@E.T. said:
Is is normal for the new Tsunamis to have rough bottom? The rest of the boat is smooth, but the bottom and lower edges (most parts that are underwater) are rough like sandpaper? I would think this would slow me down? My older tsunami 125 is not like this.
I think it would depend on what grade of sandpaper it feels like. We used to sand the gloss off the hulls of racing catamarans with 400 (vs. wax) I’m not sure at slower speeds it would help that much but would make the kayak easier to handle out of the water and every little flaw or scratch wouldn’t show up in the store.
@Sparky961 said:
This all may be true, but I’d put money on it being primarily to reduce the cost of the mold. It’s much less expensive to produce and maintain rough surfaces than glossy smooth. Hand this factoid to the marketing people and watch them spin…
“It’s a feature, not a bug”.
Interesting. After reading the other replies, it does sound like this rough finish is mostly marketing BS. While the roughness may not be helping, hopefully it isn’t hurting me, either. I wonder if it would be worthwhile to try to smooth it out with a buffer or something, or just leave it be?
My buddy has a 17’ Tempest, and I asked him about it the other day. His entire boat is smooth. It’s also fast as hell, but I think that’s mostly due to him…dude is a beast.
My buddy has a 17’ Tempest, and I asked him about it the other day. His entire boat is smooth. It’s also fast as hell, but I think that’s mostly due to him…dude is a beast.
@grayhawk said:
I would leave it alone.
Sanding PE it might very well make it much worse
Agreed. You’re going to end up with a very fuzzy mess. Anyone should consult a physics? major if they want to know which is better in terms of hydrodynamics. But really, for a 14’ plastic boat, this is the least of the problems.
@E.T. said:
My buddy has a 17’ Tempest, and I asked him about it the other day. His entire boat is smooth. It’s also fast as hell, but I think that’s mostly due to him…dude is a beast.
You aren’t comparing the same fruit. 17’ vs. 14’, the longer boat will win when it comes to flat out speed in most plausible situations. But also as you suggest, the paddler can have a huge effect on this. I frequently paddle with a person with less height and muscle mass. I often take my 14.5’ boat instead of my 18’ (17’ waterline) sea kayak to purposely give myself a handicap. If I take the long boat I can barely paddle without leaving the other person behind. But with the short boat I feel like I’ve worked a little and can still chat with the other person who isn’t that far away.
If you want a Ferrari, get a Ferrari. Don’t think that putting slicks, a spoiler, and a noisy muffler on your Dodge Neon is going to make it go any quicker.
Note: I’m not picking on the Neon, nor am I saying the comparison between boats and cars is accurate. It’s merely the first car that popped into my head that too many people have spent way too much time and money trying to improve. I also know just about nothing about Ferraris.
The Tsunami is also a higher volume boat than the Tempest, in addition to the Tempest being longer. Higher volume and deck height will likely slow it down.
Water line length will determine potential top speed.
Wetted surface area will determine efficiency…
The narrower it is the less wetted surface area it will have and be easier to paddle to it’s top speed.
Agreed, with one caveat: wetted surface area determines the amount of frictional resistance on the hull. It may be convenient to describe a hull with low frictional resistance as efficient, although efficiency is a measure of power expenditure required relative to useful power produced. I’m not sure the term lends itself to paddle propulsion, since the power expended by a person is notoriously difficult to measure, and the useful power produced is hard to define.
Thanks, all. I guess I will just leave well enough alone. The boat seems to perform fine. I was coming from a Tsunami 125, so this 140 is a bit of improvement. I’m not usually in a huge hurry, anyway. If I’m paddling at a decent clip, I’m usually a little over 4 mph (at least according to my phone app). Today, I actually hit nearly 9 mph top speed, but that was with a good tailwind and I was riding on top of a few, good 3-4 ft waves. Fun stuff =)