Re: [Paddlewise] paddle analysis data

> Now, some questions about your experiment:
>
> What was the venue? (lake, marine, river, etc)
> Did you do all three trials in the same direction over your 4 nautical
mile
> course? All on the same day? Conditions of wind or current constant
> over the three trials?

The venue was Mission Bay in San Diego, from Bahia Point out Mission Bay
channel to the ocean and return.  Winds less than 10 kts.  Tide near slack,
but slightly helping going out and slightly opposing coming back.  There was
some turbulence at the channel entrance, which is common.  I had the paddles
in the car and I made the first out and back with the big blade Descente.
The 4.25 kt pace caused me to be quite fatigued at the end of the first run.
I exited, drank some water, changed to the Little Dipper and started again.
Perhaps 5 minutes for the change.  But with the narrow blade paddle it was
much less effort and I did the second run without becoming too tired.  I
repeated the quick switch to the AT and did the third run.  Again no problem
and felt even better than after the Little Dipper run, despite being over
all ready for lunch.

>
> You have noticed a strong "impression" about the relative
> capabilities of your paddles in your hands. I think that if you had
> recorded average heart rate data and had constant speed for each
> paddle, your heart rate data would provide real numbers to go with
> the performance of each paddle.

Well, I am an engineer but I don't believe in heart rate data.  More useful
to me is how I felt and experienced the differences in the paddles.  You may
differ on this point and I would not dispute it, but I am not interested in
that data.

> Testing under such conditions would also allow you to use a shorter
> course, which would allow for several runs with each paddle used in random
> order.

The problem for me is that I am more interested in which paddle is better
for me over at least an hour's paddle.  Several years ago I did repeated 1
nautical mile time trials with different paddles and different boats.  I am
not a racer and only achieved about 5 kts paddling very hard.  To my
surprise the speeds were about the same no matter which paddle I used,
though I again felt less tired with smaller blades.  I have both a 7'6" and
an 8' Little Dipper, and even between them the speeds were about the same,
and I did not notice a big difference in efficiency.

>Just the other day, I learned that
> anyone using a paddle over 7ft 6in. long is just plain nuts. My heart
> just sank when I read that (totally unsupported) information. Where
> have I been the past 25 years?

The latest (Aug) Sea Kayaker has an article on the forward stroke.  The last
writer, after the racers Reitz and Barton recommends longer paddles.  You
are not alone.

Jerry

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