…must already be an out of balance individual



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tOxjhxSu1FQ



Best Wishes Steve

Roy

No zig zagging for me!

I have the Advanced Elements Advanced Frame and it's 10.5" long. It comes with a backbone that you insert in it and has a small built in skeg. It tracks perfectly straight..no zig zagging at all. Sounds like you have one of those subpar inflatables. ;)

The 13' Expedition is probably even better. If you invest in in one of these IFs you'll be happy, trust me. Just invest in the optional backbone.

Here is the Advanced Elements forum if you have any questions or concerns:

http://advancedelements.com/phpBB2/index.php?sid=9a61f30c80d9d2bc379f3f5d06f63b38