I have been paddling with wing paddles virtually exclusively for the last 6 years. While initially requiring some changes in technique both for an efficient forward stroke, and for braces, familiarity almost invariably results in a strong desire to never ever use another flat blade. Indeed, I even had a 204cm paddle with sprint blades made up which I use whenever I hit the surf on our wild west coast here, with our little 8 foot surf yak. For me the chief advantages of the wing are efficiency, particularly if you like going fast, grip on the water for accelleration when catching waves (bites like a Rottweiler on steroids!), and the action which to me is a more natural action in that the blade virtually requires no "steering" as you power on. For the amount of bite, they are also more forgiving in strong winds which is important as i love paddling when it's blowing hard and there are lots of waves to chase. They are relatively poor for some technical strokes such as at the tail end of a sweep stroke, or when trying to scull the paddle forwards however over time I have learned to scull up from a capsize, and pull off Dufeks while paddling polo boats. It all depends just what you wnat to do. The final thing is that being a racing paddle, they are very light built in carbon which helps reduce fatigue. I still use my first wing paddle following racing, sea kayaking, touring and even racing through Grade 1-2 whitewater (crunch go the rocks....) so they are well built. Here in NZ, there are a growing number of paddlers sea kayaking with them, and even Paul Caffyn was rumoured to have recently been seen trying out some. Paul's current paddling partner uses then exclusively for his sea kayaking and in recent years they have done trips in NZ and also in Alaska, New Caledonia and Greenland together. Glyn Dickson Auckland Paddling Perfection New Zealand Finest Quality Hand Crafted kayaks *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List Submissions: paddlewise_at_lists.intelenet.net Subscriptions: paddlewise-request_at_lists.intelenet.net Website: http://www.gasp-seakayak.net/paddlewise/ ***************************************************************************Received on Wed Nov 04 1998 - 16:25:43 PST
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