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August 29, 2004

ahoy matey - israeli invents stand-up boat

I frequently enjoy a nice long kayak trip -- so the news that an Israeli inventor had developed a stand-up boat caught my attention.

From Israel 21c:

Don't stand up in the boat! Anyone who has ever been in a canoe or small boat will remember this cardinal rule. As with many rules, there's a good reason behind it. You could easily capsize the boat, fall in the water, or both. Small boats are inherently unstable, or so we are taught.

Introduced in April of this year, the W, named for the shape of the wake it produces, isn't likely to be mistaken for any other craft on the water. Yet, there are familiar hints in the design. The narrow, twin hulls belie a lineage to the Catamaran. It is molded in bright yellow or dark green colored Polyethylene. It can carry two adults and their gear.

The boat's biggest surprises, however, are revealed only after the W boat is launched. The W is deceptively fast and can be comfortably paddled in a variety of positions: Riding, with knees bent, sitting with legs relaxed as you would in a canoe or extended as in a kayak, kneeling or simply standing - a position termed "paddleskiing."

"Can anybody imagine the Olympics with athletes competing only in the sitting position?" asks the W boat's Israeli inventor, Yoav Rosen, who manufactures the W boat through his Massachusetts-based company, Wavewalk, Inc.

Wicked cool!

Posted by Douglas Sorocco at 06:23 PM.
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