Biomechanical and Ergonomic Solutions to Modern Kayaking

U.S. Pat #6871608

What do cross-country motorbikes, mountain bikes, horses, snowmobiles, all-terrain vehicles (ATV) and personal watercrafts (PAC) have in common? It's the Riding Position. And what do skiing, surfing, water-skiing, dog sledding, snowboarding, windsurfing, skating and skateboarding have in common? -The Standing Position.
It's simply because the Riding and Standing positions are the best for you in both ergonomic and biomechanical terms, which means they offer best control and more power, and result in less fatigue and injuries.
And why is the traditional L Position used only in kayaks and in no other land, snow or water equipment? It's because although the L position is the worst for you it's the only one ordinary kayaks can offer.
The introduction of back support and foot braces may hold you in your place and prevent you from falling backwards or slipping downward, but they also limit your freedom of movement, increase pressure on your lower back, cause leg numbness and cramps, and result in increased fatigue. Native people of the Arctic circle who were the first to make and paddle kayaks did not use seats or foot braces since they were accustomed to sitting on the floor with their legs stretched forward, unlike us modern Westerners who lose this ability in early childhood when we learn to sit on chairs. When we need to make long efforts during motion we have more available power and better control standing or sitting with our legs lower than our upper body (biomechanical advantage), and we also feel more comfortable and less tired this way (ergonomic advantage).
In addition, sitting in the L position without being able to change our body position increases our fatigue and discomfort, and reduces both performance and fun.

The L Position

The figure on the left shows the traditional L position used in all ordinary kayaks including both sit-in (SIK) and sit-on-top (SOT).
The pressure points in the lower back region can cause irritation and inflammation of the sciatic nerve (sciatica) felt as pain traveling from the lower region of your back down across your lower thigh.
Foot braces and other support for your feet increase the horizontal pressure that your legs exert on your lower back.

Shoulder problems
Another typical repetitive strain injury resulting from kayaking in the traditional position is chronic shoulder pain. It occurs mainly because this position offers little or no means to change the way you paddle in order to relieve your shoulders' strained muscles, tendons, nerves and joints.

Long term effects
Not all damages are felt immediately. Sometimes it takes years for the damage to accumulate, and by then it might be too late to fix it. This is true for back and shoulder problems.

What is the solution?
Kayaking in the L position with support for neither back nor feet is not an acceptable solution for modern paddlers.
The solution is to switch to the new W Kayak, which radically departs from the L position and offers a new, comprehensive and effective approach to these ergonomic and biomechanical problems.
The new, patented W Kayak re-distributes buoyancy from the boat's middle to its two sides and thus offers maximal support to the kayaker's balancing, control, steering and propulsion efforts.
The central part of the W Kayak- it's 'backbone', which joins the two hulls has the shape of a long, 14" high saddle. The W Kayaker can move back and forth on the saddle according to his/her need (e.g. surfing, taking out etc.) and also switch anytime between four ergonomic kayaking positions:

-Watch our demo movies

1. Riding

The Natural Position:
Riding is the most stable position, and it offers you best control over your boat as well as excellent leverage on your paddle.
In the Riding position your thighs, legs and feet are positioned directly below your body and take active part in all your efforts: Balancing, Control and Paddling.
Riding is the best position for beginning W Kayakers, as well as for wild water and surfing applications: After a day of W kayak surfing in the riding position you're likely to feel that your thighs did a great part of the workout.

Riding Position: Legs on Both Sides of the Body

Riding the saddle- Side View Riding - Top View

Riding a W Kayak is similar to horse riding:
Your upper body rests on the saddle, your thighs and legs hold its sides, and each foot rests firmly at the bottom of a hull, as in a stirrup.

Watch demo video of secondary stability in the Riding position: VIDEO (file size 530 KB)
Watch demo video of surf paddling in lateral waves in the riding position: VIDEO (file size 600 KB)

2. Sitting

Sitting means having your legs positioned in front of your body. This position is suitable for relaxed paddling on flat water. Sitting is less stable and powerful than Riding, and not recommended for beginning W Kayakers.
Adding a back rest (lumbar support) is not necessary but stadium seats, kayak seats and even plastic chairs can be easily fitted inside the cockpit.

Variations:
1. Regular sitting, which is similar to sitting in a canoe
2. Sitting with both legs stretched forward
3. Mixed: one leg in the regular position and the other stretched forward

W Kayaking - Sitting Position - legs stretched

Sitting - Regular Sitting - Legs Stretched forward

Regular Sitting Position

Sitting With Legs Stretched Forward

3. Kneeling

A very powerful paddling position, which is preferred by racing and whitewater canoeists.
In your W kayak the kneeling positions are good for racing and for paddling against strong wind and current. You can kneel on one knee ("High Kneel") or on both knees. You may use either a double blade or single blade paddle.
If your knees don't reach the bottom of the hulls you can use padding as seen in the right side image

W Kayaking -Kneeling position - Both knees

"High Kneel"- On One Leg Kneeling - Both Legs

4. Standing (Kayak Skiing)

It's easier than it looks -You can kayak ski with your legs parallel or in diagonal, and with the knees either straight or bent (similar to alpine skiing).
You can paddle on both sides of the boat or just on one side- in parallel and with a J stroke.
After some practicing you could try to kayak ski in whitewater and in the surf. In such conditions it's recommended to have your feet pointing a little sideways for additional stability.

