(PeteCresswell) wrote:
My wing paddle's length adjustment has gradually migrated to 85" (216 cm) over
the few years I've been using it.

The Werner Camano that I currently use for surfing my WaveWitch is
80.25" (204 cm) and feels about right to me.

But now I've got a waveski coming sometime in Feb and the word I'm getting is
that for a waveski, one benefits from a much shorter paddle - something not
longer than 72" (183 cm) and maybe even more like 68" (173 cm).

That sounds awfully short to me. I don't see how you could use it
effectively without sliding it back and forth like a Greenland "storm"
paddle, which BTW is typically the same length.

Not only that, but I'm also hearing that for waveski use, the blade sb "flat".

But the whitewater paddles I've looked at so far (Camano, Lendal) all have some
of what they call "dihedral". Dunno precisely what that is, but its obviously
curvature in one plane or another.

"Dihedral" refers to a blade with a ridge down the center and faces that
slope away from it toward the edges of the blade. Your Camano is a
perfect example. I assume a "flat" blade would be one that's flat across
its width, but not necessarily along its length. Nigel Foster's paddles
are like that, with a smooth back for good water flow when used for
turns, rudders, sweeps, etc.