Having competed in both underweight and correctly weghted boats over the years, I must say that is makes not the slightest bit of difference as long as the weight is in the centre of gravity. My boat currently weights exactly 9Kg and I must say that I feel that I am a lot faster than when I was in my 7.8kg boat at the start of the season. This is because at the end of the day, the boat preformance depends on the paddler not whether there is a kilo or so difference in weight, after all if paddlers were that worried then they would do things such as drink less fluid on race day as this would reduce their weight almost a much as leaving their weight out of their boat!
P.S. At the Prem at the weekend the winner in the men's had a boat that wieghed 9kg exactly, proving that it makes not a blind bit of difference if you have an underweight boat, a better paddler will still beat you even if your boat is 6kg.
Underweight boats - Any genuine reasons?
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emma mchale
- Posts: 4
- Joined: Mon Oct 25, 2004 8:50 pm
I have both ends here. I agree that a few kilos isnt going to make much a difference and that it is a real pain dragging your boats just before a competition to get them weighed, and realising you've been paddling it under-weight all winter. However, the slalom has to be fair, therefore they have to enforce the rule. Plus I believe competitions abroad make you weigh them, so you may as well get into the routine here, when you're are in Div. 1/2/prem.
Em
Slightly late on topic (as usual). The boat weight rule was brought in because of the very fragile boats being used by the top people. In my understanding this was deemed bad for two reasons - it gave unfair advantage to those who were rich or sponsored, and it gave a disadvantage to the bigger paddlers who couldn't run such a light boat. This rule needs to remain as bigger paddlers are already disadvantaged - wider shoulders, longer paddles, thicker BAs, deeper boats (which hit more submerged rocks).
Saying a light boat doesn't make such a difference as body weight is rubbish - basic physics tells me that weight at the extremes of the boat length when levered from the centre will require more force than weight at the centre. A lighter boat will turn faster than an indentically shaped/sized heavier one. Fortuanately as somebody else said, boats tend to be 8kg with a small amount of weight around the seat rather than 3kg with lots of central weight. If this is what the weight rule has acheived it must stay.
Saying a light boat doesn't make such a difference as body weight is rubbish - basic physics tells me that weight at the extremes of the boat length when levered from the centre will require more force than weight at the centre. A lighter boat will turn faster than an indentically shaped/sized heavier one. Fortuanately as somebody else said, boats tend to be 8kg with a small amount of weight around the seat rather than 3kg with lots of central weight. If this is what the weight rule has acheived it must stay.
It would be better if the boat was a genuine 9kg (or whatever it is for C1/2) but I can accept an 8kg boat with weight added. The rule however allows a 5kg boat with 4kg of weight which would be not what the rule set out to achieve. I wouldn't like to see weight anchor points and standard weights to put in boats because this would send us down that path. Currently most top people I guess paddle boats of around 8kg with a weight added which does give a reasonably level playing field for the amount of weight you have at the ends of a boat where the advantage could be gained. It's a subtle advantage but an advantage none the less.