About time for a wing then, no? NM
different strokes
for different boats. The perfect, most efficient way to move the paddle through the water to make the boat move straight forward obviously doesn’t work out. In a sea kayak, you find a way to match strong muscles and strength to produce the most efficient forward motion, and use a paddle that fits your groove. The same in a whitewater kayak, except directional control makes what is most efficient in a sea kayak not necessarily work out for a ww boat. The most efficient stroke becomes something different. A different paddle more closely matches what is needed. To take it to the extreme, hop in an innertube and see what works there. Innertube - torso rotation strength - not working out so well, just makes you spin. So does this represent a huge inefficiency in sea kayak paddling? Not ergonomically. Likewise, a whitewater boat is just plain something different than an innertube or a sea kayak.
Good points
You can have too much paddle and be too short. There’s no cookie cutter paddle for every height, weight and boat style. It’s all personal preferance.
I think most start with a 230+ paddle, because this is what the big retail sporting good stores carry. People can walk in off the street and buy what they percieve as a good paddle. People don’t know the differance until they borrow a shorter, lighter paddle and then the light bulb goes off.
I remember buying my first paddle. It was an alumnium shaft carlisle paddle, with really long plastic blades and foam grips on the shaft. It looked like an oar on either ends of a broom stick. It paddled like a crow bar and I thought it was the cats meow, until I started paddling with other kayakers and realized I was an idiot.
emanoh,
P.S. You are correct, it is about time to step up into a wing paddle, now just sell that to my wife.
only joking about the screams
Normal doesn’t work for me. I’m a low-rpm, high-torque kayaker. Found a pic of the 250 in action…
www.photoreflect.com/pr3/orderpage.aspx?pi=057B002S030005&po=5
Epic Paddle
Check out Epic paddles.
I was paddling with a 230 cm paddle and purchased an epic that can be adjusted.
I wanted a 215 but was putting out a lot of money for a carbon paddle so I decided on an epic active tour.
I can adjust the length up to 10 cm and the feather from 0 to 90 deg.
I now paddle with a 212 cm at 60deg and I am 5’10".