[Paddlewise] Paddle testing-exp. design

Skimmer, please provide more information regarding the methodology of your
comparison of the two paddle lengths. It is not clear to me just what you
were comparing and how you did the experiments.

I'm not even sure we are using the same definition of "work". It is my
understanding that it takes the same amount of work to move the same boat
the same speed through the same water (no matter how you propel it) so
unless you were measuring the work at your hands or the paddle shaft you
should expect to get the same results from the same boat. While there may
well be small differences in efficiencies due to things like how off center
the blade is with each stroke and the amount of decelleration/accelleration
variations between the paddles the most noticeable difference to the paddler
is likely to be one due to the different "gear ratios" being used. It is my
understanding that to climb a given hill on a bicycle takes the same amount
of "work" whether you are in high or low gear or whether you go up a steep
slope or a shallow one to get to the top. I think your choice of paddle
length is a major indicator of which gear you like to paddle in. You seem to
prefer the high gear, few strokes but more strain on each stroke, approach
(to an extreme that almost no other paddlers share). When trying to paddle
fast, I hate even an eight foot long paddle. I can hardly imagine dealing
with a nine footer. All that increased strain on my body makes me slow down
even with the eight footer in order to lower the stress on my muscles and
joints with each stroke. Physically, I don't feel that pain is made up for
by the fewer strokes I have to take to get there.
Having paddled with you back in 1984, I know you can really make a kayak
move even with that nine foot paddle you were using even back then. If what
you were testing was how fast you could go with each paddle, the factor
making the results nearly the same is likely to have been the hull speed of
your kayak because large differences in power make little difference in
speed at that speed. Using a very long kayak, perhaps a racing double, one
that you can't reach its hull speed with solo, might well display a greater
difference in top speed between the two paddle lengths (if what you were
comparing was your top speed between the paddles or your racing effort time
over a given distance). Also, consider your decades long familiarity with
the longer paddle to be another possible confounding, at least until you
have gained many paddling hours with the shorter paddle and feel completely
at home with it. I can recall loaning faster kayaks to racers that actually
lowered their relative ranking (they lost to a few paddlers they could
usually beat) over a given course when compared what it had been with the
slower kayak that they were intimately familiar with. If they continued to
use the faster kayak they soon could beat a few of the guys who had
previously consistently beaten them. It takes awhile to get used to what is
new and different and learn to use it to best effect. These speculations may
all have been completely off base, but please provide us with more details
on your tests so I can try understanding them again once I have more
information and less supposition to work with.

Matt Broze
www.marinerkayaks.com
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