unless you're in a race-off or similar competition, idbf-spec would be a non-issue.
There are no paddle inspections at Vancouver, Kelowna etc... If a nutcrack out there goes around using telescopes to spy on people's gear and files protests after the race, than perhaps.
There is a wealth of information regarding power meters in professional cycling, in fact it's surpassed the venerable heart rate monitor. Having said that, every pro racer has both hooked up for every training session and race.
Heiko Salzwedal, who coached the Australian men's road team for many years before moving on to the British track team among other things, says the power meter has made a dramatic impact visible in the progression of world records in time trial events, many of which we saw broken at the recent Olympic games. "You can exactly calculate how many Watts you must produce to reach a certain time," he said. "Say in the 4000m team pursuit, you can set the training goals accordingly."With all the uses power meters can be put to and despite his enthusiasm on the subject, Martin does realize that the power meters to not perform magic. "An SRM doesn't make you faster," he laughs. "In fact if you put one on your bike it probably makes you slower. It is not the tool that makes you great. It's your ability to hone in on the information for your needs and troubleshoot. It probably won't make you any better than you are anyway"Source:
http://www.cyclingnews.com/fitness/?id=2004/power1This is innovative, and it will take some time for the public to learn the product to really gauge it's effectiveness
I have questions on whether or not there is a direct correlation between the power readings and corresponding hullspeeds. My initial thought is there may not be a linear connection.
Have a read here about how cycling meters work, and than ask yourself what is it exactly you're doing with the paddle to make the boat go faster, decide for yourself
http://www.biketechreview.com/archive/pm_review.htmIf the paddle does work, these may find a niche as a training tool. One example would be finding any weak spots through one's stroke. This would perhaps be as useful to recreational/beginning paddlers as it would be useless to a very experienced paddler.
A coach could overlay data and spot any deficiencies within the group. Again, assuming the data has that magic connection to boat speed.
for concrete gains regarding these paddles, I strongly believe one would require professional and external coaching to run and design the training program, if they work.
otherwise, there is a wealth of options and training tools already available that should be fully exploited first (training methods, thought processes etc). For myself, I'd rate the power meter paddle as a bottom of the barrel option.
ultimately, it remains to be said that time will tell the real story. In 5-10 years time, these could revolutionize the sport, or just as easily disappear altogether. There have been a number of strange, technical, sporting innovations that turned out to have great impact in the end. HRM's, clap skates, Power Cranks (which had an unanticipated benefit to runners as well as cyclists) etc etc... who knew?
