"Michael Daly" wrote in message ...
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Technically, you don't size the paddle, you size the shaft. If the shaft is
the right length, it doesn't matter what size blades you put on, they'll
still end up under water. One 225 cm paddle could be the same for you as
a 215 with different blades.
I'm terrible with logic. Is the idea to stay away from paddles and
shafts that are too short? Everyone talks about being sure to bury the
complete blade in the water, then they seem to be thinking paddles are
too long and moving to shorter paddles---you're not the only place
I've seen people wish for shorter. But it seems to me that as you go
shorter that is where you risk not being able to get the whole blade
in the water. A longer paddle easily puts the whole thing down there.
The worry then seems to me that you're putting TOO MUCH paddle in the
water. That's what longer does, as far as I can tell.
Oh well. I just have a chance for a halfprice paddle, limited
selection. I figure I should have a take down spare. I don't have time
to test on water. I just tried my various paddles sitting in the boat
in the yard. The 230 Lendl feels best--very light too. It has a much
longer shaft, somewhat longer overall, shorter blades than the two
220's I have. The 220 Struer and new Harmony two-part I just got both
seem too short offhand and the 220 seemed too short in the water. But
even when I did get to do some paddling and water-testing it wasn't
that much, just a couple hours. So maybe I'm somehow being biased by
my old fla****er ways and should just suck it up and go a little
shorter for the seakayak. As I said, I'm a terrible shopper and rarely
buy anything much less something new even for halfprice. I'd bought
the 220 and was thinking I should maybe return it for the 230. I
recall liking that length the last time I paddled, but maybe more
paddling would reveal it to be a bit long. I just talked to a top
racer pal and we're similar size and he uses 222 (maye a wing?). Whew!
I'll just let it ride. The goofy thing is that luck has me driving
again by the boat store today---I usually only get that way a few
times a year. Oh well! Thanks for the tips.
I'll look for Lendl's site.
--JP
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