Re: [Paddlewise] observation from Blackburn Challenge

From: Kirk Olsen <kork4_at_cluemail.com>
Date: Fri, 20 Jul 2012 13:33:44 -0400
Good luck in the surf ski champs, I would love to hear your race
report afterwards.   The XT is a good choice for that race.

I've had friends go out for the race.  They paddle 17" beam boats
here and were happy to be on V10 sports and XTs in San Francisco.
 Well all of the locals except Alex McLain - she used a 17 inch
beam Huki S1X, and did well.

I'm okay on the 17" beam boat for workouts and the first 2 hours
of a race.  After that it gets ugly.    At least for me a fairly
short paddle length (I use a 209.5 cm)  and a high turn over are
better than a longer paddle or a more deliberate stroke.  A
single brace can really mess with your speed and alignment....

Kirk

On Thu, Jul 19, 2012, at 12:42 PM, Duane Strosaker wrote:

Kirk,

I totally agree about stability. The 17 inch wide Fenn Elite was
kicking my butt in the ocean, so I switched to the 19 inch wide
Fenn XT. I'll be using the XT in the US Surfski Champs at San
Francisco on August 4th, because the water gets so wild there. I
also recently bought the 18 inch wide Fenn Swordfish as a step up
in performance and will start using it after the champs. But I'll
be saving the XT for the rough days. I don't believe I could ever
be good enough to handle a 17 wide surfski well on the ocean. I
can keep upright on them, but being able to apply full power for
the forward stroke while bouncing around is another thing.
-- 
  Kirk Olsen
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Received on Fri Jul 20 2012 - 10:33:50 PDT

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