[Paddlewise] Fw: Greenland Paddle, Euro feather angle.

Subject: Re: [Paddlewise] Greenland Paddle, Euro feather angle.


As an old marathon racer, I used spoon (Euro) paddles for 20 years before
switching to GP's and AP's in the early 90's.  For those first twenty years, I
always used a 90 degree feather, but mainly because that amount of feather was
not considered a problem back then.  I never experienced any wrist issues in
all those years and thousands of miles.

After building several Baidarkas, and later Greenland boats, and realizing
just how well they performed, it occurred to me that if the boats were so well
designed by the Aleut and Inuit, didn't it seem fair to assume that their
paddles were just as well designed ?

That's when I made the switch, and I must admit that for the better part of a
year it was a difficult transition to the Arctic paddles.  It took a while,
but I would never  go back to the spoon blades.  They now feel like I'm
paddling with a club.  Touring speed is in no way reduced, and in fact, I'm a
bit faster over longer distances as I don't tire as quickly.

Initially, I made 96" paddles with  100+sq inches per blade as my first
paddles were modeled after Aleut paddles and I selected a size that was in a
Museum.  Over time, my paddles have gotten shorter ( 92"), and  narrower so
that today the square inches are 75.  This is still long by GP standards, but
I like a fairly low stroke, and so a longer paddle is feasible. The longer
paddles allow for a slower stroke rate, not unlike those of the Euro.

Everyone has their own way of paddling with these narrow blades, and mine is
no better or worse than the next guy's.  I didn't have the advantage of
reading about the so called "correct" technique, so after many years, my
technique just developed on it's own.

I'm adding a section on making GP breakdown paddles in my Folding Kayak
Builders E-Manual.  It should be added in about a week.

Tom

http://yostwerks.com<http://yostwerks.com/>
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