[Paddlewise] racing with a long paddle

My wife father, Richard J. Vogel, was a paddler. He paddled from New York
City to Albany, NY three times. I said the other day that I use a 9 ft
paddle routinely and sometimes an 8.5 ft with a slightly larger blade. I am
right handed, but paddle left hand control. My Iliad was 200 cm, had a big
blade, good for rolling and WAS NOT the clunker described by Matt. I use it
still with my white water boat. It seems indestructible.

 

Mr. Vogel used an 8 ft 7 inch paddle, left hand control, 90 degree offset,
and he was right handed. He paddled a wooden canoe, the Peterborough
Cruiser, that was 16 ft long and 30 inches wide amidships. He sat on a small
box seat, 3-4 inches high, on the floor of the boat, legs out stretched on
the floor of the boat, heals together and knees apart, a power position for
power paddling with a paddle permitting maximum torso rotation power. He was
about 5ft 10 inches tall. We have the boat in our boat shed. On October
15-17, 1921, Mr. Vogel, at age 28, set the record at that time for paddling
up the Hudson river from NY to Albany, 110 miles, in 36 hours, 45 minutes.
If there had been a deck over the boat, except for the cockpit, we would
call it a kayak today. There was no rudder. He carried food, water and
perhaps a blanket with him.

 

Ain't it just a shame that he had to use such an inefficient paddle! Or
maybe he knew something about how to use it. Please consider this my "REPORT
BACK" on the use of long paddles.

 

Chuck Sutherland
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