New Sit-In/Sit-On Hybrid
December 2002 - January 2003
This is an article from WaveLength Magazine, available in print in North America and globally on the web.
To download a pdf copy of the magazine click here: > DOWNLOAD
by Ron Irwin
Two years ago, at the beginning of the new millennium, kayakers speculated about future trends in kayak designs. Most pontificated about hull shapes, hydraulic steering mechanisms, electronic navigational devices and modern materials, missing the most obvious design development just waiting to be performed - a merger of sit-in and sit-on kayak elements.
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Take the best of sit-on kayaks - closed hulls with seat indents, intact cylindrical hull, self-draining cockpits, ease of entry and sense of freedom—and blend it with the best of traditional sit-in kayaks - spray skirts which give comfort through their weather protection. Hey, presto! You have the Hybrid Combo, the world's ultimate kayak!
At PaddleYak Sea Kayak Productions in Cape Town, South Africa, unexpected advantages emerged as they developed their Fusion and Swift ranges of hybrid combination sit-in/sit-on sea kayaks. Criticisms from traditional sit-in manufacturers and sales persons made those at PaddleYak think more carefully about the design innovations which were emerging with their new hybrid craft. So far the following unique qualities of hybrid kayaks have been identified:
Craft connectedness. Unlike recreational sit-ons, the hybrid has a deep seat which is contoured from the lower middle back area right up to the heels. Also, unlike sit-ins where separate seats are mounted to the floor of the kayak's bottom hull, or swung from the rim of the cockpit, the paddler's back, buttocks, thighs and heels are all firmly connected to the deck's cockpit seat area, allowing excellent feel of the craft's movements. This is achieved without giving the feeling of entrapment associated with sit-ins. Knee-bracing against the cockpit coaming of sit-ins is unnecessary due to the excellent connectedness of the paddler with the whole hull of the craft, but for diehards this can be achieved through the addition of a knee-brace or a firm spray skirt stretched tautly across the coaming. For those wishing to brace in order to roll, a quick-release lap strap can provide more than enough support, as waveski paddlers have proven. Rolling ability is also not a prerequisite for taking these craft into the most severe of ocean conditions.
Ease of entry and re-entry. The self-draining, indented seat cockpit allows for lower freeboard and decks than is the case with sit ins, making entry and re-entry into the craft easy and safe. Water drains out of the cockpit in an instant, making pumping unnecessary. Paddlers can also hang their legs over the cockpit indents to stabilize their craft, leaving their hands free to perform any tasks required. The lower design profile of the hybrid also makes it less prone to the wind and adverse sea conditions than sit-ins.
Stability is not compromised. With careful designing, hybrid kayaks have seat indents which are at the same height from the bottom of the craft as featured in good sit-in kayaks. Seats in hybrids are never flush with the bottom of the kayak as this is not the optimal paddling position. Stability, in any case, is also a function of beam width and hull design, not only of seat height.
Integrated and sealed hull provides strength and waterproofing.Unlike with sit-ins, the hybrid's hull is a sealed unit, almost like an elliptical ball. There is no gaping cockpit hole in the top deck which has to be sealed off at all costs with a spray skirt and bulkheads, or a cockpit pod, to avoid flooding. Bulkheads are unnecessary in hybrids in respect to waterproofing or safety. The seat and leg indents in the deck prevent dry-bags from shifting out of reach. The paddler is also seated on the deck of the craft, so to speak, and does not step on the unsupported bottom hull of the craft. This means that the hull can be reinforced with foam and not only with layers of reinforcing cloth which add weight to sit-in craft.
Seaworthiness of hybrids undisputed. The hybrid has all the well-proven sea worthy characteristics of sit-on classics like surfskis and waveskis, but also provide for the comfort and weather-protection of the paddler by the addition of a sit-in type sprayskirt coaming.
The hybrid revolution is silently emerging in a variety of guises. The first K1 Olympic Class sprinting kayaks with seat indents rather than sit-in cockpits have appeared recently. These K1s are but two steps away from adding coamings and self-draining scuppers and becoming fully-fledged hybrids! Ocean Kayak in the USA has recently introduced a new range of sit-in kayaks which have seat indents and coamings, rather than sit-in cockpits. Previously they produced a craft with a removable coaming. Now it's a fully-fledged hybrid, bar one more step - a self-draining cockpit.
PaddleYak's hybrid Swifts and Fusions may well be paving the way forward. The credo of its owner and manager, Johan Loots, is that even the Inuits would have preferred such craft had they had the technology to build them!
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Editor's note: Despite the appeal of this photo, we do NOT recommend paddling without a life jacket, even in tropical waters. However, it has been pointed out to us that in big surf landings, if you were to capsize and need to dive to avoid being struck by a breaker—or possibly your own kayak—a life jacket could be an impediment. Careful judgement based on experience with specific conditions is obviously crucial, but lifejackets are the first line of defence, and capsize/rescue situations must be practiced.
© Ron Irwin is a freelance writer living in South Africa.
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