Perfect Trim?

[lowangle al]

The first thing I have to say about this is that there is no one perfect `trim. Different situations and different boats call for different trim. A flat trim may work for narrow racing hulls, but I find it feels sluggish on my wider tandems. I prefer to be bow light. On the hulls I paddle it feels faster, probably due to less wetted surface creating friction with the water. There is a point where being too stern heavy slows things down, so there is a happy medium. Being bow light also give a boat more manueverability, especially when leaned over. Here are some pics of some bow light paddling.

My typical trim when solo in a 20' EM White


Another one, this was taken by my friend Larry, aka Penns Woods.


This is a friend in a Malecite who liked this trim for a day of fishing.


This is Tsuga8 from this forum in my 18' OT Guide. I'm not sure how well he liked it. It was a very windy day and this was about the only calm time he was able to give it a short try.




Here is a guy after my own heart.


This one was taken on a very windy day. It's not easy on a day like this, and it takes practice. There is no better time to practice paddling in wind then when it's windy, and it does take practice.


What kind of trim do you prefer, and why?

 

[Tryin']

Depends on the water and wind. I've moved into the bow, sat solo in the stern, knelt in the middle, whatever made the boat do what I wanted with as little wasted effort as possible. I generally find that close to level level is a nice compromise for 99% of conditions. But I am inexperienced and ignorant.

 

[ppine]

I do not like any of the photographs above. Classic bow light by paddling solo from the stern seat is how canoes turn over.
Flat trim is fine with no wind. You can use your gear load to trim a canoe. I use my trained Border Collie for final trim.

When the wind comes up then other types of trim are important. Into the wind you want to be slightly bow heavy as an example. Otherwise the wind just keeps blowing you off course.

I remember a practice day before a week long trip. I took two guys out in a 17 foot canoe paddling tandem. The wind came up and they just went ashore and walked the canoe back. I was paddling by OT Guide 18 solo. I moved amidships, and then slight forward of the middle thwart to control the boat. They could not figure out how I controlled that big canoe in the that much wind. Both of those guys became bow paddlers on the week long trip in Oregon. After a week an athletic 18 year old was a pretty good paddler.