Boundary Waters Quetico Forum :: Gear Forum :: Canoe Speed
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ripple |
Maximum Speed of a Single-Hull Displacement Boat Hull Speed = 1.34 x the square root of the LWL LWL: length of the hull at the waterline. Please note: this is the theoretical maximum speed of a displacement monohull and does not take into account the following criteria: 1. Hull Design - each hull's contours will effect the laminar flow, that is how smoothly and effortlessly the water flows over it. Every design has a certain co-efficient of drag, and depending on the hull, more or less inherent and induced drag. 2. Displacement - just like with a car, the lighter you make a boat, the faster you can make it go. 3. Sail Area/Displacement Ratio - this is a bit like the power/weight ratio in a car. Since the sails are pushing the boat through the water, the heavier the boat, the larger the sails will have to be in order to take maximum advantage of the hull speed formula. If two vessels have the same hull design and the same sail area, the one with the lower displacement will be the faster vessel. 4. Type of Keel - there are two main types of keels, full and fin. Full means that the keel runs the length of the underside of the hull and fin is just what it sounds like - a fin placed roughly amidships. Depending on the weight and shape of the keel the boat will move faster or slower. If you want to know the hull speed of a particular make and model of boat, see if you can find a polar diagram. Polar diagrams, or plots show the speed of the hull at various points of sail and with various wind velocities. |
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yellowcanoe |
I can't get above 6. That theoretical hull speed has to be driven by horsepower. And I simply do not have the horsepower. For smaller people longer skinnier boats have too much skin friction to deal with and they are better off with shorter boats with less skin. A good touring boat ought to come in between 6-8.5. for L/W ratio. The Pack is short stubby and good for dabbling in remote ponds but will never be able to be driven to a good speed unless you are Hercules. Then you resort to your ability to run faster on portages! |
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SourisMan |
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yellowcanoe |
RapidFire clocked at 7.9 mph by a racer. It is a 15 foot boat. Theoretical hull speed is 5.2 knots or 5.8 mph. RapidFire is a solo boat. |
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dmr |
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Moonman |
Moonman. |
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analyzer |
It's about 2 1/4 miles from Am Pt, to the start of 1st bay, give or take. So fully loaded, without the head wind, we're probably in that 2.25-2.5 mph range. However, one trip, with my brother and his 10 or 11 yr old son, Sag was blowing really hard out of the NW. We shouldn't have tried it, but decided to buck the wind anyway. Tyler is 4 years younger than my son, so they really struggled. It took us almost 3 hours just to get to first bay. With that monster wind, we must have been under 1 mph. I know that's hard to believe, but we considered going to shore, and walking our canoes down the shoreline. We were barely moving. When the wind took us close enough to shore to gage our speed, we were laughing at how we didn't seem to be moving at all. It wasn't really a laughing matter as the sky was low, it was raining, and threatening to pour, and facing 3 ft rollers, we had to dig our paddles in with all of our strength just to keep moving. We had to take a 15 minutes break when we finally got behind spam Island. Since that trip, I've encountered similar circumstances twice, and both times we said "nuts", and didn't bother trying it. It's just not worth it. We're base campers, so we spend the rest of the trip with little gear in the canoe, and are always a bit amazed at how easy she paddles that first time out UN-loaded. When we're loaded up good, the kevlar guys just fly past us. They have to be going at least 1-2 mph faster than us. I'm going to have to put the GPS on the wish list. It would really come in handy for the bdub, fishing, and hunting. Especially if I ever hunt the North Woods where a person could get seriously lost. I think the mph info is helpful, especially to those that are trying to figure out how much water they can cover each day in some sort of loop. Thanks. |
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thebotanyguy |
quote timatkn: "For instance what is the fastest speed a canoe can travel?" If you are looking for an upper limit to shoot for, consider the gold medal performance in mens C-2 canoe racing during the 2008 Beijing Olympics. The winning time over 500 meters was 1:41.025. I calculate that to be 4.95 m/sec or 11.07 mph. |
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timatkn |
