C-Forum

i got a couple boats that i have pulled the gunwales in an inch or two. is this radical?

Naw, you're still just a bourgeoisie boater.

bugershoe?

I pulled in my Spark's gunwales by about 2". Probably lost a little stability, but not a lot. I like narrow boats so that my paddle stroke is more vertical.

Pulling in the gunwales will narrow the waterline and possibly straighten out the keel line a bit, so it depends on the boat whether the change is beneficial (to you) or not.

Used to pull my downriver racing boat thwarts in. It makes you a little faster. 2" is no problem.... You won't notice much difference as far as stability in your boat. You will be a little quicker........ Tiny bit less stable.

Bob P wrote: . . . Pulling in the gunwales will narrow the waterline and possibly straighten out the keel line a bit, so it depends on the boat whether the change is beneficial (to you) or not.

What Bob P said. In boating, to get something, you often have to give up something else.

I've tended usually to widen gunn'ls, rather than to narrow them, on the theory that it will increase the rocker, and thereby enhance the playability. (But then, I'm not a racer, and in the west, the play-waves tend to be shorter and steeper. . .)

Rick