fitness paddling: exercise, train, race by kayak & canoe

It is always interesting to watch developments of a new racing boat. I have received the following correspondence with numerous pictures of Barracuda 5.6, a new multisport kayak, from Matjaz Svetek, Ljubljana, Slovenija.

We are a Slovenian kayak canoe maker with long and successful history, mostly in white water slalom and downriver racing boats, with dozens of medals won on our boats in world cup and championship races.

Barracuda 5.7 is a new breed of highly developed computer designed kayaks. The hull itself went trough 9 evolutions on a computer before we reached our current design.

The boat is optimized for marathon speeds so the hydrodynamics are tuned towards an easly driven hull (at 5-6 knots of speed) while being very stable for this class of boats.

We have tested a prototype hull against varous kayaks (Fenn Milenium, K1 masters, etc) and the results surpased our expectations as they fully confirmed that smallest weted surface in combination with refined good aspect ratio hull was the key to this level of preformance. The boat might not outsprint a K1 master kayak but it kicks its ass easly with 0,3 knot advantage at sustained speeds and is quite close to a surfski on flatwater. The computer simulations predicted the boat to be on par with extremely fast Nelo Moskito and Seawanquish while being much much more stable. The high stability and large rocker made for a boat that can be raced without rudder but will be offered with both flatwater type underhung rudder or retractable stern hung rudders.

As the design continued we came to a conclusion that in order to make these newer longer boats lighter we had to reduce all un necesary surface and make a simple neat looking kayak without any extravagant deck shapes that don't contribute much to either ergonomics or preformace .

The basic dimensions:
Length: 5.7 m (18'8.4")
Width : 49 cm (19.3")
Waterline width: 46 cm (18.1")
Rocker: 11 cm (4.3")

Regards Matjaz Svetek
Jost Svetek & Co d.o.o.
Jurckova c.70
SI-1108 Ljubljana
Slovenija

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