The size and shape of paddles has also interested me, and I am near birthday 59. I can not begin to address paddle shape efficiency, but do have some thoughts about paddle size and fatigue. In the days of the "Blackgangs" the Navy did a study on what size shovel was the most efficient to shovel coal into the boilers. It found that when the boilermen used smaller shovels they shoveled more coal during their watch. That is, as someone here already observed, the lighter load allowed for more endurance. With that in mind, I use a large bladed paddle ( I canoe) in whitewater, but switch to a smaller paddle (my spare) for the long flat water stretches. The big paddle gives me the quick acceleration and strong brace needed in the rapids, while the small one rations out whatever energy is left. JKL *************************************************************************** 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 Wed May 16 2001 - 11:58:50 PDT
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