Re: [Paddlewise] Rules of the road

-----Original Message-----
From: Kenneth Cooperstein <cprstnc1_at_optonline.net>
To: paddlewise, paddlewise <PaddleWise_at_lists.intelenet.net>
Date: Wednesday, June 02, 1999 5:00 AM
Subject: [Paddlewise] Rules of the road


<Snip>
>Ken wrote:
>This is less of a problem for paddlers -- who move at 3 knots -- than it
>is for rowers -- who can zip along at 12 knots.  When paddling and
>concerned about a larger boat, I just stop until the danger passes.
>
Many proponents of rowing adhere to a myth that sleek sculls and shells are
twice as fast as paddle powered craft. (Here it is four times as fast).
Twelve knots is the realm of an 8 oared racing shell not any singles or
doubles rowing sculls even if they are raced by Olympic caliber rowers. I
don't know where this fantasy got started but I have read it now several
times. Given the same hull, a rowing craft (using a sliding seat and
outrigger oarlocks as racers do) has a several percent advantage in top
speed over a short distance because a rower can apply more of his or her
large muscle groups (more specifically the thighs and back) to the task than
a paddler of equal strength. Olympic and world records (weighted for
distance) show a ten to twenty percent speed advantage to oar powered craft
over kayaks and another eight or nine percent advantage over canoes. The
kayak and canoe classes have limits on their maximum hull length and minimum
width requirements that the rowing classes don't share. Kayaks and canoes
could be even narrower and use the optimum hull length for each crafts
available power if not limited by the rules. This would make them a little
faster but they would still not be quite as fast as rowing sculls.
Based on Olympic records, sculls (each person uses two oars) are about two
to five percent faster than shells (each person uses one oar), shells are
eight to thirteen percent faster than kayaks and kayaks are eight or nine
percent faster than canoes.
The reason that rowing boats have such a big problem is not so much greater
speed it is because they don't look where they are going.

Personally I look for areas where many powerboats are funneled together in a
narrow channel and have a high density (and a 7 or 8 knot speed limit). That
way I don't have to wait so long to catch another ride on a good wake. I
worry about the fumes I sometimes have to breathe though.
Matt Broze
>
>
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