I have always been intrigued by the justification of the asymmetrical paddle blade (asymmetrical about the shaft centerline not in section or over the blade length ). The reason it intrigues me has to do with the balance of forces. If the flow over the paddle is normal to the blade then one can easily see how, at different immersions, the asymmetrical blade might have balanced forces even when the blade isn't fully immersed. If the paddle has an angle of attack (i.e. moves at an angle through the water, the forces become unbalanced around the centerline of the shaft as the center of force shifts towards the "leading" edge. It would seem that flow normal to the blade would be the exception rather than the rule especially given the variability of human beings. I doubt if many of my strokes have normal flow. :-) No doubt all the disruption around the boat and due to waves further messes up the flow. Another consideration has to due with the forces near the surface for a partially immersed blade. The drag coefficient of the partially ventilated portion of the blade may not equal the drag of the fully immersed portion of the blade and this would vary with the force applied. *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - All postings copyright the author and not to be reproduced outside PaddleWise without author's permission Submissions: paddlewise_at_lists.intelenet.net Subscriptions: paddlewise-request_at_lists.intelenet.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************Received on Thu Nov 18 1999 - 04:39:37 PST
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