Canoe 'beam'?
- Thread starter Howie
- Start date
Measured properly, it is the maximum width, which in canoes is usually several inches below the rails.
Note that catalog specs are often inconsistent.
Note that catalog specs are often inconsistent.
alick burt
LOVES Wooden Canoes
That sounds right to me but on another tack.. what is the deal when it comes to canoe weights?Should they be measured without seats and thwarts or with them fitted? I always weigh everything when I make my wood strippers but the other day someone told me plastic canoes are weighed hull only!
Cheers Alick
Todd Bradshaw
Sailmaker
In situations like racing classes, the beam of open canoes is usually measured at the waterline (usually 3" or 4" up from the bottom). A tandem pro marathon canoe, for example, is sometimes called a 3-27 boat, as it's beam has to be a minimum of 27" at its 3" waterline. For most recreational tandem canoes it is probably more common to place their maximum beam at about the 4" waterline, and the official catalog beam would be whatever that maximum was. A 4" waterline beam of 32" or better is about where tandem stability starts. Narrower is possible, but with two people for recreational use, its stability is likely to be a bit twitchy.
Weights listed by every canoe company that I ever was a dealer for (Old Town, Lincoln, Sawyer, We-No-Nah, Wilderness Boats, Hyperform, Phoenix, Klepper Grumman, Beaver, etc) were the all-up weights with everything attached that was not intended to be removable - as it would be if you had to portage it. Just how close the actual boat weights were to the published catalog weights varied a little bit, but were usually pretty close. Weighing just the hull would be pretty pointless and I have never heard of anyone doing it, unless maybe they had various levels of trim-out that you could choose from and add to arrive at the actual weight.
Weights listed by every canoe company that I ever was a dealer for (Old Town, Lincoln, Sawyer, We-No-Nah, Wilderness Boats, Hyperform, Phoenix, Klepper Grumman, Beaver, etc) were the all-up weights with everything attached that was not intended to be removable - as it would be if you had to portage it. Just how close the actual boat weights were to the published catalog weights varied a little bit, but were usually pretty close. Weighing just the hull would be pretty pointless and I have never heard of anyone doing it, unless maybe they had various levels of trim-out that you could choose from and add to arrive at the actual weight.
alick burt
LOVES Wooden Canoes
Thanks Todd
Makes it all clearer that way but I suppose seats are optional in some canoes so that might explain it.
Cheers
Alick
Makes it all clearer that way but I suppose seats are optional in some canoes so that might explain it.
Cheers
Alick