Here are our speeds. I suspect we are on the slower end as I like to troll a lure while we paddle and I only canoe about 8-10 days per year. Also whenever we are on a lake with a lot of canoes we get passed a lot :) Maybe they are racing us :) and we don't know, but liek I said I don't consider us fast by any means--nor do we typically try to be fast. Just a lesuirely paddle trolling with a mild head wind fully loaded canoe: 2.25-2.5 mph. this is probably our most common speed. Strong head winds working harder: 2-2.25 mph Travel with no wind fully loaded canoe trolling lesurely pace 3.5-3.75 mph. Not trolling workign a little harder to get moving but not racing either, fully loaded canoe no wind or slight tail wind: 4-4.5 mph Then we tried seeign how fast we could go for 5 minutes in a fully loaded cane in Inlet bay basically no wind: 6 mph was the fastest we could get it. What suprised me was with a slight tailwind we were not paddling hard and felt like we were not moving at all yet our speed was actually pretty good in my opinion. I mean I know the wind makes a big difference but it changes your preception on how fast you are moving as well. Anyway--most of the time I just paddle and have no idea what my speed is--I assume most are liek that as well but since I paid attention one day makes me curious and others have had to have checked as well. T |
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Moonman |
Hope this helps. Moonman. |
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snakecharmer |
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timatkn |
quote Moonman: "I did check my speed on my gps years ago and remember cruising at 6-7mph while not paddling hard at all. I did have my regular spring tripping partner in the bow at the time though and he's a pretty strong paddler. Nice average speed. We were paddling as hard as we could to get to 6 mph and maybe could sustain that for 5 minutes tops--then with a long rest afterwards :) My canoe is not built for speed---it is a big tub but it works for my needs---It is like the titanic unsinkable :) :) T |
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WhiteWolf |
quote thebotanyguy: "quote timatkn: "For instance what is the fastest speed a canoe can travel?" And the remember that 11mph is an avg over 500 meters-- starting dead in the water. Just about certain they hit 13mph maybe 14mph at sometime during 500 meters. That's rippin!! |
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PJ |
I've had my Wenonah Voyager (solo boat, empty) over 7 mph on calm day. |
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Moonman |
Moonman. |
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WhiteWolf |
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yellowcanoe |
quote Moonman: "Another factor in speed is hull stiffness. Stiffer hulls of the same design will be faster. Strippers are the stiffest hulls out there. Exactly how much more speed you can get due to a stiffer hull I'm not sure but it is often mentioned as a factor. No, wood hulls are not the stiffest. Carbon Fiber is..You do not see racing canoes made of wood. You do see them made of carbon fiber. Sure stiffness is mentioned in racing circles as a factor. Some strippers flex quite a bit..Depends on the thickness of the strips. That is actually a good thing. Drop a carbon fiber boat on a rock and it probably will get a ding. Drop a wood boat off your car at speed and it bounces and springs, and the damage is much less than what you are dreading. I did that. I would surmise that speed on the water is not important overall to the length of the day as much as efficiency on portages. |
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Savage Voyageur |
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boonie |
quote WhiteWolf: "quote thebotanyguy: "quote timatkn: "For instance what is the fastest speed a canoe can travel?" Yeah, and probably not sustained to 501 meters :). |
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timatkn |
quote thebotanyguy: "quote timatkn: "For instance what is the fastest speed a canoe can travel?" Cool info. BTW I am not shooting for any speed. We are what we are at this point :) It just got me to thinking..... T |
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maxxbhp |
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oldgentleman |
My son and I can really fly. Our friend Brad and I can exceed the 'no wake rule' on area channels ;). Most of the people I end up paddling with are just barely competent. |
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BWPaddler |
Essentially soloing a nice short wide tub of a loaded canoe, I went 3.5 miles in about 2 hours last Sunday with a mild headwind and occasional breaks for motorboats to pass safely. 1.75 mph average was pretty pitiful, and yet the sun was out, the water was blue, the loons were calling, and I was NOT inside! |
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yellowcanoe |
Speed is a function of technique too.. The bow person is in charge of setting cadence and applying the engine power. The stern keeps up with the bow cadence( usually has to get the bow to slow down)and steers. Most long distance teams have the woman in back and the big guy forward using their pack distribution to still keep the boat trim. That is the biggest challenge |
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Jeriatric |
My Whitewater X is at the faster end of tripping canoe designs. |