Currently, according to the Collier Encyclopedia, there are several types of vessels for sports rafting.
Kayak
Kayak – a boat with kayak type of rowing (with two-blade oars, alternately on both sides of the boat), is a long narrow boat (the size of a two-seater kayak is about 4.5 m long and 0.8 m wide). The paddlers are seated in the kayak one behind the other, their feet and knees fixed in the supports to ensure the most efficient control of the boat. Kayaks for rafting are fully enclosed from the top, which prevents the boat from flooding when passing powerful obstacles. To ensure complete tightness, so-called “skirts” of neoprene (porous rubber) are used, tightly fitting the paddler’s waist, which are fixed on the deck of the boat over the seating area. Most of the kayaks used for rafting are collapsible and inflatable.
Kayak
A kayak is a single-seater kayak. Kayaks are significantly smaller in size, the length of freestyle kayaks can be less than 2 meters. Unlike kayaks, most of the kayaks for rafting are polyethylene, while in paddling slalom kayaks are made only of composite materials. Modern kayaks are compact, durable boats usually in bright colors (primarily for reasons of quick detection in possible rescue and search operations). As in kayaks, the tightness of the boat’s interior (cockpit) is ensured by the use of a neoprene skirt. Rigid, fixed paddler’s seat provides maximum controllability of the boat while rafting. As this type of rafting boats has perfect sailing qualities and invulnerability to contact with obstacles (thanks to durable polyethylene hull), kayaks are used for passing the most difficult and dangerous obstacles.
Canoe
A canoe is a vessel with canoe type of rowing (single-bladed oar on one side of the boat’s hull). In all sport canoes paddlers are kneeling, for stiffness of seating and full controllability of the boat are strapped through the middle part of the thigh. The tightness of the boat is ensured by the use of a skirt. Modern rafting and slalom canoes do not differ much from kayaks by shape and size.
Catamaran
Catamaran – (from Tamil “kattumaram”, literally – “tied logs”), a vessel with a canoe type of rowing. The modern meaning of the term is any two-hulled vessel. Catamarans, used in sport rafting, are two huge (up to 5 cubic meters) inflatable floats connected by a wooden or metal frame and equipped with special seats, allowing the rowers to be rigidly fixed on the boat. The length of modern rafting catamarans up to 6 m and 2.5-3 m wide.
Raft
Raft – (from English, “raft”) vessel with canoe type of rowing, inflatable boat of considerable size (4-7 m long). Rowers in a raft sit on the board. There are rafts with the hinged type of rowing, they have a rigid frame with paddles, as well as catamarans, similarly equipped, they are called catarafts.
A separate type of small boat for rafting – “Baglik”, which is two huge (outer diameter up to 3 m) floats with a small thickening in the bottom, standing on the rib and is located at the ends of a common longitudinal frame length 3-4 meters. Inside the floats on the thickened seats there are rowers, one per float. Such boats are used for passing the most difficult and dangerous sections of powerful steep-falling rivers, However, sportingness of rafting on “bagel” is questionable because of relatively low role of the crew in passing obstacles which practically comes to mooring the boat on a quiet part of the river.