Canoe vs Kayak

What is a Kayak? What is a Canoe?

Many people are confused between what a canoe and kayak is and tend to use the two terms interchangeably. However, although both of them are boats, they are different.

By definition, a canoe is any craft pointed at both ends, either open deck or close deck in which the crew propels itself forward with hand held paddles while facing in a forward direction.

Canoes fall into 2 categories which are the Kayak, and the Canadian Canoe.

Canadian Canoes

Canadian Canoes are open decked canoes paddled with a single blade paddle in a kneeling or sitting position. It is usually handled by 2 persons on opposite sides at the bow and stern. It can also be handled by 1 person operating from a central position.

Due to the development of the sports, the design of the traditional Canadian Canoes has been fitted with decked and small cockpit. The shape has been changed to the needs of the white water canoeists and altered by the racing canoeists to produce speed.

Touring Canadian Canoes

These boats are generally used as doubles, but they may take anything between 1 and 4 people according to the needs of the moment. It has very short decks at bow and stern, a seat at the stern and a couple of thwarts (seats) well spaced apart. It is an excellent load carrier of thwarts (seats) well spaced apart. It is an excellent load carrier and can go along the narrowest streams with their single blade paddles. It is an ideal craft for camping trips and family pinic.

Slalom Canadian Canoes

The slalom canoe is designed for manoeuvering on white water. The boat has a very low profile allowing for faster turning and facilitating dipping techniques. Kneeling on both knees takes some getting use and suceeussful manoeuvering in rapids with the single blade paddle calls for great skills.

Wildwater Canadian Canoes

The wildwater racing canoe like the slalom canoe comes in both single and double forms. Designed for speed in rough water, they are more buiyant and less stable than a slalom boat.


Racing Canadian Canoes

Sprint canoes are built for one, two and seven people.

Kayak

The kayaks have their own origins from the Eskimo as mentioned in the post "Kayaking History". The kayak was built as a narrow craft with a covered deck, using double blade paddle.

Touring Kayak

The touring kayak is designed for trips of either a few hours or several days down river across lakes or estuaries. The touring kayak is easy to paddle in a straight course and is comfortable to sit in for several hours. It is stable and fairly buoyant with ample space to store camping equipment. Large cockpits are often favoured for ease of getting in and out. The kayaks come in either single or double.

The Eskimo or sea kayak comes under the category o touring kayak. It has a very distinctive high bow and stern. It is also equipped with a foot pump and rudder.

Slalom Kayak

The slalom kayak is a low profile boat designed for fast turning and dipping. It is a comparatively stable craft and designed for easy handling in rough water conditions. The slalom kayak comes in single and double seater.

Wild-water Kayak

The wild-water racing kayak was designed with the features of the sprint kayak's hull. The boat is more buoyant with the seat and cockpit designed to allow the paddlers to brace and perform the Eskimo roll. The white water kayak comes in single seater only.

Bat

Swimming pools are used for introducing people to canoeing, practise for rolling, capsize drill, rescues and other safety and skill techniques. Pool time is valuable and the length of a kayak prohibits time in terms of the number of kayak that can get into the pool at one time. This led to the development of a short rounded boat commonly called a Bat (Bath Advanced Trainer). This modified Bat, which is a little faster, has now been designed for a new sport, known as Canoe Polo.

Racing Kayak

The racing kayak was adapted from the touring kayak. It is longer and narrower and therefore faster. Used for both sprint and marathon racing. The over stern rudder is generally used for marathon racing. The racing kayak comes in singles, doubles and four-seater.

However, due to water safety reasons, there has been designs of kayaks that are open-decked. These open-decked kayaks or sit-on-top kayaks are exactly like a normal kayak just that the paddler has his or her legs exposed now, making it easier for exit when the boat capsizes.

Hope, you know what the difference between a canoe and a kayak is now!

*Information from this post is taken from Sea Sports Club 2 Star Award Handbook.