Los Humungos Paddleos Gigante Paddling Blog: Is that a kayak or a canoe?

I am always supprised how many times I am asked this question. My first reaction is to say, "why that is a silly question, how can you not tell?" Fortunately, before I say those words, I engage my brain (sometimes - ha ha) and step back for a moment and remember what I am paddling. Often what I paddle does not resemble a canoe in canoe's traditional sense or even a kayak. So I have to remember why one type of boat is considered a canoe and one type of boat considered a kayak. It is with this in mind this

in mind that I answer the question.

The top picture is me training in a USCA spec style racing canoe (picture taken by Rich Hodgkins). The above picture is an overhead profile view of a canoe with the same specs (J203 from wenonah.com). Since it looks very different from what is considered a "traditional" looking canoe, it can be confusing.

CANOE
Generally, a canoe is considered a boat with an open hull (see the above picture). A canoe is most often paddled with a single bladed paddle and does not have a rudder. Remember I said these are generalizations, more on that later.

Wenonah Minnesota II

V1 tandem USCA racing canoe

KAYAK

On the othe hand, a kayak is a type of boat that has a closed hull. Generally a kayak is paddled with a double bladed paddle. Sometimes a kayak has a rudder, sometimes a kayak does not.

ICF spec racing kayak, Legacy KL by Epic (epickayaks.com)

QCC, Q700X (QCCkayaks.com)

Current Designs Unity Tandem Kayak (cdkayak.com)

As you can see the main difference is the hull being closed on a kayak and not being closed on a canoe.

**A surfski is most often considered within kayak classes (surfskis will be a future blog post topic)

HYBRID

There are some boats out there that are hybrids of both a kayak and a canoe. These are the exceptions to the "generalizations." On the racing scene, many of the unlimited boats fall into tis category. They are canoes with rudders, canoes with some decking, and canoes with some decking and rudders. These boats are often paddled with both single bladed (canoe)paddles and double bladed (kayak) paddles. For the most part, while they are hybrid in nature, most often they are called canoes. These hybrid canoes are popular in ultra marathons.