Re: [Paddlewise] Paddle flutter

At 6:05 PM -0500 11/30/01, Michael Daly wrote:
>I'm not saying that there are no benefits to generating lift.  I'm 
>saying that the
>paddle John bought shouldn't exhibit high flutter under any conditions.  When
>I play with paddles so as to force flutter, none of the decent 
>paddles I've used
>generates excessive flutter.  Since moderate flutter is the current 
>state of the
>art for kayaking paddles, the Eddyline should be similar*.  I don't 
>know why the
>Eddyline isn't similar, but it should be Eddyline's problem, not 
>John's.  I've only
>once used a Carlisle, which he also used without problem, but it's a dog in my
>opinion and is suitable only for a spare (assuming, of course, it's 
>the same flat
>design with no distinction between power and non-power faces).  If he's not
>having a problem with that one, I'd expect the Eddyline to be 
>better, not worse. 
>Why it isn't, I don't know - but I'm not prepared to advocate 
>changing technique
>until it can be demonstrated that the problem is in John and not the paddle. 
>Hence, he should try several paddles and see what prevails.
>
>With regard to the Eddyline paddle - does it have a smaller diameter 
>shaft than
>most paddles?  Is it particularly flexible?  And John, how far apart 
>are your hands
>when you hold the paddle?

I am not ready to concede that a "good" paddle design will never 
flutter, however others have used the same model paddle and had no 
problem. So, either the manufacturer has changed the paddle, the 
individual paddle is defective, or the paddler is doing something 
different.

It is certainly not out of the question that the manufacturer made 
changes, but it would have to be fairly dramatic changes such as 
changing the shape which usually would be labeled as a different 
model. Any physical defects in the paddle itself should be evident to 
inspection, i.e. the blade is loosely glued to the shaft or something 
else that effects the flex of the paddle. More likely the paddler is 
doing something different. The subtleties of paddling technique leave 
a lot of room for variation, some of which will make flutter more 
likely. All it takes is a slight change in blade angle to completely 
eliminate the flutter. Just a degree or so will often do the trick. 
This will have virtually no effect on the drag of the paddle when 
drawn straight back if that is your preferred technique.

However, a simple straight back stroke will take a single mass of 
water and accelerate it until you end the stroke. You can increase 
you efficiency slightly if the blade is always pushing against almost 
still water. This is part of the principle behind the efficiency of a 
wing paddle where the stroke angles out to the side slightly.
-- 
Nick Schade
Guillemot Kayaks
824 Thompson St
Glastonbury, CT 06033
(860) 659-8847
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