Canadian Open Canoes, Cedar and Canvas Canoes, Drontheims, Cedar Strip and Plywood Canoes, Lapstrake Canoes, , Canoe and Kayak coaching

About Canoe Design

It is possible to be confused by too much detailed technical information about canoes so the aim of this page is to provide some general information to help demystify canoe design.

General:

Essentially it is important to recognise that any canoe can be used for a range of different conditions and situations... it may simply require more effort or skill to get the boat to do as the paddler wants.  This means that we do not need a different canoe for every type of paddling we do, but we will benefit from developing our paddling skills and our understanding how our boat reacts to different conditions.

A Canadian or open canoe is a combination of a number of design factors that produce specific effects on the boats performance.  Generally speaking the longer the boat and the more pronounced its keel line the straighter the boat will run through the water.  On the other hand the shorter the boat and the rounder its hull the more manoeuvrable it will be. 

This means every boat is a compromise between the factors of hull cross section, keel line, rocker, stem profile plan view and stem profile. 

The following information should provide some useful points on choosing the boat that best suits your intended use.

 

Hull cross section:

Flat bottomed  or round bottomed

Hull shape has a great deal to do with the choice of stability and capacity against speed.  A flat bottomed boat will be more stable and have more storage room but will be slower through the water.  A boat with a very rounded hull will be much more 'tippy' but will be a faster boat.  Most people find a rounded hull uncomfortable to begin with but a little experience quickly accustoms them to the feel of the boats movement.

Keel:

A pronounced ridge along the very bottom line of the underneath of the hull running from bow to stern.

A keel on a canoe has the very powerful advantage of helping the boat to run straight through the water.  This is particularly helpful to novice canoeists trying to make the boat go in one direction with basic paddling skills, or to racers on a straight course.  It has the equal disadvantage of making the boat hard to manoeuvre and adds depth to the boat, both of which make the boat difficult to use on moving water and a major problem with handling in white water.

Rocker:

The boat profile from bow to stern.  The best way to think of rocker is to imagine going to one end of the canoe and pushing down.  A boat with pronounced rocker will rock, one without rocker will not move at all.

The degree of rocker in a canoe is in direct  relation to the boats ability to change direct and to spin on the water.  The greater the rocker the more the boat will respond to a paddlers efforts (or mistakes) to change direction.  Too much rocker turns the boat into a spinning top (useful in rapids where fast boat responsiveness is required) and too little turns the boat into a log.  A novice will loath a boat with too much rocker as they fight to go in a straight line, whilst an experienced paddler will lament paddling an unresponsive tub if they find themselves in a boat with no rocker.

Stem Profile:

The stems of the boat are the bow and stern sections.  When most people think of the classic native American Indian canoes they visualise boats with very high sweeping stems.

A pronounced stem profile can look lovely, but in the wind it can act like a sail, blowing the nose or tail of the boat off course.  Generally, the lower the profile the more comfortable the canoe is to paddle in most conditions.  A canoe with a high stem profile can not only be irritating to paddle in a cross wind, but can make it unmanageable.

Plan view:

This is the shape of the boat looking down on it from above.

A boat that is thin with minimal swell in its centre section will be a fast boat but will have no room for storing gear or carrying small companions.  A canoe with broad ends and a wide central section will be a slower boat but will carry all you need for an extended camping trip or additional passengers.

Structure

Buoyancy and floatation

Valkyrie Craft canoes are all built in a single layer with buoyancy chambers at the stern and bow.  This makes for a light weight boat that will remain buoyant even when filled with water.

Most commercially available canoes on the market are plastic sandwich construction.  This means that the boat is made in three layers.  An outer and inner skin of plastic with a layer of buoyant material between the two.  These boats are therefore integrally buoyant.  However, the system used to make them buoyant has the significant disadvantage of making them heavy... to paddle through the water, to carry from the car to the waters edge, and to lift onto the car or trailer.

 

Rigidity

Valkyrie Craft are built so that they maintain their shape on the water.  This means that the benefits of the chosen design are evident when they are paddled.

Many commercially available plastic construction boats have problems with maintaining their hull shape when on the water.  The flexibility of the materials used results in distortion of the hull, most notably in the centre section of the boat.  This results in reduced ability for the boat to flow though the water.

A boat with a more ridged structure will perform more consistently.

 

Materials

Timber

Valkyrie Craft are built predominantly in wood for three key reasons:

1. Durability.  Natural timbers will last a long time with reasonable levels of care and attention.  All materials deteriorate over time but wood can be maintained through the use of paints and varnishes to retain its durability.  Plastic will become more brittle over time and with exposure to the elements and eventually will be prone to cracking and splitting
2. Visual appeal.  Whether varnished, oiled or painted the visual appeal of wood is beyond debate.  Timber damaged and restored develops character and history.  Plastic scratched and gouged just looks worn.
3. Performance.  Once a paddler has moved beyond the beginner stage and has had the opportunity to try various boat types, shapes and constructions they begin to develop a feel for the various pro's and con's.  The feel of a well made timber boat moving through the water is beyond compare.

 

GRP / Fibreglass

GRP (General Reinforced Plastics) have the following characteristics:

1. Rigidity. GRP has the distinct advantage over commercially produced plastic boats in the rigidity of the plastic structure.  The fibreglass content coupled with the resins used make the boats more ridged than sandwich construction canoes, making them perform well on the water
2. Visually a GRP canoe has a finer finish than a standard plastic canoe.  The fibreglass finish has a high lustre that will remain as long as the boat is treated with due care and attention.
3. Performance.  The smooth finish of a GRP hull provides very low friction on the water surface and therefore, like varnished or painted timber, has excellent running characteristics making paddling these boats relatively effortless.