Matt wrote: >it takes about 9.3 watts to move a Coaster kayak (13' 5" >x 23" x 40 pounds) with a 150 pound paddler at 2.9 knots, >and 18.5 watts to go 4.2 knots. It takes about 56 watts >to get it to 4.86 knots and 85 watts to get it to 5 knots >(which is very near hull speed for the 13' 5" long >Coaster--one of Sea Kayaker magazines strongest testers >averaged 5.2 knots in a Coaster for one nautical mile-->paddling all out). G'day Matt and Niels, The values you mention for power produced during kayaking seem low when compared to the literature I've read on exercise physiology. I can well imagine that a very fit kayaker would need to be paddling flatout to push a kayak near its hull speed to 5.2 knots. But if the papers/books I'm reading are correct 85 Watts is a level of output associated with exercise on a bike or rowboat that would be sustainable by a reasonably fit human for several hours. I'll quote three examples: i) NASA research and others quoted in chapter 2 of the classic text 'Bicycling Science' by Wilson, includes rowing and cycling and shows them to be similar in power production. The NASA graphs suggest that 200 Watts is near the upper end of cycling power an average man might sustain for an hour or more. ii) Some readily accessible text and a graph of time to exhaustion vs human power, from Ohio indicate that values of a hundred or so Watts are sustainable for similar periods. http://www.ohio.edu/mechanical/programming/hpv/hpv.html iii) the other source is anecdotal being my experience in using a moderately loaded 200W electric bike at full speed to go to work each day through a traffic free park, and the same bike with the motor switched off to return from work. There seems to be little difference in my average speed in either case. The effort I put into cycling seems about comparable to the effort I put into seakayaking with a speed of 7km/hr in a moderately loaded 19foot 55lb kayak in 1m waves and headwinds less tan 10knots. All the best, PeterO *************************************************************************** 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/ ***************************************************************************
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