: I can't help thinking that 95% of the motive force is explained by
: Newton's third ? law.Well one of them,"Every force has an
: equal and oposite reaction.This idea of a wing and aerofoil
: effect is hard to believe when the blade is not used like a wing
: but like well,someone dipping a piece of wood in the water and
: pulling.cheers,

Your hitting on why I am asking. But, what got me to thinking is that you are leaning/canting the blade as you paddle. So as water slide around the blade I am wondering if you're creating lift in front of the blade because of the shape and angle of the blade?

It's just one of the things I have been thinking about and figure there is a good explanation somewhere out there of how they really work. Doesn't really matter, I am just curious and I do get asked about it a lot. And while I have never attempted to measure the are of one, the face are looks smaller than a Euro but that may not be case.