I wouldn't have thought it would be 14 feet either, but if you think about it, it makes sense. How long do you think the boat is? I'd guess 9-10 feet long. If the drop were only 5 feet long, the front of the boat would be at the bottom before the top started to come down. If you think about how that drop works, it is rather like a slide. Once the whole boat is on "the slide" it probably only slides an additional 5 or 6 feet, but add in the length of the boat and it would be more. Sort of like if you put a 6 foot person on an 8 foot slide lying down. Once they let go, they'd only slide about 2 feet before their feet hit the ground.