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I wouldn't say it's common at all in boats. The two main human-powered boats are canoes and kayaks, and both use the arms, not the legs. There's also rowboats
by midoridensha 4y ago
I wouldn't say it's common at all in boats. The two main human-powered boats are canoes and kayaks, and both use the arms, not the legs. There's also rowboats, which again use the arms. Pedal-powered kayaks do exist, but are rare.
It would make more sense to use the legs, but it's a much bigger engineering challenge than making a simple paddle and a boat that floats with no holes in the bottom.
- rstupek 4y agoRowing is not solely an arm mechanism but his actually driven by the legs
- prodent 4y agoAs a rower myself I wanted to type the same correction initially, but then realized that the parent comment is probably referring to a rowboat rather than a racing shell. No sliding seat, no leg drive.
- midoridensha 4y agoRowing in a real rowboat has little to do with the legs: the seat is fixed. It has a lot to do with the back, however. "Rowing machines" have very little to do with real rowboats. Real rowboats don't have sliding seats.
- cjpearson 4y agoSliding seats are used for competitive rowing. For example: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rowing_(sport)#Technique https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rowing_(sport)#Technique
- midoridensha 4y agoWhen normal people talk about a "rowboat", this is what they're referring to: https://images.app.goo.gl/UsSUQCWLLNPmkDf39 https://images.app.goo.gl/UsSUQCWLLNPmkDf39
- deleted 4y ago[deleted]
- matthewmcg 4y agoThat's certainly true--oars are by far the most common configuration for human powered boats. I was thinking more about human powered boats that set speed records, e.g. the Decavitator https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Decavitator https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Decavitator A lot of this might just be because Mark Drela, who was involved in the design of several of the aircraft and boats on this list, is a cyclist.