P. Noble et al., AN INTRODUCTION TO ETHNOTECHNOLOGY FOR NAVAL ARCHITECTS - SEA KAYAK DESIGN OF YESTERDAY AND TOMORROW, MARINE TECHNOLOGY AND SNAME NEWS, 31(4), 1994, pp. 305-314
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.