[Paddlewise] Paddling efficency: a challenge

I hesitate to leap into a question of religious faith (i.e., Greenland vs.
Euro), but Nick's the engineer here, and I think he gets the better of the
argument.  But I have never paddled with a Greenland paddle, so I am equally
arguing from faith and intuition.

But if you Greenlanders are really getting so much lift from the horizontal
movement of your paddles, how about this challenge:  paddle with your
Greenland paddle in the kayak of your choice with two poles laid
horizontally across your kayak fore and aft of your torso.  Keep your paddle
between the poles, so the only forward motion you get is from the
propeller-like "lift" from the perpendicular motion of your paddles.  Then
have a race with the weakest euro-style paddler you know in an eight foot
rotomolded tupperware boat with a scratched up bottom.

My money is on the tupperware.

Do I smell smoke?  Must be flames somewhere.

--Karl Coplan

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