Kayak Skiing (Standing Position) - 1 side

Kayak Skiing (Standing) - Paddling on both sides

Kayak skiing - One Side Kayak skiing - Both Sides

Before starting to kayak ski please read and understand the recommendations on our "Surfing" , "Outfitting" and "Kayak Skiing" pages.

Other Positions

The W design enables additional positions:

1. Mixed Riding and Sitting:
You can paddle with one leg in the Riding position and the other leg placed forward in the regular sitting position, or completely stretched forward.
Such position can be useful for counteracting a lateral current or wind, and simply as one more option for reducing fatigue in long trips.

2. Sitting with one leg folded on top of the saddle:
This position can be comfortable when you spend time in one place and need to operate a fishing rod or a camera.
It is also useful when two people paddle in tandem using single blade (canoe) paddle - each on a different side of the boat.

3. Sitting with both legs in one hull:
Since this position is not particularly efficient for paddling it can be useful mainly when the boat is static and occupied by two people, each facing a different side of the boat, e.g. when fishing, bird watching or photographing.

The Key to Better Stability

The patented W Kayak offers improved stability by combining three things:

Distribution of the boat's buoyancy along its sides instead of along its central, longitudinal axis.
The users and passengers make natural use of their legs and feet to balance themselves by shifting their weight from one leg to another, and they apply this weight directly at the bottom of the hulls -below waterline, thus creating an effect of 'dynamic ballast'.
By offering a high level of lateral resistance the immersed profile of the W hulls acts as 'Hard Chines' do in traditional, monohull kayaks and canoes.

The figure on the right shows a cross section of the W Kayak hulls at 200 lb load.

-Watch our demo movies !

Cross Section of W1

Paddler Size and Additional Considerations

This information is taken from our Product Info page

General Limitations
Exceptionally tall and/or very heavy people, and/or people with certain physical disabilities can find it more difficult to paddle traditional canoes and kayaks.
Similarly, such people might experience some difficulties in W Kayaking that most people won't experience.
This is especially true for people with severely injured or disabled knees because of the important role the legs have in all W Kayaking positions.

W Kayak Data
The following tables are offered in order to help you evaluate the likelihood of the W Kayak being appropriate for you and for the applications you are planning for it. The numbers are not absolute and represent our best estimate based on on experience. If you have questions regarding these or other issues please call us at 1-617-916-2250 or email us to wavewalk
You may find this information useful is understanding and assessing the likelihood of other kayaks and canoes being fit for you and your needs.

Other factors play significant roles in the overall quality of W kayakers' experience. Such factors can be:
NEGATIVE: Older age, Lack of experience in Canoeing, Balance problems, Knee problems, Gender (Male)*
POSITIVE: Younger age, Previous experience in Canoeing, Good balance, Good physical condition, Gender (Female)*
* Note: Generally, men's Center of Gravity (CG) is higher than that of women of similar height.

I. Estimates for Your Height and Weight As Factors in Your W Kayaking Experience

	HEIGHT
WEIGHT

5'10" (178 cm)

6' (183 cm)

6'2" (188 cm)

6'4" (193 cm)

6'6" (198 cm)

240 lb (109 kg)

230 lb (104 kg)

220 lb (100 kg)

210 lb (95 kg)

II. Recommendations For Types of Load and Total Loads As Function of Number of Passengers, Passenger Physical Attributes, Gear Weight and Paddling Environment

A	B	C	D	E	F	G
Total Number of Passengers on Board	Maximum Recommended Weight of Heaviest Passenger on Board	Maximum Recommended Height of Tallest Passenger on Board	Total Maximum Recommended Combined Weight of All Passengers on Board	Total Maximum Gear Weight Recommended With Maximum Recommended Combined Weight of All Passengers (D)	Total Maximum Recommended Weight on Board - Passengers Plus Gear (DE) for Flatwater	Total Maximum Recommended Weight on Board - Passengers Plus Gear (D+E) for Moving Water
1 Passenger	240 lb (113 kg)	6' 6" (198 cm)	240 lb (113 kg)	70 lb (32 kg)	310 lb (145 kg)	280 lb (127 kg)
2 Passengers	220 lb (109 kg)	6' 4" (193 cm)	270 lb (122 kg)	50 lb (23 kg)	320 lb (145 kg)	280 lb (127 kg)
3 Passengers	200 lb (91 kg)	6' 2" (188 cm)	290 lb (132 kg)	20 lb (91 kg)	310 lb (141 kg)	280 lb (127 kg)

**Note: It is assumed that the passengers are generally fit to paddle canoes and kayaks, that heavy gear is stored mostly in the bottom of the hulls, and that water and weather conditions are not extreme i.e. storms, whitewater, heavy surf etc.
If you have questions regarding these or other issues please call us at 1-617-916-2250 or email us to WaveWalk

W Kayak - Draft As Function of Load:

Beam to Draft ratio at different load points

Note: This figure shows the boat's draft and freeboard as function of load, but one has to be aware that a small boat such as a canoe, kayak or W kayak reacts very differently when loaded with gear than it does when loaded with passengers, especially if the heavy gear is stored at the bottom of the hulls - below waterline.

When the boat is heavily loaded it is recommended to paddle it in the Riding position, which offers the highest degree of stability and control, and a biomechanical advantage in paddling (see above paragraphs)

Please feel free to contact us if you need more information
Email: WaveWalk or call 1-617-916-2250