Dave wrote:...When I had joints and tendons which could take the abuse, a longer paddle was also more efficient..... I would argue that the paddle that gives you a natural and easy to maintain cadence is likely more efficient than a shorter paddle that requires too high a cadence to comfortably maintain. Also a paddle long enough to clear the deck and sides of the kayak while the blade is buried completely will be more efficient than a shorter paddle as well. However, going much longer than that creates other inefficiencies such as the blade operating further off the centerline (or too deep) and by putting more strain on the body with each stroke if you are trying to maintain a pace near hull speed anyhow. Think about being in the right gear when pedalling a bicycle up a slight hill, the longer the paddle the higher the gear. A bike racer is obsessed about efficiency. Too low a gear and they loose coordination or spend too much effort trying to maintain it, but those racers prefer a higher cadence rather than a lower one that higher gear brings (or a longer paddle would bring). Paddlewises Chuck Sutherland may argue with this if he is still using that 108" (274cm) paddle we had custom made for him years ago. I've settled on paddles in the 215 to 220cm range for cruising (and racing when I did so). I use considerably shorter ones for whitewater (where I was sitting lower in the water and needed to accellerate quickly a lot). Same for surfing any kayak. The lower gear of the shorter paddle makes for better accelleration when you need it for catching a wave. My WW paddles (which I also preferred in ocean breakers with a sea kayak) are in the 196 to 204cm range. I wouldn't want to have to paddle long distnces with them though because the stroke rate to get the kayak to hull speed is uncomfortable to maintain for very long. Also, I wouldn't want to use my lightweight graphite touring paddles in breakers anyway as they break a lot easier than the WW paddles and are very expensive to replace. If, as Craig found out, you can replace them at all. Does anyone have a graphite Lightning paddle they want to sell Craig? *************************************************************************** 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 Thu Jul 16 2009 - 16:31:57 PDT
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