> A couple of questions emerge. > > 1. How many horsepower does one dragonboat generate? > 2. Do paddlers develop asymmetrical/lopsided bodies? > > BRC > I'll leave the first question to the mathematically inclined among you, but as to the second, the answer is "Yes", unless they switch sides regularly. Obviously, they do not switch sides during a race, but the smarter ones do practice on different sides from one run to another (although it means getting out of the boat and shuffling the bodies around). Depending on the make-up of the team, some people will be able to paddle on either side and some will have only one side they feel comfortable with. Usually they fill the boat by taking the people who have a side preference and putting them in first, and then the ambidextrous people get slotted in to make up the rest. The people with the best sense of rhythm go in the front (because, like in a tandem kayak, everyone has to keep pace with the person in front of them of paddle collisions result.) There is also a distribution of stronger and weaker paddles, but I forget what it is. I am speaking, of course, of non-professional teams. The pros may very well paddle the same way each and every time and rely on exercises to maintain some semblance of "normal" body shape. It's a sport that is rapidly increasing in popularity. There's a team of "blind" people who paddle here in Ottawa, Canada. Also a team of breast cancer survivors. Many police forces have teams; the Ottawa police team has their own boat. It's a strenuous sport, as you can well imagine. A policeman died of a heart attack during one race recently. I know better than to even *think* about trying it. -- Darryl *************************************************************************** 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 Thu Sep 27 2007 - 13:54:23 PDT
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