Clinker (boat Building) - Relationship Between Clinker and Carvel

Relationship Between Clinker and Carvel

See also: Carvel built

The clinker form of construction is linked in people's minds with the Vikings who used this method to build their famous longships from riven timber (split wood) planks. Clinker is the most common English term for this construction in both British and American English, though in American English the method is sometimes also known as lapstrake.

Carvel construction was probably invented earlier than clinker but in other parts of the world. In Europe carvel was the method of the south probably having spread though the Mediterranean from the Middle East. Clinker was the method of north Europe having developed, apparently, in the Baltic.

The smoother surface of a carvel boat gives the impression at first sight that it is hydrodynamically more efficient. The lands of the planking are not there to disturb the stream line. This distribution of relative efficiency between the two forms of construction is an illusion because for given hull strength, the clinker boat is lighter because it does not rely upon the compressive forces of the caulking and the resulting friction to bind the skin together. It therefore displaces less water so it has less to push aside while moving. The reduced displacement could be used to make the lines finer so as to make the passage through the water easier still. Of course, displacement was increased as cargo was loaded but still, the clinker vessel had the advantage in efficiency as the structure can be less bulky. Therefore, for a given internal volume, there was a smaller external one, meaning that a bulkier cargo could be carried if need be, given sufficient freeboard.

Additionally, the clinker built method as used by the Vikings created a vessel which could twist and flex relative to the line extending length of the vessel, bow to stern. This gave it an advantage in North Atlantic rollers so long as the vessel was small in overall displacement. Increasing the beam, due to the light nature of the method, did not commensurately increase the vessel's survivability under the torsional forces of rolling waves, and greater beam widths may have made the resultant vessels more vulnerable.

There is an upper limit to the size of clinker built vessels, which could be and was exceeded by several orders of magnitude in later large sailing vessels incorporating carvel-built construction. Clinker requires relatively wide planking stock compared to carvel, as carvel can employ stealers to reduce plank widths amidships where the girth is greatest. The need for sufficient lap to accept the clench fastenings drives towards wider planks in proportion to thickness that can be employed in carvel. In all other areas of construction including framing, deck, etc., clinker is as capable as carvel. Clinker construction remains to this day a valuable method of construction for small wooden vessels.

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