Still NevaFull
The race course, plenty of opportunity to get water in the boat, photo by SanneI have been bragging about this great idea with these holes for a few months, some people think I am crazy, some think I am dumb and some just aren't sure. A lot of people have worried about water coming in and not out and questioned whether it really works at all. So here goes with a bit of SWOT analysis of NevaFull. I also have a plan to make a short film of NevaFull in action so stay tuned.
Look how high the boat is in the water, nearly all the water has drained out, photo by SanneThe water that splashes into my canoe drains out really quickly, my canoe is never full and I never have to land to dump water.
Weaknesses
If your air bag fails, one end of your boat sinks, so carry a spare.
Opportunities
I can now paddle long and technical rapids without having to worry that I can't make the last tricky move because my boat is full of water and heavy.
Threats
My friends tease me for having an Emmental cheese canoe!
The water splashes into the boat..., photo by Sabine
...and look, no water in the cockpit and water draining out of the holes, photo by SanneThe proof of the pudding is in the testing as they say. 2weeks ago I raced in the Straight Down Striit boater cross, it is a kayak race and I was the only canoeist there so I raced against kayakers. The fastest time down the course, 59.6secs, was posted by New Zealands Johann Roozenburg, he is world class slalom kayaker and bloody quick. My fastest time was 78sec, that would be impossible in a canoe full of water, if I can race a bath tub down class5 whiter water only 18seconds slower than New Zealands best slalom kayaker then to my mind NevaFull rocks, I was also not the slowest down the course, some kayakers couldn't keep up with me!
The holes mean whatever I am doing the boat is draining, it is NevaFull!So off to the river for me, stay safe,
James
James
posted by james weir at 8:58 PM
4 Comments:
I'm wondering about secondary stability issues. My prelude easily goes down to the gunnel with no water in...Will it not fill-up if there are holes in the side.
I don't dismiss the concept, I just wonder if it is not targeting boats that are smaller taureau, cu fly...
I have very little canoe knowledge and understanding of canoe lore. My prelude, I have no intention to ever sell and if it will work I'm willing to drill holes into it =)
Do you think it would be suitable for a boat like the prelude? Is it not a concept targetting the smaller boats (teaureau, cu fly, spanish fly...)?
My prelude will be mine forever as I have no intention to ever sell it so I could consider it.
My question is regarding the impact of holes on the secondary stability with holes letting water in while leaning to the gunnel.
What's your thought?
How about a flap valve on the outside?
Say you glued a flap hanging down with gravity... maybe glued down the ends to make it a bit tight and stop it catching in the water, make it quite a bit lower than the holes maybe... Water pressure should close it and prevent ingress, and it would be loose all along the bottom edge so water would still egress from the full boat... it would have to be material that doesn't float
or maybe a foam flap, glued under the hole, 'upside down' and the foam's bouyancy would ensure it always closed before the wather pressure took over and closed it
but maybe it just works perfect as is
Hey sorry it took so long to post reply but I only just checked back in here. I dunno if it will work in a Prelude, if you have a lot of foam in the boat then sure and you might need more than 3 holes, I recently upgraded my SpanishFly to 5hole system.
No drama with stability I don't think the Prelude is a fairly agile boat anyway so I can't see the NevaFull holes making much of a difference
Paddle safe
James
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