G'day, Two of my paddles are the same length from blade tip to blade tip. One is approximately 20x6 inches blade size, the other about 18x7.5. Their geometry is different. Both have similar degrees of curvature but the 20x6 blade curves more at the tip. The 20x6 blade is much more rounded on the corners and tilts slightly back away from the shaft. It also leaks a bit and is heavier at the end of a days paddle than the 20x6 paddle. I paddle with a very vertical stroke, my friends with a much flatter stroke. I have low upper body strength my friends have relatively high upper body strength (one of them constantly lifts racing boats every day as part of his job). I paddle with a slow cadence they paddle with a faster cadence and faster boat speed through the water. Despite the leak in the 20x6 blade paddle, we all of us would rather use it than the 18x7.5 blade. We don't always agree about paddling technique but each of us find the 18x7.5 is much harder work and just doesn't feel right. In this case it seems the paddle shape, rather than curvature or area or paddling style, determines the ease of paddling. All the best, PeterO *************************************************************************** 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/ ***************************************************************************Received on Tue Jul 23 2002 - 06:11:23 PDT
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