canoe maker

New Biomimicry Paddle Design

Longtime blog reader Bryan (who recently started a paddling business - Cold Spring Paddling - sent me an email of a creative paddle project by Chad Townsend of Banff, Alberta. It's called the Shearwater webbed paddle which aims to combine mechanical engineering, evolutionary biology, and modern material capabilities.



Some details of their product from their website:

• a practical application of �biomimicry' (copying nature's engineering / efficiency);
  
• a uniquely compact paddle adaptable for a variety of water sports (webbed blade folds inward, and shaft breaks down for storage and transport);
  
• an educational tool for science centers, camps, and parks.

Like many young entrepreneurs today, fund raising online is part of the process. You can read more about this inventor's plans here. As a traditionalist, I don't think I'll be carving any paddles like this anytime soon, but for any other paddlers wishing to push the design envelope to its limits, this might be up your alley.