Sunday, July 08, 2007
Three Greenland Strokes: Storm, Race, Cruise
This short video of halfway decent quality is a mashup of clips from Radio KNR/Greenland and can be seen in its discrete parts at Qajaq USA, the American chapter of Qaannat Kattuffiat, the Greenland Kayaking Association.
There are three strokes shown: the storm paddle sliding stroke, ordinarily used in rough weather and heavy winds on a short paddle; the poweful vertical racing stroke; and the somewhat more horizontal cruising stroke. I've spliced the sequences together, added transitions, and tried to retain some image quality.
Greenland paddles are versatile tools capable of high speed. They take some getting used to.
In the next post I explain the dynamics of each stroke.
In the first sequence clip, Arne Nielsen uses a full-length paddle to demonstrate the sliding stroke, typically used with a short Greenland storm paddle in higher winds and rougher seas; in the second, he's using the highly-leveraged and fast vertical racing stroke. The athlete in the third sequence is using on flat water a more horizontal cruising stroke efficient in its restfulness and ease.
Check some of the previous posts about making Greenland paddles - a satisfying project most anyone can manage at home with a few basic tools.
- Duane Strokaser on making a carbon fiber Greenland paddle
- Dee Hall's router method for making multiple Greenland paddles
- Matt Johnson's free downloadable video
Because the sequences are basically short clips in repeating loops, you'll notice a bump and jump each time a loop repeats. I've also added slo-mo sequences for each stroke.
Qajaq USA encourages membership and site visitors, yet requests that visitors limit video downloads...so perhaps I'm helping spread the word about a worthy organization while at the same time saving their bandwidth.
Books on Greenland
Greenland Map:
Cold Dreams: Seven Seasons in Greenland:
Lonely Planet Guide to Greenland:
video sequences copyright Radio KNR; text copyright Sea Kayaking Dot Net
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2 comments:
The "storm" stroke in the video is obviously a sliding stoke, but the athlete shown is performing it with a full-length paddle. When used that way, it's more of a "passing stroke" or "sprint stroke", as it generates a burst of speed at the cost of a substantial increase in effort. It's fun to do, but very strenuous.
What most people think of as a "storm stroke" is a sliding stroke performed with a short paddle, often referred to in the US as a "storm paddle". Its purpose is to reduce the amount of energy required to paddle into a headwind, rather than to increase the paddler's speed.
Thanks, Anon. I made most of those points, aside from the sliding stroke's use as a racing stroke, in the text. The sliding stroke when used with a full-length paddle is for sure strenuous....
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