Re: Kayak workouts

Posted by Camper on Dec 4, 2007

Congratulations, Duke E. Schmutz of Upper Shinsplintz, NJ.! You correctly answered our quiz question by identifying the airplane propeller as being faster (more efficient) than any kayak paddle that paddles water.

An air prop was chosen for this reason by the builders of a very fast hydrofoil kayak that was written up on the web a couple years back.

Thanks to the thousands of other kayakers, who all submitted the unlucky guess "Greenland paddle". Apparently the vortexes that trail off of an ordinary paddle or oar carry off too much energy for a paddle to compete with a prop.

Of course, an air prop wastes lots of power by shedding vortices near the tips of the foil, too, in a phenomenon known as "induced drag", but I guess that it's just not as bad as a paddle. Don't really know, I am just a game show host, not a scientist.

In Response to: Re: Kayak workouts by Camper on Nov 29, 2007

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