I'm curious whether there are other types of non-motorized crafts that are just as good as kayaks for accompanying individual swimmers in an open water swim race (in this case a lake). Would there be any downsides to canoes vs kayaks (assuming it has the needed # of people)?
Another downside to canoes is that it takes a lot more skill to effectively steer a canoe. However on the upside with skilled paddlers you have the advantage of more storage room for swimmer supplies and you have 2 support crew members instead of one.
As for other non-motorized craft, the Atlantic City Marathon used Lifeguard rowboats. The upside was you have lots of room for supplies; the lifeguards did a phenomenal job of leading the swimmers while the coaches worked with the swimmers and most importantly the row boat broke the waves and made a great draft for the swimmers.
My primary kayak for escort is an old school round bottomed river runner. Plenty of volume inside and deck area fore/aft of the cockpit to stow food, dry bags, almost anything. Much more manuerverable than any keel boat - I can spin in my own length and paddle backwards. Not so much faster than (some) swimmers - the ones going around Manhattan solo - and I can always roll to cool off later in the afternoon. Pretty worn away by now, but you can still read the name of one swimmer on the bottom!
This season I'm looking to use a helium balloon for visibilty, doubled as an extender for my protable marine VHF
