Human-powered watercraft are watercraft propelled only by human power, instead of being propelled by wind power (via one or more sails) or an engine.
The three main methods of exerting human power are:
- directly from the hands or feet, sometimes aided by swimfins;
- through hand-operated oars, paddles, or poles, or;
- through the feet with pedals, crankset or treadle.[1]
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.
- ^ Wilson, David Gordon; Schmidt, Theodor; et al. (May 2020). Bicycling Science (4th paperback ed.). Cambridge, MA: The MIT Press.