Gabriel wrote: > I think you would find that the surface area in contact with the water > of a traditional paddle is at least close to or equal to that of Euro > paddle. From what I have seen from some of the best Americans using > them, our own Greg Stammer, Doug Van Doran, Ray Killen, etc. don't seem > to have the acceleration with them, but can maintain momentum as well as > any Euro. > I think that Gabriel touches on a very important point here. In any discussion on blade slippage, one has to consider whether one is getting the boat up to speed (acceleration of the boat, but little velocity), or simply maintaining boat speed (maintaining boat velocity, but no acceleration). Paddle slippage is the greatest when one is accelerating the boat from a dead stop to cruising speed, and is minimized when maintaining cruising speed. This would suggest that the most energy-efficient paddling style involves gradual acceleration, maintaining a steady speed, and applying force to the paddle over a longer duration of the stroke. Regards, Erik Sprenne *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - Any opinions or suggestions expressed here are solely those of the writer(s). You must assume the entire responsibility for reliance upon them. All postings copyright the author. Submissions: PaddleWise_at_PaddleWise.net Subscriptions: PaddleWise-request_at_PaddleWise.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************Received on Fri May 11 2001 - 22:16:47 PDT
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