Making the World's Fastest Kayak

bart_scriv writes "BusinessWeek looks at the world's fastest kayak, which floats over the water rather than nosing through waves like more typical boats. Named 'Little Wing' for the fore and aft wings that add stability, the kayak is the creation of Ted Warren. An MIT-educated engineer, Warren 'played around for three years with 3-D wire mesh designs on his PC, crunching the numbers for speed and stability, then started building actual models to test in the waters near his Massachusetts home.'"

Comments

Re:Not the fastest with me in it

[Upaut]

Thats funny, I'm 240 lb., and I never have any trouble when I kayak out to the sea for a week of random camping along the ocean (great way to drop some weight...). Kayaks themselves are VERY good at handling weight, and the rubber sphincter should be tight enough that water cannot get in.

I hope that these engineering features can be used to develop better salt-water kayaks as well, as it may make my trips a little faster, so I can get more of the East Coast in.

Overhyped article - a planing hull kayak

[truckaxle]

There are two types of hulls that you'll find in a boat (or kayak) - a planing hull and displacement hull. So this is a planing hull. The fact that it is designed by an MIT graduate using finite element analysis makes this news? And just what criteria are they using to make the claim that it is the "worlds fastest kayak"?