[Paddlewise] Using the Angled Greenland Stroke with a Feathered Euro Paddle

The last few times I was out paddling I tried using the stroke where the
upper part of the blade is angled forward on blade entry and the elbows are
held down near ones sides and one rotates at the waist for power. I was
doing this with my Epic Wayfarer graphite paddle (with 18” by 7.35” blades)
paddled left feather. I have played with this stroke before but never with
using the forward angle on the paddle of about 30 degrees (or with a GPS to
measure my speed). While cruising I found this technique to work
surprisingly well and I could maintain a speed of 4.9 knots over long
distances with it in my Mariner II. This stroke was however not good for
acceleration or pushing faster with more power. Using a more European stroke
of about 45 degrees I could maintain about 5.2 knots (but was clearly
working harder to do so—the point is it was possible). I’d guess the effort
was roughly equal with both techniques at 4.9 knots and lower. To me this
means that it is another stroke to add to my quiver to trade of with when my
muscles get tired doing one stroke. I almost capsized several times when I
forgot to not use the forward tilted blade angle when starting from a
stopped position. Then the blade would dive down sharply when I applied the
power needed to accelerate. I’ll have to be careful to learn to switch the
angle for starting up and rapid accelerations. I think the reason this
stroke may work as well as it does is that it allows you to pull directly
toward your shoulder. While this may not be applying power as directly in
the opposite direction of your kayaks motion (and therefore be less
efficient) the pull directly in line with your arm is easier on your body
and this compensates for the pull at the “wrong” angle. The forward angle of
the top of the blade also lets the low angled paddle blade slice into the
water very cleanly. This clean entry provides a better grip on the water
than a stroke that lets a pocket of air “ventilate” behind the back of the
blade.
Next time I’ll see if I can keep this entry angle and also slide the paddle
while I feather it too. One nice thing about this stroke for unfeathered
paddlers is that it keeps the paddle blades lower where the waters surface
has slowed the (head)winds more. Angling forward may also cut the windage on
an unfeathered paddle further.
So far I don’t see any reason someone needs a narrow or unfeathered paddle
to use these Eskimo techniques. I think I may be getting the best of both
worlds this way.

Matt Broze
http://www.marinerkayaks.com <http://www.marinerkayaks.com/>


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