[Paddlewise] Greenland Paddle,Toksook feather angle, and sculling with wooden paddles

Ken Rasmussen
kayakfit_at_fidalgo.net
www.kayakfit.com

subject:  Greenland Paddle,Toksook feather angle, and sculling with wooden
paddles

    I come from a cycling background, and when someone first handed me a kayak
paddle about 15 years ago, my response was, "This is a single speed bicycle
stuck in high gear!!"  I immediately switched to a shorter paddle, and then to
a shorter paddle again, and then to an even shorter paddle.  I had to cut the
blade down a bit to get clearance for the gunwale of the kayak--I basically
changed the blade from asymmetrical to symmetrical.  At the same time, my
cadence increased markedly.
    Another way to reduce stress and increase cadence is to reduce the blade
size.  This decreases the efficiency of propulsion, but reduces strain.  The
most remarkable demonstration I've ever seen of the principle was by a friend
of mine who made the ultimate low stress paddle.  It was amazingly short,
amazingly small (the blades were the size of bread slices), and had a bend
like a marathon canoe paddle.  I tried it, and it felt broken, like there was
nothing there.
    Three of us were paddling up a small river, into a stiff headwind.
Naturally the fellow with the ridiculous paddle was last.  As time went on he
drew even with us, then he passed us, then he went out of sight ahead of us.
He wasn't getting any faster.  We just got progressively slower from fatigue.
He was doing such easy work that he wasn't fatiguing very quickly.  I tried a
roll with his silly paddle, and it worked, but I wouldn't have cared to take
it out in perilous conditions.
    Paddle lengths have been decreasing, but people are still buying them too
long.  It goes with a very lethargic "slump back and paddle slow style", or
with a macho "pull really hard on the paddle" mentality.  Racers use around
225 cm and paddle really fast.  To me 225 can't be paddled very fast for very
long--it too is a big gear, but it is fine for those who have developed the
strength to use it.  So why are recreational paddlers able to manage 230 and
240 centimeter paddles?  They aren't managing.  In a headwind they are
pathetic.  It is no wonder people are moving to Greenland Paddles.  You've got
to find a way out of high gear!!

    Regarding feather, I don't think you can paddle 90 degree feather without
cocking the wrist.  That is the reason why 75, 60, and 45 degree paddles came
into existence.  For me, 57 to 60 degrees of feather results in exactly the
correct attitude of the non-control hand blade when I merely raise my control
hand.  On the control hand side I'm holding the paddle so that it is at the
correct attitude as it enters the water with a straight wrist.  I use very
short paddles with a very high angle stroke.  A different length of paddle and
a different style of stroke might affect the choice of feather angle.  For me,
the only way to paddle with a straight wrist is to use a feathered paddle with
57 to 60 degrees of feather.  Greater and lesser feather angles require
accommodation with the wrists.

    I'm very interested to hear about the Toksook paddle, and hope to try one
soon.  I know Greenland paddles have marvelous characteristics for sculling
and rolling, but no one has answered my original question about Euro style
wooden paddles that are particularly good for the sculling brace and for the
sweep roll?  Which work best?  Is a longer, narrower blade like the Toksook
willow leaf shape best, or is a shorter broader blade better?  Does an
airplane wing cross sectional shape result in superior lift as compared to a
lentil (seen edgo on) shape, or a Toksook double dihedral?  I've been trying
as many wooden paddles as I can, and the differences are huge, but I haven't
got enough data to draw conclusions yet.  What are your observations?
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