[Paddlewise] paddle benchmarks

I've got an assortment of paddles and wanted to do some demo runs to
compare the differences in the paddles.

I took out my surf ski, a Fenn Mako Millenium (http://tinyurl.com/fmrf)
with a Speedtech knotmeter (http://tinyurl.com/k05t)

I chose the surf ski to do the tests because I wanted to have a boat that
had as little hull speed limitation on my tests as possible.  The
knotmeter is an impeller driven speedometer, not a gps based system.  I
did the trials on the Merrimack River in Lawrence, Massachusetts just
above a dam.  I picked this spot because it would have consistant
currents for each loop.  I paddled about 1 nautical mile from a boat
landing to a turn buoy and back, winds were negligible for each loop and
being 6am there was no one else on the water.  Unfortunately I didn't get
round trip times as floating weeds fouled the impeller for 3 of the 4
runs, something easily remedied but it required pullin over.  For
background I've got about 25 years experience racing canoes and kayaks. I
paddle stroke (front seat) for an outrigger canoe team - I like to think
my pace is consistant.

I tried 4 paddles a 218 cm Lightning Ultralight with Struer blades, a 7
foot Cricket greenland paddle, a bow paddle may 220 cm long
(http://home.comcast.net/~jkolsen/html/paddle.html) and a Bratcha II
Wing paddle.

My results are not precise as I am estimating my average speed based on
the number that was on the speedometer display the most.  I also did a
sprint at the same point on the river to see how fast I could get going.
By cruising speed I mean a pace that I could attain for a couple hours
without resting.

Speeds are in knots per hour, not in kilometers per hour.

Lightning   6.4  Kph cruising speed    7.45 Kph peak speed. 
Greenland   5.95 Kph cruising speed    7.3 Kph peak speed. 
Bow         6.1  Kph cruising speed    7.3 Kph peak speed. 
Wing        6.85 Kph cruising speed    8.3 Kph peak speed.

To be a better test I'll have to find a place with consistant deep water.
There were a couple of sections where my speed decreased despite
maintaining a steady stroke rate.

Comments on the paddles I tried:

The lightning at 23 ounces is wonderful to use, but the shaft is a little
too flexible for my likes.

I tried an assortment of strokes with the greenland, my attempt at
mimicing the stroke with an abdominal crunch was counter productive as
the boat slowed by .2 knots over my usual stroke.  Mimicing a wing stroke
with the greenland wasn't as productive (speed wise) as switching to a
canoe style vertical stroke.

The bow paddle has essentially the same stroke as a lower height
greenland stroke, the stroke results in the blade being basically
vertical in the water, tip pointing at the bottom of the river.

I hate my wing paddle.  It weighs about 32 ounces and the shaft is
very stiff.  Outside of the sprint I wasn't able to get my stroke rate to
the same comfortable cadence as the other 3 paddles.  On the other hand,
my summertime
goal of maintaining 8 knots for 100 meters was met this morning....

In no way, shape, or form was this a controlled scientific test, just a
set of benchmarks of how I was able to do with a few different paddle
styles.

Kirk
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