AN INTRODUCTION TO ETHNOTECHNOLOGY FOR NAVAL ARCHITECTS - SEA KAYAK DESIGN OF YESTERDAY AND TOMORROW

The skin-covered kayaks and baidarkas of the Inuit and Aleut peoples a re elegant examples of naval architectural technology developed over c enturies of experimental refinement. This paper describes the ethnotec hnology which lies behind the design of modern sea kayaks and discusse s the development of the DeCourcy Duet, a two-hole kayak, which utiliz es numerical lines fairing, extensive computer stability calculations and full-scale towing tank testing as part of its design development.