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August 04, 2007
CR100 Training - August 4, 2007
This morning, I tried adding some ballast to the Futura II to see if it would help me sustain a slightly higher cruising speed. I think it does. My goal was to average 5.0 mph for the full 4 miles back and forth between the bridge and the boat house, but I was only able to maintain that speed for the first 1.5 miles. Ugh. I started feeling nauseous, so I figured I probably shouldn't push any harder. By the end of my outing, my average was around 4.24 mph, which is better than the previous few times out with the 19-ft monster.
My impression so far is that the Futura II feels like it has more drag at my ideal cruising speeds (about 4-5 mph) than the Perception Shadow, which is significantly shorter. Not only is the Perception shorter bow-to-stern, I think it has an even shorter actual waterline length, as opposed to Futura II, which has very little bow- and stern-, out-of-water hangover. So the Futura's 19-ft waterline vs. the Shadow's 15-something-ft waterline -- that's a lot more wetted surface area to drag around. Maybe that's why I feel like I haven't been able to paddle 4 miles as quickly as I expected. I still think the Futura II would be capable of a faster top speed in a short (reallly short) race, but I guess my realistic cruising speed is too far below the Futura II's hull speed to justify dragging around that extra length of kayak for touring.
Hopefully when I go back to paddling the Perception Shadow, my 4-mile paddles won't be such a struggle. Futura II -- she might be hot, but she's too high-maintenance.
Posted by will at August 4, 2007 07:15 PM