Rowing a Kayak

This is something I've not seen before. Anyone ever row a kayak before?

I know that NuCanoe has a rowing kit for the Frontier. I have never tried it though....Interesting...

That video made me wanna dance for some reason!

No thanks. That guy makes it look easy. Rowing is no fun in my opinion. Those guys that kayak the white water don't row for a reason. I had a raft once and had to row that thing in the wind it tired me out really fast. Its a an interesting idea but definitely not for me. I would also think that that stuff would get in my way while fighting a fish.

I dont think it would be as efficient. To maintain any speed you have to go in reverse. I wanna see where im going

Oh Hail No!

Uh....no

I like it

I wonder about sustained efficiency, you're rowing by pushing your arms forward. It doesn't look natural or comfortable.

There is a guy at Lake Athens with a touring kayak that has a rowing setup with a linkage that reverses the rowing motion, i.e., pulling the oar handles propels him forward. It's a long kayak, probably 17-18', and I've seen him paddle from the west side of the lake to the dam and back in about 45-50 minutes many times. That's more than 5 miles any way you cut it, and I'm sure I've seen him make the trip in less time than that at least a few times. I would bet he's averaging at least 7 mph on his faster mornings. Maybe faster.

https://www.ghboats.com/options/accessories/forwardrow/

One of many if you search forward facing rowing. I have seen them on a pirogue but have never tried them and would bet they can be quite efficient. The problem I see with a lot of them is they are as expensive as a kayak.

I'd pass on that!

I'd bet you could move pretty dang quick like that.

With rowing, you'll get more torque than paddling, but not much speed as paddling.
Most kayakers want Speed.

Even though rowing is more efficient than paddling- two strokes working together, with no wasted energy correcting the stroke induced steer correction and the involvement of more muscle groups to power the stroke- kayaks with rowing rigs are simply not designed to make efficient use of human anatomy to get the most efficient transfer of energy out of a rowing rig. For example, rowing sculls typically have a sliding seat that allows the involvement of the legs and lower back in the power stroke. That feature alone gives them a huge advantage over paddling. Olympic level scullers in single scull approach 12 miles per hour sustained over 1500 meters! A kayak couldn't come close to this speed in any situation (unless they had a torqeedo.) Plus (since we are talking of fishing) a rower can see his teasers and shotguns when trolling for billfish!!!!



cricman

Who still wants a Hobie Drive after seeing this?

LOL, he's leaving a wake!