Hey All
Can any give me an expected average speed of a six person canoe for a sustained period in open water? Or to be more specific say you were crossing from O'ahu to Kaua'i you make no crew switches and you are not racing but you are a fit team of paddlers paddling in average (whatever that means?) conditions. What sort of speed can you average for the entire crossing?
Thanks for your thoughts
Scott
Submitted by flyxc on Fri, 02/03/2006 - 5:08am
I took GPS readings last year during several long distance races. The average speed varied among crews but as a rule (at least according to my readings), averaged between 6-8 mph. On swells, spikes in excess of 15 mph were recorded.
#1 Fri, 02/03/2006 - 7:47am
In long distance races do they normally do crew changes?
#2 Fri, 02/03/2006 - 10:11am
Yes they do. Generally the rule is paddle for 20 minutes, rest for 10 min, then back in for 20 minutes. The Queen Liliuokalani race is approximately 18 miles ( I could be wrong about that, someone please correct me if i am) and the Open crews go iron, no changes, but for the 40 years and older there is the option to do changes. Any race much longer than that and you would be doing changes.
The distance from Oahu to Kauai is about 100 miles, I think, and other than sailing canoes there are no races between those islands.
#3 Fri, 02/03/2006 - 10:47am