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David Spencer
A canoe is a relatively small boat, typically human-powered, but also commonly sailed. Canoes are pointed at both ends and usually open on top.
In its human-powered form, the canoe is propelled by the use of paddles, with the number of paddlers depending on the size of canoe. Paddlers face in the direction of travel, either seated on supports in the hull, or kneeling directly upon the hull. In this way paddling a canoe can be contrasted with rowing, where the rowers face away from the direction of travel. Paddles may be single-bladed or double-bladed.
Sailing Canoes (see Canoe Sailing) are propelled by means of a variety of sailing rigs. Common classes of modern sailing canoes include the 5sqm and the International 10sqm Sailing canoes. The latter is otherwise known as the International Canoe, and is one of the fastest and oldest competitively sailed boat classes in the western world.
Ambiguity over the word Canoe
Confusingly, the sport of canoeing, organised at the international level by the International Canoe Federation, uses the word canoe to cover both canoes as defined here, and kayaks (see below for a brief description of the differences between a kayak and a canoe). In fact, the sport of canoe polo is exclusively played in kayaks. This confusing use of canoe to generically cover both canoes and kayaks is not so common in North American usage, but is common in Britain, Australia and presumably many parts of the world, both in sporting jargon and in colloquial speech. In these circumstances, the canoe as defined here is sometimes referred to as an open, Canadian, or Indian canoe, though these terms have their own ambiguities.
A 'canoe' in this ambiguous sense is a paddled vessel in which the user faces the direction of travel.
Design and construction
The parts of a canoe
- Bow
- Stern
- Hull
- Seat
- Thwart (a horizontal crossbeam near the top of the hull)
- Gunwale (pronounced gunnel; the top edge of the hull)
- Deck (a compartment containing a foam block which prevents the canoe from sinking if capsized)
Some canoes, particularly those used for extended trips, are equiped with a yoke across the center of the boat. It is designed to allow one person to carry the canoe, and is sometimes molded to the shape of shoulders.
