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Sweep-oar rowing a coxed pair
Above:sweep-oar rowingacoxed pair
Below:amphibious bicycle'Cyclomer', Paris, 1932
An amphibious bicycle

Human-powered watercraftarewatercraftpropelled only byhuman power,instead of being propelled bywind power(via one or moresails) or anengine.

The three main methods of exerting human power are:

  1. directly from the hands or feet, sometimes aided byswimfins;
  2. through hand-operatedoars,paddles,orpoles,or;
  3. through the feet withpedals,cranksetortreadle.[1]

While most human-powered watercraft usebuoyancyto maintain their position relative to the surface of the water, a few, such ashuman-powered hydrofoilsand human-poweredsubmarines,usehydrofoils,either alone or in addition to buoyancy.

Oared craft

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Main article:Rowing

Oars are held at one end, have a blade on the other end, andpivotin between inoarlocks.

Oared craft include:

A racingscull

Using oars in pairs, with one hand on each oar, istwo-oar sculling.The oars may also be called sculls.[2]

Two-oared sculled craft include:

Rowing atrainera

Using oars individually, with both hands on a single oar, issweep or sweep-oar rowing.[2]In this case the rowers are usually paired so that there is an oar on each side of the boat.

Sweep-oared craft include:

Scullingsampans

Moving a single stern-mounted oar from side to side, while changing the angle of the blade so as to generate forward thrust on both strokes, issingle-oar sculling.[4]

Single-oar sculled craft include:

Paddlecraft

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A canoe
A kayak
Acanoe(upper) and akayak(lower)
Main article:Paddling

Paddled watercraft, or paddlecraft, uses one or more handheldpaddles,each with a widened blade on one or both ends, to push water and propel the watercraft.. Commonly seen paddlecrafts include:

Pedaled craft

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A pedalo
A hydrocyle
Apedalo(upper) and ahydrocycle(lower)

Pedals are attached to a crank and propelled in circles, or to atreadleandreciprocated,[citation needed]with the feet. The collected power is then transferred to the water with apaddle wheel,flippers,[8][9][10]or to the air or water with apropeller.

Pedaled craft include:

Poled craft

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A pole is held with both hands and used to push against the bottom.

Poled craft include:

Other types

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Hand-operatedcable ferry

Other types of human-powered watercraft include:

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  • Hand paddling surfboards
    Hand paddlingsurfboards
  • Polling a raft
    Polling araft
  • Sculling a gondola
    Sculling agondola
  • Paddling an umiak
    Paddling anumiak
  • Decavitator, the world's fastest human-powered watercraft, is a pedal-powered hydrofoil
    Decavitator,the world's fastest human-powered watercraft, is a pedal-powered hydrofoil
  • Starting an AquaSkipper hydrofoil
    Starting an AquaSkipperhydrofoil
  • Woman rowing sampan with her feet in Ninh Bình Province of northern Vietnam
    Woman rowingsampanwith her feet in Ninh Bình Province of northern Vietnam
  • Human powered aqua-cycle water trikes in the Pacific Ocean with Diamond Head, Hawaii in the background.
    Human powered aqua-cycle water trikes in thePacific OceanwithDiamond Head, Hawaiiin the background.
  • race in a wooden sow trough (ge: Sautrogrennen) in Bavaria, Germany (2012)
    race in a wooden sow trough (ge: Sautrogrennen) in Bavaria, Germany (2012)

See also

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References

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  1. ^Wilson, David Gordon; Schmidt, Theodor; et al. (May 2020).Bicycling Science(4th paperback ed.). Cambridge, MA: TheMIT Press.
  2. ^ab"Sweep vs. Sculling".Virginia Boat Club. Archived fromthe originalon 2011-08-24.Retrieved2011-07-27.
  3. ^Matthew Pike (January 30, 2018)."How Vietnamese Guides Row With Their Feet".TheCulturalTrip.Retrieved2018-10-12.They row with their feet. As Mrs. Gấm puts it: "Rowing boat by feet is much quicker and less exhausting than by hands."
  4. ^Joseph Needham, Colin A. Ronan (1978).The Shorter Science and Civilisation in China.Cambridge University Press.ISBN9780521315609.Retrieved2011-07-27.
  5. ^Cummins, Anthony (3 October 2013).The Book of Ninja: The Bansenshukai - Japan's Premier Ninja Manual.Watkins Media Limited.ISBN9781780286310.
  6. ^"John ' Lofty' Wiseman SAS Survival Handbook the Ultimate Guide to Surviving Anywhere William Morrow ( 2014)".May 2014.
  7. ^"Water Tools · mộc ẩn".27 November 2023.
  8. ^abMike Hanlon (June 4, 2004)."Hobie Pedal Kayak".GizMag.Retrieved2015-10-22.The sturdily constructed pedal/flipper mechanism operates like a penguin's fins - swinging laterally underneath the hull as you pedal.
  9. ^abT. Edward Nickens (Mar 8, 2010)."How to Catch Big Game Fish—From a Kayak".Popular Mechanics.Retrieved2015-10-22.It's outfitted with the MirageDrive propulsion system, a pedal-powered pair of flexible fins that function as oscillating foils—much like penguin and sea-turtle flippers.
  10. ^ab"Pedal-powered paddles a rela xing way to explore".The Daily Telegraph.Oct 30, 2008.Retrieved2015-10-22.Instead of a conventional paddle, these kayaks can be powered by a foot-pedal system which drives two under-keel fins. Inspired by penguin flippers, the fins swing side to side.
  11. ^Charlie Sorrel (Oct 19, 2010)."Pedal Powered Submarine Dives to 20-Feet".Wired.Retrieved2015-10-22.The Scubster is an underwater bike, a pedal powered submarine with twin propellors [sic] that push it through the water at a speedy 5mph.
  12. ^Timon Singh (Aug 25, 2010)."French Engineers Design a Pedal-Powered Submarine".Inhabitat.Retrieved2015-10-22.First there was the bicycle, then the pedalo boat, then the pedal-powered aircraft — and now, thanks to a team of French engineers, the world has the pedal-powered submarine.
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