What is the definition of a knot?

• A. One kilometer per hour
• B. One mile per hour
• C. One nautical mile per hour
• D. One nautical mile per minute

Answer: (C)

A knot is the speed of one nautical mile per hour. A nautical mile is tied to the Earth’s geometry—about 1852 meters—so knots are the standard unit for marine navigation. That makes it easy to relate speed to chart distances and latitude. The other options use land-based units (kilometers or miles per hour) or a speed that would be 60 knots (one nautical mile per minute), which is far beyond typical kayak speeds. So the correct definition is one nautical mile traveled each hour.