Human-powered watercraft


Human-powered watercraft are watercraft propelled only by human power, instead of being propelled by wind power or an engine.
The three main methods of exerting human power are:
  1. directly from the hands or feet, sometimes aided by swimfins;
  2. through hand-operated oars, paddles, or poles, or;
  3. through the feet with pedals, crankset or treadle.
While most human-powered watercraft use buoyancy to maintain their position relative to the surface of the water, a few, such as human-powered hydrofoils and human-powered submarines, use hydrofoils, either alone or in addition to buoyancy.

Oared craft

Oars are held at one end, have a blade on the other end, and pivot in between in oarlocks.
Oared craft include:
Using oars in pairs, with one hand on each oar, is two-oar sculling. The oars may also be called sculls.
Two-oared sculled craft include:
Using oars individually, with both hands on a single oar, is sweep or sweep-oar rowing. In this case the rowers are usually paired so that there is an oar on each side of the boat.
Sweep-oared craft include:
Moving a single stern-mounted oar from side to side, while changing the angle of the blade so as to generate forward thrust on both strokes, is single-oar sculling.
Single-oar sculled craft include:

Paddlecraft

Paddled watercraft, or paddlecraft, uses one or more handheld paddles, each with a widened blade on one or both ends, to push water and propel the watercraft.. Commonly seen paddlecrafts include:

Pedaled craft

Pedals are attached to a crank and propelled in circles, or to a treadle and reciprocated, with the feet. The collected power is then transferred to the water with a paddle wheel, flippers, or to the air or water with a propeller.
Pedaled craft include:

Poled craft

A pole is held with both hands and used to push against the bottom.
Poled craft include:

Other types

Other types of human-powered watercraft include: