Hull Design

By Nick Pritchard

Trying to sort through all the different types of canoes can be overwhelming when looking to buy a canoe or even trying to choose which one is the best for you to rent. We will try and break down one aspect of canoe design each day so that you have the basic knowledge to sort through all the different options.

We will start the week off by talking about hull design the 4 general types of hulls, but first we'll introduce initial and secondary stability.

Initial Stability

Initial and secondary stability are essential factors to consider when you are looking at purchasing or renting a canoe. The initial stability is just like it sounds, when the canoe is flat in the water you are utilizing the canoes initial stability. This is helpful for flat water paddling.

Secondary Stability

Secondary stability is used when you lean the canoe. This is helpful for whitewater canoeing, or big lake paddling. This  It is difficult for a canoe to have good initial stability and secondary stability, most designs try to find a happy medium.






As mentioned above there are 4 general types of hull design; flat bottom, rounded, shallow arch, and shallow vee.

• Flat Bottom: 



Flat Bottom

• Flat bottom canoes are just like they sound, the bottom is almost flat. These boats have got good initial stability while their secondary stability is almost nonexistent. Once these boats are leaned they are likely to capsize.  
• Rounded Bottom:



Round Bottom

• Rounded bottom canoes have great secondary stability but almost no initial stability. Because of the lack of flex in the hull these boats are efficient and when combined with other design options can be very fast. 
• Shallow Arch:



Shallow Arch

• Shallow arch canoes try to find a happy medium between rounded bottom and flat bottom. They often have good initial stability and OK secondary stability. These boats also track well when combined with other design options (length, entry lines, etc.). Shallow arch boats also have a stiffer hull when compared to a flat bottom boat which makes them more efficient. Most flat water, touring, river touring, and recreational canoes use a shallow arch. 
• Shallow Vee:



Shallow Vee

• Shallow vee canoes are again a mix of round bottom and flat bottom but they come to a V at the keel line. These boats track well but they also tend to be slower because they have a much higher surface area when compared to a comparable shallow arch boat.

Some folks may notice that no where in here did we include keels. That is because keels are not widely used anymore. With modern designs keels are not necessary.

Keels were widely used in aluminum boats because the boats were built in half and then put together to form the boat. The seam between the halves was right down the center so the main purpose of the keel was to hold the two halves together and add rigidity to the flat bottom design. Nowadays with canoes being formed out of various plastics or composites and modern design they can build the canoe in one piece, eliminating the need for a keel. Some of the more economical canoes still use a keel to add rigidity to the flat bottom design.

Note - Some wooden canoes may still have a "shoe" style keel. This is characterized by a thin strip of wood running down the keel line. This is generally used to protect the hull from obstructions in the water.

If you have any questions feel free to contact us!