Are you ready to Race? Jackson Kayak’s slalom boat design is finished- the Ricochet

March 5, 2005

After finishing the Hero and Super Hero, it was like
“wait a second we’re done with our line up for 2005 and it
is only January!” I have been threatening to make a slalom boat
with David Knight for several years now. The opportunity was never there
because to do it right is expensive and nobody wanted to back us up on
it. Well, now that Jackson Kayak is in business and I make these type
of decisions I can live out my boat fantasies! I have literally been out
of slalom because my 1995 design the Rocket that David and I did was so
out of date that I was not competitive in it anymore. I didn’t want
to buy another boat that wasn’t really what I was looking for. Instead,
I really wanted to make the coolest thing on the water for slalom.

What is the Ricochet about? It is different than anything
else on the water by far, for starters.

It is planning hulled for a lower draft, a more
stable platform, and for maneuverability on waves, in holes, and for
staying on top of the water- All good stuff when trying to go fast.
It is the minimum length allowed, with the stern
being longer than the bow by a lot. Why? Because shorter turns faster,
and 3.5 meters is minimum. Since slalom is going to make a slow progression
from 4 meter boats to 3.5 meter boats due to the course designers and
athletes in slalom being against change any how, I want to make the
best boat for racing in 2005, not for racing in 2008. In 2008 courses
will be tighter and all boats will be 3.5 meters. Even though the Ricochet
turns faster, it isn’t a slow boat in a straight line, the water
line is only 3” shorter than the most popular slalom boat.
It has a very flat sidewall and a properly positioned
widest point to create a wedge that will force the boat forward when
it is sliding sideways. Ideally it goes way forward with a little slide.
Like a glider’s “glide ratio” , the ratio between
drop down and glide forward. So far short boats slide sideways too much
for the amount of forward propulsion. That is because the designers
have not considered the issue when they shrunk the boats down, instead
of designing a short boat from scratch. David and I took what we know
about short boats and made it longer. It SHOULD carry its momentum around
the turn as good or better than the long boats, something no short boat
has achieved yet. I say should because it is all theory when it comes
to this specific performance characteristic and David and I have never
actually tried to accomplish this before and we can only hope that our
theory proves correct. Under any condition, I am confident that it won’t
perform poorly around the turn.
It has a very slicy stern for snappy pivots, I am
sure it will be faster on the stern than any other boat ever designed.
It has a sweet shedding deck and a really low draft
that will keep it on top of the water when going through waves, and
since it is shorter will be easier to jump the little waves, holes or
boof than the other boats I will be competing against.