Nick writes: - Everything else being equal the paddle with the largest blade area will be the most efficient. - Everything else being equal the lightest paddle will be the most efficient. - Everything else being equal the fastest cadence will be the most efficient. ... but I think I have to take issue with those claims. Nick earlier made a point of distinguishing paddle efficiency from human biomechanical efficiency, but he's confusing the two above. Weight and cadence only come into the equation when you put a human on the end of the paddle. Paddles don't have cadence. Humans do. So yes, the HUMAN with the lighter paddle will be more efficient, simply because he doesn't have to expend energy moving that mass back and forth. Will the human with the higher cadence be more efficient? Not necessarily. If we limit ourselves to the typical range of paddles, the human with the higher cadence will be operating more efficiently, but he or she will only be paddling more efficiently if the paddle is designed to take advantage of that. If I'm doing 60 strokes per minute with a big whitewater paddle and you're doing 120, you're generating a lot more power, but you're no more efficient than I am. You may be less efficient. If I'm using a Greenland paddle at 120 strokes and you're using a wider paddle at 60 and we're keeping pace, and all other factors are equal, then I'm probably more efficient. As for blade area: Not true. A larger paddle will displace a larger volume of water when swept over a given arc, but that's just geometry. Efficiency requires comparing power in to power out. While larger blades can generate more power, that doesn't mean they're more efficient. They also require more driving force, and the payback is not necessarily greater per unit of input. Generally, with humans, as you increase power output you get diminishing returns in terms of effort per energy output. -- mike --------------------------------------------------------------- Michael Edelman mje_at_spamcop.net http://www.foldingkayaks.org (nomadics) http://www.findascope.com (choosing a telescope) *************************************************************************** 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 - 12:02:14 PDT
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