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Blade Size
roo wrote:
I assume it's a relative assessment, but... Large blades provide more power, but give a higher chance of injury? Small blades allow/require a higher stroke rate for equivalent large blade propulsion? As a sea paddler, I find that narrower blades work better in my particular case. It's like a lower gear on bike, you do have to keep up a higher work rate, but putting less power into each stroke I find I can keep going longer in comfort (never mind injury, my arms are just less fatigued at the end of 20 miles). Also the case that paddling in big winds is less of a problem with a smaller blade. If you look at traditional Greenland paddles they're *very* narrow, about 3" or so, but quite long. By routinely extending one's grip this allows more control than you might think, and the buoyant nature of the wood makes rolling and bracing far better than you'd imagine too. A friend of mine that makes them has been seen happily surfing a playboat at St. Andrews using Greenland paddles! I use Lendal Archipelagos, which are about 10% smaller than the Nordkapps most of the folk in my club use but otherwise the same (Nordkapps are in turn a little smaller than Powermasters but otherwise similar). I have Paddlok interchangable blades and a spare set of Nordkapp blades, so I could easily test the different blades on the exact same shaft. Doing this I chose the Archs as my main paddles. Is the size irrelevant, because all that is required is enough friction to plant the blade and pull yourself past the shaft? If it is, I'm kidding myself one helluva lot in that last paragraph! My arms aren't especially *strong*, but they have a fair bit of stamina so can keep rolling around. The ladies in the club that have borrowed my paddles also like them in comparison to the club's own Nordkapps. A couple use and like Seamasters, no longer made but another narrow paddle. Should I buy some new paddles with normal sized blades? Do you need more raw power from single strokes? Are your current blades proving a problem? If you like them and they do what you want, I'd keep them! Pete. -- Peter Clinch University of Dundee Tel 44 1382 660111 ext. 33637 Medical Physics, Ninewells Hospital Fax 44 1382 640177 Dundee DD1 9SY Scotland UK net http://www.dundee.ac.uk/~pjclinch/ |
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