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Sardinian,
That must be a beautiful place to live, sail, pedal, & paddle. Got to look up some pics.
You asked:
I wonder how many of you paddle (i mean real paddling not justa couple of strokes) on your Island.
I would like to paddle more for two main reasons:
1 - during a long trip with light wind and a lot of peddling it could be useful to rest our legs
2 - exercising also the muscles of the upper part of the body.
I have often wondered exactly the same things. Some thoughts:
PADDLING EFFECIENCY/TECHNIQUE
I have never heard of any actual clinical physiological study that measures the amount of energy used or work done or caloric output comparing specific muscles such as torso vs. shoulders vs. arms while paddling. Nor any study that compares paddling to pedaling. Nor any study that compares any of the above between trained olympic athletes and casual recreational athletes. Nor any study that compares any of the above to different body builds, sizes, shapes, or genders.
What we have are forums, books, articles, classes, lectures, and sales staff all quoting each other. That is an understandable state of affairs and not such a bad thing. Much of the “info” is excellent and wise. I agree with most of it. But I think that it is all speculation, including my own opinions.
One item addressed by TI Tom is that proper paddling uses primarily torso rather than arms. I agree, but feel this technique is sometimes over stated. Arms are not wet noodles attaching torso to paddle. They must transmit all of the power to the paddle. And they must transmit it dynamically through the length of the stroke. It takes muscle and work to do that. And I suspect that in the process of transmitting power, they add power to the stroke — even in a highly trained paddler.
Even if the torso contributes, say 70% of the paddle power, leaving 30% for arms/shoulders, it’s possible that arms may be enough smaller or weaker than torso that they have to work harder than the torso to do what they have to do. And the harder the torso works, the harder the arms must work. Even with proper torso technique, arms may exhaust first or injure first.
The Lower body also does some work in transmitting power from paddle to hull. Gravity does much of that — more so in some of us than others. Foot and thigh braces in sit-in kayaks provide surface area for muscles to work on.
Kayakers much wiser than myself have said on several forums that there is no single best way to paddle because bodies and boats are all different. Further, each person over time will automatically find the way that is best and most efficient way for their particular body and boat— just as arctic hunters did centuries ago.
My conclusion: Yes, paddling is useful propulsion and will provide good exercise to the entire upper body, as well as some of the lower. However, in spite of my intentions when I bought my TI, I almost never paddle.
PEDALING
Only leg and some back muscles are used to provide power and transmit it to the paddles on the pedals. That is, the engine and drive train are one and the same. Further, power is transmitted from fins to hull directly through the pins holding the mirage drive — no human involved. Perhaps that is why pedaling feels so much easier than paddling. It is direct drive. No crankshaft, no drive shaft, no transmission. The whole upper body could be a wet noodle.
Or it could be, as several Hobie sales people told me, that pedaling is easier because legs are stronger than arms. I did not remind them of strong torsos, as I was confused myself. But I only needed 30 minutes in a TI to know that the paddle had been demoted in my life to a push pole for the dock.
But what about upper body exercise and giving the legs an occasional break on a calm day?
Well, yes I still do that some — but not often. When I paddle for more than 5 minutes or so my strokes start to resemble a bad piece of music: 4 notes with 2 rests, 4 notes with 2 rests, 4 notes with 2 rests — etc. After 30 minutes it’s more like 2 notes with 4 pants. On a good day I might do 10 minutes paddling with 1 minute resting.
My problem is Isaac Newton with his knowledge (which is not speculation), that a body at rest tends to stay at rest and a body in motion tends to stay in motion. Thus it takes a LOT more power to start up from a stop than it does to continue in motion. My body does not have stamina to stay in motion. So over the course of several hours I exhaust myself by starting up over and over. Pedaling solved this problem for me (I can handle a continuous pedal for hours — even solo on a TI, though I suspect I am a lot slower than most forum members.)
PEDALING & PADDLING ALTERNATELY
There is another consequence of Newton’s law. I understand that that driving into a brick wall at 40 mph causes 4 times as much damage as hitting it at 20 mph. Translated to kayak: Moving at 2 knots only takes a quarter of the energy it takes to move at 4 knots. If I have the time, my weak body will get the kayak a lot further the slower I go. I draw the following conclusions for my TI, and would love to be corrected by anyone who understands such things better than myself.
a) When traveling with 2 people, maximizing distance (at the expense of time, which is less important to me) and making the most efficient use of the very limited stamina of two older people, it is better to take turns powering the boat rather than working together. This way each gets a rest, and the boat goes further over the course of the day by staying in motion for more of the day, though at a lower speed.
b) If one of the two people prefers paddling — injury? disability? hates bicycling but loves kayaking? stronger upper body? — it is still more efficient to alternate the two people with their respective powering method. Each gets a rest and boat keeps moving, though at different speeds with each. And of course, time at the helm does not have to be divided equally.
c) When traveling alone, it is more efficient to go slower. This can be accomplished with smaller paddle blades and/or non-turbo fins on the mirage drive, as well as just paddling slower. I confess that I do use the turbo fins on the mirage drive because I like them in currents and wind (especially to come about quickly). Wish I could swap back and forth during a trip (change gears). For years I have used a much smaller paddle blade than most I see in use (probably less than half the surface area of a typical blade). Never noticed a problem, even soloing with a heavily loaded double kayak in strong winds.
d) All of the above principles apply if the word person is replaced with the words, “electric motor,” and the word stamina is replaced with the word “battery.”
PEDALING AND PADDLING SIMULTANEOUSLY
Tried it several times. Does not work for me - even without sail & amas. My problem is not legs or arms or torso or coordination. My problem is stamina. I have trouble finding stamina for either method alone. Put them together and I’m exhausted in no time at all — long before arms or legs get tired or sore.
Fusioneng, I love your idea of using a rope on the pedals. Can’t wait to try it. Where do you tie it?
Good Sailing,
Brian
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