Re: [Paddlewise] Regarding boat speed and length of boat, etc. - was re. Intermediate paddlers

From: Wes Boyd <boydwe_at_dmci.net>
Date: Sun, 03 Dec 2000 20:07:13
At 07:01 PM 12/2/00 -0800, Gerald Foodman wrote:

>> What is "Really Steaming along?"  What I'm really asking is what is
>> average _cruising_ speed for most of you? I have clocked  myself on my
>> GPS  many times and when I am paddling along at a comfortable pace I am
>> usually doing about  3-3.5 mph
>
>I typically paddle an 8 nautical mile course, either in my Solstice GTS
>(17'7" by 22") or in my Mariner Express (16" by 23.5").  My average speed is
>between 4.0 and 4.25 knots.  This is a comfortable pace for me in the sense
>that I could do it again at the same speed if I had a 10 minute rest but I
>am pleasantly tired at the end.  

My average speed for all trips for the whole month of October is 3.6 MPH,
over about 80 miles. This includes time spent looking at deer, stopping to
talk with people, wishful thinking on distances, etc. From that, I infer
that my normal average cruising speed must be somewhere around 4 MPH, so
I'd define "really steaming along" as something over about 4.25 MPH.

And, this includes training. My average speed for the month in March this
year was 3.0 MPH, and in April 3.1 MPH. In September, I hit 3.9. It's
interesting to see the effects of training, conditioning and practice take
hold, and then deteriorate as the weather gets colder and I paddle less.

-- Wes


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Received on Sun Dec 03 2000 - 23:57:17 PST

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