The most recent and comprehensive work of this kind that I am aware of
is a phd thesis from the Technical University of Denmark:
Determination of Transient Loads on Anisotrophic Paddleshafts,
issn 0903-1685, 1994.
It is in Danish, with a summary in English.

Kieran wrote:
Hey there, sorry for the cross-post!

I might be taking on a project where we try to determine the power
(force and velocity) developed by a kayaker while paddling. I'm
wondering if anyone out there knows of any research that's been done
like this. I know that it is a fairly common thing for rowing crews
to
be "instrumented" with strain guages on the oars, and potentiometers
on
the oarlocks, to get force/time curves for on-water rowing. So, I'm
wondering if anyone is aware of this sort of study having been done
on
kayaking or canoeing.

The obvious problem with kayaking and canoeing, is that the paddle
has
no fixed pivot point, like a rowing shell does. So most likely some
sort of video kinematic analysis will be necessary. We have the
capability to set this up, although I think the physics will be
complicated (i.e. statically indeterminant problem). I've done a
search
of the scientific journal literature (Medline) and haven't found any
published papers on this topic, but that doesn't mean the work hasn't

been done at some National training center, or product development
center somewhere... or that it's in a very obscure journal that
Medline
doesn't cover.

I'd appreciate any thoughts or hints on who might have done this sort
of
work in the past. I'd rather not re-invent the wheel, if I can maybe

work on just improving it! :-)

Thanks,
Kieran Coghlan