John Winters wrote: > > Good question, and one I've been thinking about. There's the wind advantage, > > of course; high-aspect ratio blades aren't as efficient at catching wind as > > are wider >blades at low air speeds. > > How would it compare to a feathered paddle? > Good question, and I really don't know. > In my own case I use an > unfeathered low aspect ratio paddle but in wind keep the paddle low in > front > of me where it merges with the flow around my body. I do that, too. I wonder if there's an advantage in keeping the paddle low that's due to the slower air in the boundary layer closer to the water? > > 1. I think the high aspect ratio paddles are amenable to a wider range of > > paddling styles. It's *much* easier to vary the amount of blade in the water, > > which lets >you sort of gearshift that way. I usually use a wide, low stroke > > in which the entire blade is not submerged. I can change to a very vertical > > stroke when I need a >burst of acceleration. > > > Since you can vary the forces on a low aspect ratio paddle by feathering it as > well as varying its immersion it would seem a wash. > Perhaps. I don't do any intentional varying of the angle. I'm just trying to hold a constant angle. When I wrote about controlling the angle, that's what I meant- setting an angle and holding it. > ... Do you get thrown off balance with all low > aspect ratio blades? > I occasionally get thrown off with all sorts of paddles, wide and narrow, when I misjudge the blade angle.. What I like about the Greenland paddle is that sense of blade angle by wrapping your fingers around the root of the blade. I feel more confident in leaning over and supporting myself without looking first to see if that scull will actually support me ;-) > 4. Similarly: The angle of attack is less critical in maneuvers like a > sculling brace. Tip a Euro-style paddle blade a bit and it dives under the > surface. With the >Greenland style blade you can feel where it's supposed to > be. Err a bit, and you can recover without dragging yourself into an > unintentional roll. > This sounds like a problem with specific paddle blades and not the entire > genre. > True; it's more critical with wing paddles and other asymmetrical blades. But with a Greenland paddle it's just not at issue at all. A sculling brace, for example, is much easier. > White-water paddlers who have to deal with turbulent water in the > extreme and do some heavy duty manoeuvring and bracing mostly use low aspect > ratio paddles (in my experience) . If the low aspect ratio paddle caused > control problems why doe sit seem so popular in conditions where control means > so much? > I'm guessing it's because the advantage of higher torque available outweighs the increased need for practice and control. Of course, to a well-practiced WW paddler there probably aren't any control issues. I'm not saying it's a fatal flaw of non-Greenland paddles, only that the Greenland paddle is easier in that regard. -- mike ------------------------- Michael Edelman mje_at_spamcop.net http://www.foldingkayaks.org http://www.findascope.com *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - Any opinions or suggestions expressed here are solely those of the writer(s). You must assume the entire responsibility for reliance upon them. All postings copyright the author. Submissions: PaddleWise_at_PaddleWise.net Subscriptions: PaddleWise-request_at_PaddleWise.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************
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