Re: [Paddlewise] Duh, what is a wing paddle?

On Mon, 9 Jun 2003 16:12:16 -0500, "Gordon Snapp"
<grsnapp_at_charter.net> said:
> Okay, I've been reading the thread on wing paddles.  I've found the
> discussion very interesting regarding energy expended, work done,
> efficiency, etc.  I guess that's what engineers and physicists deal
> with, huh?  (and boat designers and paddlers.)
>
> But I have to admit, I don't think I know exactly what a wing paddle
> is. Could someone give a definition?  Thanks!

A wing or propeller paddle is shaped more like an airplane propeller.
The top of the blade is curved back and the blade itself is cupped and
has a twist in it.  The blade is also offset from shaft of the paddle.

There are some good movies of olympic paddlers using wing paddles on Fred
Mechini's page http://pluto.njcc.com/~fmec  You can also get a decent
idea of what the paddles look like there.

The photos of the Bratcha IV give a decent view of the blade shape and
an inkling of how the blade is offset from the shaft - on the wing
paddles
page of http://www.venturesport.com or http://tinyurl.com/dwcp

There's an okay picture of the front side of the blade on the paper that
Nick referenced:
http://www.isbs98.uni-konstanz.de/fullpaper/FullRossSanders.pdf

There are pictures of the back of the blade at
http://www.oceanpaddlesports.com/paddles.html

I wasn't able to locate a picture of an end on view of a wing paddle.  If
you still want an end on picture let me know.

Kirk
-- 
  Kirk Olsen
  kork4_at_cluemail.com
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