"Oci-One Kanubi" wrote in message
om...
Heh, heh. I'm not, frankly, very interested in all this (I have never
raced because I have never yet put on a river with the express
intention of getting back off it as soon as I can; I take my time and
make the most I can of the river) but I can tell you *this* much
"science":

Kayaks have two distinct speed advantages over canoes (not to mention
other advantages not directly related to speed). These are (1) nearly
double the natural stroke rate, because each "recovery" stroke is
simultaneously a power stroke on the other side, and (2) alternating
power strokes from side to side means a kayaker (going straight, no
current, etc.) never has to make a correction stroke or waste time
*hut-hutting*. Correction strokes reduce yer speed in two ways, (a)
yer forward stroke rate is reduced due to the time spent correcting
rather than powering, and (b) there is a small braking component to
every correction stroke.

I don't have the 'science' of it, and a limited set of inputs, but the only
time I saw a racer up againsn't a kayak, the race canoe beat him what seemed
handily.
Then, like you say, I'm never on the river to paddle just to get off. this
was a race canoe, kneel stokes, and the two paddlers did not then switch
boats or anything. it seemed to be just a grudge match between these two.
Just looking at it though, I'd feel that that kneeling stroke gets more
power into it than a kayak double.
and the guy was like a windmill too. he seemed to match the kayak each
stroke.

just an anecdotal 2 cents...




-Richard, His Kanubic Travesty
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Richard Hopley, Winston-Salem, NC, USA
rhopley[at]earthlink[dot]net 1-301-775-0471
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rhople[at]wfubmc[dot]edu 1-336-713-5077
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Jeff Potter typed:

I'm thinking there's probably been both science done and comparison done
between all the various possible ways to paddle. Anyone have any details
on it?

Here are the options I see:

*standing up, single blade
*standing up, poling
*high-kneeling
*sitting, canoe
*sitting, kayak (dbl blade)