Published by the Open Canoe Sailing Group

Canoes, Non-canoes & Multi-hulls (IainH)

When is a canoe not a canoe?

Just a little bit of clarification (I hope!). My contact at the British Marine Federation was almost as confused as everyone else as to what a canoe was, and did not want to be quoted but when pressed felt that the following would be a fair indication of the definition of what a canoe was:

• The length to beam ratio should be no fatter than 5:1;
• The craft should be pointed at both ends (if a yacht can have the option of a canoe stern, one can assume that a canoe should have a canoe stern);
• The craft should be able to be propelled by paddle alone, or paddle or sail, but not by sail alone;
• Outriggers can be fitted, but only to assist stability. If the volume of the outrigger is such that it can fly the main hull or if it has an additional role (e.g. steering or lee way prevention), it should be classed as a trimaran.

A twin hull setup could be a catamaran or a double canoe depending on the connections between the hulls and whether or not it is bridge-decked or demountable. So one of the Wharram type of cats (sorry, double canoe) would be excluded from the Recreational Craft Directive as it is a canoe but a Prout cat would be included, having a bridge deck and transoms.

A maxi cat like Club Med at 115 foot could arguably be a canoe but for its transoms, though in fact it is exempt being a race boat.

One-offs are also exempt providing they are prototypes and not resold for three years.

This is a product of a fairly long-winded conversation and I may have forgotten the odd bit, but from what I could fathom that is about it. It is probably worth mentioning that the BMF doesn't have the definition of what is a canoe at the forefront of its thoughts and I suspect that there isn't a true definition as such on file; and that it will take a piece of case law before a true definition comes to light.

(I emphasize that Iain's article concerns the legal definition of a canoe, not an OCSG ruling. However, it is, in my opinion, to our advantage that canoes are excluded from the RCD. If a piece of case law were to establish that Solway Dory type multi-hulls, for instance, were not canoes it could cause problems - Ed.)

I really enjoyed the Rother Valley meet, a mere 3 hour drive - almost like having it on my door step - and a good venue for the first event of the year, when without doubt all those wizard tweaks that seemed such a good idea in the work shop over the winter fall apart, and require you to paddle back to shore.

And such a good turn out for the multihull fleet, with all sorts of ideas coming to the fore. There seem to be two different types of tri developing, the nice stable dry ones and the ones that require a bit more leaping about and getting a bit wetter. My own boat falls in to the latter class with low volume outriggers that in strong gusts can be submerged (so I found out at Rother Valley). Time will tell if there is any advantage in the lower wettable area, or if having something easer to sail is more effective. A few tweaks to make before Coniston: bit more rocker at the stern, a lower drag rudder, and fix the mast (started splitting the track off the rear of the mast). The Mk 2 main hull is on the drawing board still, using tortured ply (tortured ply has got to be the easiest,

Iain sailing his proa on Bala in 2001.

fastest and cheapest way to build a slim canoe hull; the proto took about 15 hours to build and the Mk 2 should be even quicker now I know what I am doing). More freeboard and more rocker may be sorted by Bala if I have time. The 40 footer is taking longer than I thought.

Separate class for multi hulls? Nah!

Attaching Outriggers (JohnB)

Many years ago I was on an Antarctic Expedition for some three years - that was when I was young and had hair. The sledges we used were Nansen sledges, some twelve feet long and thirty inches wide. They frequently carried as much as half a ton of gear over sometimes very rough sastrugi snow, crashing up and down gullies of perhaps a couple of feet deep and often rock hard, and they did this for weeks on end. The sledges were constructed of one-inch square ash, lashed together without any ironmongery at all. They twisted and flexed in all directions but in my three years I never saw a broken one.

I believe this flexibility to be important for outrigger canoes as well, and lashing the main beams to the hull with bungee cord permits this. Providing some give in the system prevents stress concentrations developing and on our lightly built structures this is important.

Home | Table Of Contents | Contact