Kayak Design Terms & Hydrostatics

• July 14, 2025
• resource  
• information  
• learning  
• reference  
• kayak terms  
• boat terms  
• definitions  
• glossary  
• Length of Waterline (LWL)  
• Beam Overall (BOA)  
• Draft  
• Displacement  
• Volume  
• Longitudinal Center of Buoyancy (LCB)  
• Longitudinal Center of Buoyancy as % of designed waterline (LCB%)  
• Vertical Center of Buoyancy (VCB)  
• Longitudinal Center of Flotation (LCF)  
• Longitudinal Center of Flotation as % of designed waterline (LCF%)  
• Length of Waterline (LWL) same as Designed Waterline (DWL)  
• Beam of Waterline (BWL)  
• Sinkage  
• Block coefficient (Cb)  
• Midship coefficient (Cm)  
• Prismatic coefficient (Cp)  
• Waterplane coefficient (Cwp)  
• Area / Displacement ratio  
• Length / Beam ratio  
• Depth of cockpit (front & rear)  

Kayak Design Terms & Hydrostatics definitions of form coefficients, volumetric and waterplane properties.

For many people, kayak selection rarely goes beyond the visual appeal of ’the shape’. Aesthetics are critical as the ‘first impression’ but hydrostatics and form coefficients allow a deeper understanding of the hull as a physical body interacting with a fluid. Many of these coefficients are also instrumental for more objective comparison of different types of kayak hull forms.

Like a piece of puzzle, any one coefficient by itself is not enough to make a judgment but taken as a whole, the entire kayak and its performance potential begins to crystallize. The terms below are but a few useful measurements that go into the kayak design ‘recipe’. All the terms here are used in the ‘Technical Specifications’ of One Ocean Kayak designs.