On Jul 2, 2007, at 3:21 PM, Craig Jungers wrote: > Most of us have the tools for this now. Simply choose a month (say, > July) to paddle without the rudder and another month (say, August) > to paddle with it. Your suggested test is equally as good at determining which month is faster - July or August - as it is at determining if a rudder is better or worse. It can also be used to suggest when you are in better shape, or if water temperature matters. It is very good at producing anecdotal evidence, but not for gathering accurate data. It is a start, and if you want to do it, feel free, the results will be interesting, but very arguable. If you were to take a year and record data with a GPS every day you paddle and either deploy or retract your rudder every 1/4 hour on the 1/4 hour, you could start to get some good data about how _you_ perform with and without a rudder. If you were then to repeat the test with everyone you know paddling the same boat, you could start to get decent data about how a specific boat performs with and without a rudder. If you now repeat that test with everyone you know each paddling every kayak you can get your hands on you can get a pretty good set of data for how kayaks generally performs with and without a rudder. > What this discussion has proven, at least to me, is that there are > people who view rudders as a satanic device and nothing will > dissuade them. For the record, I think rudders can help people paddle faster, I just don't think Caffyn's data is solid evidence of that opinion. ICF sprint racing kayaks tend to have rudders. I would be shocked if there wasn't testing done to demonstrate that they are beneficial for racing. However, just observing that the ICF boats use them is itself anecdotal evidence, not reliable data. > The data is not anecdotal. But all the opinions are. "Anecdotal" refers to evidence based on reports of specific individual cases rather than controlled, clinical studies. Caffyn's report is the very definition of "anecdotal". Nick Nick Schade Guillemot Kayaks 824 Thompson St Glastonbury, CT 06033 USA Ph/Fx: (860) 659-8847 http://www.guillemot-kayaks.com/ *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - Any opinions or suggestions expressed here are solely those of the writer(s). You must assume the entire responsibility for reliance upon them. All postings copyright the author. Submissions: PaddleWise_at_PaddleWise.net Subscriptions: PaddleWise-request_at_PaddleWise.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************Received on Mon Jul 02 2007 - 14:14:28 PDT
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