How to win the kayak Olympics : Or how to design and produce an innovative flatwater kayak paddle…

Sammanfattning: A kayak is a very ancient way of riding in the water ; human-powered, it is propelled by means of a double bladepaddle. It is used nowadays to fish, to travel, or to compete at the Olympics. It is the 1,000 meters flat-waterrace that led this project, and particularly its improvement for Steven Ferguson, the actual New-Zealand kayakchampion. This report presents the different parts that have been investigated to improve the paddle efficiencyin the water, and therefore the speed of a kayak athlete on the water.Kayaks are 4,000 years old, and kept since the basic shapes of their hull and paddle. It is only in 1987 that aNorwegian team developed an improved paddle, which is still used nowadays. Every paddle currently availableon the market follow this design. Based on fashions and on the success of athletes, they were unable to suggestany major improvement since. This project suggests a way of significantly improve the performance of an athletein a flat-water kayaking competition.